On January 14, 2025, Business in Vancouver published an article outlining Kate Field’s research on the impacts of ecotourism and grizzly bears in the Bella Coola Valley along the Atnarko River. Field’s research is with Raincoast Conservation Foundation‘s Conservation Science Lab at the University of Victoria.

Despite community concerns, only one of 34 grizzly bears involved in eco-tourism ended up in conflict in B.C.’s Bella Coola Valley, finds study

“How do you track grizzly bears in the dense forests of British Columbia’s Coast Mountains? Move slowly. Be vigilant. Listen. 

“Usually, it’s the smell,” added Kate Field. “Wet fur. Salmon carcasses on the bank.”

A PhD candidate at the University of Victoria’s Applied Conservation Science Laboratory, between 2019 and 2021, Field lived out of camper van surrounded by electric fencing high up in the Bella Coola Valley. 

Here lush forests and rivers dense with spawning salmon offer rich fishing grounds for grizzlies — so rich, it has become popular among eco-tourism operators. 

But move 40 kilometres downstream and you start running into a number of settlements. The situation has led to a collision between humans and grizzlies in a conflict that outranks any other region in the province, according to one study.

“The biggest hot spot by far is the Bella Coola Valley,” said Chris Darimont, a UVic researcher who oversaw the 2016 research. “It kind of glows red.”