The Vital Ground Foundation

Operating as a land trust, the mission of Vital Ground is to protect and restore North Americas grizzly bear populations for future generation by conserving wildlife habitat and supporting programs that reduce conflicts between bears and humans. Vital Ground believes the grizzly bear, as an umbrella species, is one of natures barometers of a healthy and complete ecosystem. Because the grizzlys home range covers several hundred square milesfrom alpine meadows to valley bottomsprotecting grizzly habitat benefits entire plant and animal communities in the wildest, most scenic, places left on the continent. Grizzly and other brown bear populations persist only in the continents last wilderness ecosystems. Between, within, and at the edges of these ecosystems, roads and development are rapidly filling open lands and valley floors, frittering away once wild landscapes and creating habitat fracture zones. Habitat links between these wild grizzly sanctuarieslands that provide food, shel...