October 2009
Paws for Thought
Blog Now Online
Knight Inlet Lodge is pleased to announce the launch of our blog site - www.knightinletldoge.com – it's intended to be a way for our guests, past and future, to keep up to date on the goings on at the lodge and with our company. We are encouraging guests to post comments and photos of their visit, but please remember the idea is to have a fun site so keep it clean! We also encourage everyone to use it as a forum to communicate with each other regarding the ongoing struggle to “Stop the Hunt” of grizzly bears in British Columbia.
Proceeds Donated
Knight Inlet Lodge, and the grizzly bears of Glendale, would like to thank the staff of Titan Tours in the U.K. who donated the proceeds from 2 casual dress at work days to our “stop the hunt” program.
Hunting Rights Purchased
Dean and Kathy Wyatt, owners of Knight Inlet Lodge, have once again purchased the Grizzly Bear hunting rights for the Glendale Cove area. By doing this they have prevented the Guide Outfitter for our area from killing a grizzly bear. The Wyatt’s have been doing this for several years now at a cost of almost $100,000.00 Canadian. While part of this amount has been raised by contributions from our guests, staff and partner companies the vast majority has been funded by Knight Inlet Lodge and the Wyatt’s.
Staff: Keys to Success
One of the keys to the success of Knight Inlet Lodge is its staff. A talented and dedicated lot they come from a variety of backgrounds including farming, logging, military service, ski instructor, sailing instructor, professional musician, professional photographer, marine mechanic, Antarctic guide, teacher and program supervisor at a dinosaur museum. This talented group range in age from early 20’s to 60 plus.
Don't Miss this Video! »
Knight Inlet Lodge and Pacific Wild combined for this fascinating footage filmed in May of this year at Glendale Cove. This remote mounted video camera project is one we will be continuing work on over the next few years.
Above & Beyond the Call of Duty
For a very good example of how our staff go above and beyond the call of duty for our guests, please take a close look at this photo.
This dedicated staff member is also off to compete in the World Masters Games this October as both a single and team canoeist.
The grizzly bear scene in Knight Inlet so-far....
Though the grizzlies had a bit of a sleep in this year, not showing their fuzzy faces until mid-May, once they woke up from their long winter sleep they hurried down to the Glendale estuary to find their favorite spring foods. Late May and June offered many exciting bear encounters in the estuary. At this time of year the bears are busy foraging for food in Glendale Cove, that primarily being succulent sedges, and when the tide drops, whatever they can find underneath the intertidal rocks.
This is also the mating season and this spring we were lucky enough to have three large adult males looking for mates. These three bachelors competed continually over the adult females in the cove, one being the familiar face of Bonnie. We had mom and cubs too, including long time celebrity bear Lenora who came out of the den this year with a single cub.
Summer has treated us fairly so-far. The big males have all but left us, but Lenora and her cub, which we named Peanut, have been consistent. One of the adult females which we’ve been calling Eva has also been around, and Bonnie shows up from time to time as well.
A few salmon have started to arrive and we hope to see a lot more come soon. With the smell of fish in the air the bears are getting eager to start catching salmon and put on some well needed fat. Over the first two weeks of August, as expected with the arrival of salmon, we are getting new bears coming to the area in search of the easy catch. The bears and all of us are looking forward to a good fall with the fish and are keeping our claws /fingers crossed for a big return.
Jamie Scarrow
KIL Guide Manager
For an update on the pink salmon story please see the article below.
Pink Salmon Return
Every year the staff of 
Knight Inlet Lodge, as well as grizzlies, await the return of pink salmon to the Glendale River. After years of strong returns 2008 was a disappointing year making 2009’s pink salmon return all the more important. We are happy to report that the early returns have been very good with lots of salmon already in the river, despite the low water levels, with many more pink’s in Glendale Cove waiting for their turn to head up the river. While the final count is weeks away we are confident that 2009 is going to be a good year.
Knight Inlet Lodge assists in research project.
In June and July of this year Knight Inlet Lodgehosted Melanie Clapham from the Centre for Wildlife Conservation at the University of Cumbria, United Kingdom. Melanie’s research project, partially funded by Knight Inlet Lodge, is a 3 year study into how Grizzly Bears communicate thru the use of “rub trees”. A total of 7 remote cameras were set up around Glendale Cove allowing Melanie to study the bears in action. It is Melanie’s belief that this research will contribute to the conservation of bears by both facilitating future research and by providing suggestions for grizzly habitat management that takes into account the behavioural and social needs of the species. Knight Inlet Lodge is committed to assisting Melanie’s important research both financially and logistically. We wish her all the best in the next phase of her project.
Deans Rant
I was very disappointed to hear that the Provincial Government of British Columbia had decided to disband Tourism B.C. and roll it into a Government Ministry. To do this right before our area hosts the Winter Olympics and without any industry consultation is even more disappointing. Tourism B.C. was recognized worldwide as a well run organization and a model for how tourism promotion should be done. The Tourism B.C. format of stable funding from a consistent revenue stream worked very well. C.E.O Rod Harris is a very well respected individual that ran a tight ship which had a reputation of being on budget and on time in a very challenging industry. There is simply no way that a Government agency can run tourism as efficiently as Rod and the dedicated staff at Tourism B.C. did. I am urging our Tourism partners to contact Tourism Minister Kevin Kruger to voice their displeasure with this move.
As well as not wanting to see tourism run by a Government Ministry I believe that it is time for the Ministry of Environment to step aside from “managing” the coastal grizzly bear hunt in British Columbia. Their insistence on managing hunting quotas to generate revenue for the Ministry is a clear conflict of interest. The small amount of revenue derived from foreign hunters versus foreign bear viewing is not a reason to resist our request for a 350 square kilometre “no hunt zone” in Knight Inlet. The 17 square kilometre “no hunt zone” in place is simply too small in my opinion. While our preference is for a total ban of grizzly bear hunting on the coast I believe the 350 square kilometres would be a very good first step. Despite the pro hunting lobbies claims that the bear population is increasing on the coast there is no creditable proof to back that claim and it is my belief that at best the population is maintaining present levels. Please contract Minister Penner and ask him to PAY ATTENTION TO OUR CONCERNS.