Protecting where the spirit bears roam

Ian McAllister and his father arrived late to the logging protest at Clayoquat Sound, British Columbia. It was the late 1980s, McAllister was in his teens.

When they showed up, they found that most of the activists had been taken to jail in Vancouver.

All that was left was a handful of people manning the blockade – a flimsy wicker basket up a tree over a logging road. But there was no one left to sit in it.

“Dad just pushed me forward and said, ‘Well, he’ll do it!’” Ian recalls. “I got stuck in this wicker basket with a Margaret Atwood novel for two days – a nightmare for a teenage boy.”

(Ian says he has apologized to Atwood since he first told this story.)

This is part of the origin story of a man who went on to be a conservationist and filmmaker. He directed, “The Great Bear Rainforest: Land of the Spirit Bear.”

I sit down with Ian to hear how he captured the breathtaking footage for the film and the delicate position this ecosystem is in. He shares his appreciation for the culture of herring, the memories of humpback whales, the mercy of wolves toward a human interloper and the mystery of the world’s rarest bear.

"It's a place that if we're successful in protecting it and protecting the species that exist there, this is something that's going to impact all of our lives," Ian says. "It's a last refuge."

"Having these big, intact refuges may be our greatest hope in terms of resiliency and hope for the future, which when it comes to the environment, is hope for humanity."

The event was hosted in front of a live audience at The Mountaineers in Seattle on April 26. THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan and The UPROAR Fund. It is produced by Matt Martin and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Produced for the web by Kara McDermott.