Straits of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada Photograph by Meghan McKnight   Western North America: Southwestern Canada into northwestern United States Temperate Coniferous Forests   46,500 square miles (120,500 square kilometers) -- slightly smaller than twice the size of West Virginia Critical/Endangered

· Minks to Mountain Goats
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Minks to Mountain Goats

Where in the world can you find a white black bear? Here, in the British Columbia mainland coastal forests. From minks and mountain goats to spotted owls and river otters, a variety of wildlife fills a range of habitats. Low-elevation coastal forests, steep-sided valleys, inlets, and fjords all provide important refuges for this ecoregion's abundant wildlife, which also includes the black-tailed deer, moose, woodland caribou, and fox.

Special Features

This ecoregion encompasses several mountain ranges, including the northern part of the Cascade Mountains, the Pacific Ranges, the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains, the Nass Ranges, and the Nass Basin. Throughout the region, the landscape is quite varied. The elevation ranges from sea level to 13,123 feet (4,000 m), with high peaks surrounded by ice fields. From east to west and north to south, the climate also varies greatly. For example, higher elevations typically get more than double the precipitation that the valleys get, and temperatures are generally much cooler in the Nass Basin and in the northern part of the region. This ecoregion contains one of the most extensive fjord coastlines in the world.

	A grizzly can scoop a salmon out of the water with its enormous paw. Or it can wait patiently until one swims by and then jump into the water, smashing the fish on the riverbed bottom.

Wild Side

In the rivers and streams that flow through the British Columbia mainland coastal forests, you might see a northern river otter teasing a beaver, giving its flat tail a playful tug. On Princess Royal Island, scientists catch a rare glimpse of the Kermode, or "spirit bear," an unusual white form of the American black bear that can occasionally be seen hunting salmon in the streams. In other areas, minks make their homes among tree roots and rock crevices, while martens scurry high in the trees like tightrope walkers in pursuit of squirrels and other prey. Woodland caribou, snowshoe hares, and spotted owls all roam these forests of hemlock, cedar, and fir trees. And in alpine tundra areas, rock fields are colored with the oranges, greens, and greys of lichens.

Cause for Concern

About 40 percent of this ecoregion remains fully intact. Most of the disturbed habitat is in the low- to mid-elevation forests. Valley bottoms and portions of the old-growth coastal rain forest have become fragmented in more than half of this region because of logging activities, including road-building. The resulting loss of habitat is of concern for species such as the spotted owl and grizzly bear, both of which need large areas of undisturbed habitat.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.