Inland Temperate Rainforest

Step into the Inland Temperate Rainforest. Walk silently on a thick carpet of moss, among ancient giants. Centuries-old cedars and hemlocks tower overhead, their canopies shading rhododendron, huckleberry and wild ginger.

Breathe deeply. The cool forest air is tinged with humus and rotting wood. Listen to the clear, cold creeks that seem to come from every direction. The wolf moves ghostlike here. The goshawk swoops, fierce as hunter and parent.

Climb from the valley floor, through old sub-alpine forests of spruce and fir. Feel wild azaleas and blueberries brush your legs. The grizzly bear ambles purposefully on these slopes, sniffing the air, muscles rippling.

Emerge in alpine wildflower meadows and through rocky passes where crystal waters cascade down granite walls. Venture out onto windswept mountain ridges, where the view is forever, and the air is thin and sharp. These are highways for the wolverine, solitary and relentless traveler.

The mountain caribou wanders seasonally here from valley floor to alpine ridge in search of food and security. It needs these mountains to be free, intact and ancient.

You are walking in a place shared by two countries, yet still rugged and wild enough for grizzly, wolverine, wolf, and mountain caribou—the world’s only Inland Temperate Rainforest. Conservation opportunities abound here but are rapidly dwindling. They will disappear unless citizens act to protect them.

itr

The Inland Temperate Rainforest (ITR) covers 40 million acres, and stretches 700 miles in a broad arc from central Idaho to Prince George, British Columbia, encompassing a globally unique, rich and diverse landscape. There are no other inland temperate zones on earth that harbour so many species, including mountain caribou, more closely associated with coastal forests.

The Inland Temperate Rainforest is under tremendous pressure from logging and a burgeoning motorized recreation industry. More than 30 companies hold long-term agreements or “tenures” to log in the inland rainforest.


Mountain caribou news

We’re calling on Canada and British Columbia to protect southern mountain caribou habitat in B.C. and save our last deep-snow herds. Use our pre-written letter to add your voice to the movement. Logging has no place in the wild and globally significant forests that these iconic animals rely on.Read more 
I’m standing at the edge of a clearcut where a towering ancient cedar and hemlock rainforest used to be. One giant cedar tree remains in the middle, a lonely monument holding the memories of creatures who used to call this place home. Only a year ago, this clearcut was a forest full of life.Read more 
Mountain caribou are struggling to survive. This endangered species is on the decline, with loss of their habitat hurting overall population numbers. Through Wildsight's…Read more 
Deep in the heart of BC’s  Inland Temperate Rainforest a logging plan threatens ancient and globally rare forest in the Seymour River area…Read more 
When a caribou moves, a tendon rolls over bones in its foot creating a unique clicking sound.  A few years ago on a trip…Read more 
Kimberley – B.C. groups are releasing new evidence of ongoing logging and pending cut permits in proposed old growth deferral areas in the province. Images…Read more 
Read more news

Join The Team

Want to protect wildlife, clean water and wild spaces? Volunteer with us! Wildsight volunteers are a very special group of people who give generously of their time to stuff envelopes, attend rallies, help run events, put up posters, keep tabs on forestry practices in their communities and participate in citizen science initiatives.

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