Gillian,
36, has been with us from the very beginning and we value her highly. She lives
locally
and is multi-talented.
When not tending to her bees, milking her goats, growing
vegetables or giving horse-riding lessons, she devotes her
energies to bears and bear conservation.
During the spring, summer and autumn Gillian shares her wealth of
knowledge with our guests. She is a first-rate naturalist.
Gillian has years of experience viewing and operating
around
black bears and grizzly bears and runs many of the local bear aware
programmes that help people co-exist with bears.
She is currently training her young Karelian Bear Dog,
Oso, in bear
aversion techniques aimed at preventing conflict between bears and
farmers.
Certification: First aid, bear guide (certified by the
Commercial Bear
Viewing Association of British Columbia), boat operator.
Forest - homesteader, herbalist, climber, kayaker, man of the bush.
Forest,
37, is a true man of the bush.
Several years ago he moved with his wife,
Jenn, and four small children onto 40 acres of wilderness land a few
miles south of the ranch, surrounded only by wolves and trees.
Since
then Forest and Jenn have learned to live off-grid and off the land,
keeping cows, sheep and pigs for dairy and meat, and growing their own
vegetables.
Like their father, Forest's children are as at home in
the
bush, picking mushrooms, gathering berries and chopping up wood, as
they are in the small village where they all go to school.
As well as being a succesful homesteader, Forest is a
trained
canoe and kayak guide and hiking guide. His particular
talent is rough country. Able to climb like a mountain goat and swim
like a fish, you could not be in better hands in the bush.
Forest is certified as a bear guide. He is also trained to operate boats and
has first aid training. He is also an expert on mushrooms.
Certification: Bear guide (certification by the
Commercial Bear Viewing Association of British Columbia), boat operator, First Aid.
Julius - journalist, wilderness guide, amateur pilot.
Julius, 42, who
co-owns
Grizzly Bear Ranch with his wife Kristin, has slowly graduated from
being a wilderness neophyte to an experienced wilderness guide.
After five years of guiding, he knows the trails and
paths
around the ranch well, is a certified wilderness first
responder, a qualified boat
operator, a whitewater rafting guide and a Full Bear Guide.
Despite living in the bush, Julius, a former journalist,
is
still an avid follower of world affairs, and recently taught
two
semesters at the University of Alaska as a visiting professor.
His current projects include learning natural
horsemanship and guitar and he is also working on a book about moving to
the bush.
Certification: Wilderness first aid, bear guide
(certified by the Commercial Bear Viewing Association of British
Columbia), boat operator, rafting guide.
