0:00:24 > 0:00:30This is my home - the Cascade Mountains in western Canada.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42My name is Jeff Turner and I've spent the past 25 years
0:00:42 > 0:00:48making wildlife documentaries about wild animals and wild places.
0:00:55 > 0:01:02I spent my childhood roaming the forests, valleys and peaks of this range.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05It's what led me to my career as a wildlife filmmaker.
0:01:07 > 0:01:13I have photographed wildlife around the world but now I'm coming home
0:01:13 > 0:01:16to spend the next year filming the wildlife in these mountains.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30My home is not a national park or protected area.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33There have been many changes since I was a boy.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38But by seeking out the wildlife of my childhood -
0:01:38 > 0:01:41black bears,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43coyotes,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45mule deer -
0:01:45 > 0:01:51I hope to understand the state of the wild around my home today.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58And there is one animal I want to find that, for me,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02symbolizes Canada's wild lands more than any other.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04The grizzly bear.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15But I've never seen one in these mountains and I wonder
0:02:15 > 0:02:17are there any left?
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Though the nature here has to make its way alongside all the uses
0:02:36 > 0:02:37humans make of the land,
0:02:37 > 0:02:42my home is still one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55These woods where I live are on the edge of the world between humans
0:02:55 > 0:03:00and the wild. Beyond us, the forests stretch, uninhabited,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03for 30 miles through the mountains.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10When I was just a kid,
0:03:10 > 0:03:15I first saw the animal that was going to change my life.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The only problem was that it was dead.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23In the early 70s, a local rancher friend discovered a grizzly bear
0:03:23 > 0:03:27was killing cows on their summer pasture up in the mountains.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32Eventually, he caught up with the bear and shot it.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Years later, I discovered Aldo Leopold,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41one of the first American ecologists
0:03:41 > 0:03:45to write, more than 60 years ago, about protecting nature.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50In his book, A Sand County Almanac, he wrote about the death
0:03:50 > 0:03:53of the last grizzly bear in Arizona
0:03:53 > 0:03:55and it really struck a nerve with me.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00What I didn't know then was how much grizzly bears
0:04:00 > 0:04:03were going to play a role in my life.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11When I started out making wildlife documentaries,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14I seemed to be drawn to making films about bears.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Over the past 25 years,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31I have met and filmed hundreds of grizzly bears.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40I now have such a close relationship with the grizzly,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43that on my last film I was even able to swim with them
0:04:43 > 0:04:47and film how they caught fish under water.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55To me, the grizzly has always been an indication
0:04:55 > 0:04:57of the state of nature in a place.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Grizzlies are at the top of the food chain and a real challenge
0:05:03 > 0:05:04for man to get along with.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Their presence in a natural community is no better sign
0:05:10 > 0:05:14that things are going well for the rest of the environment there.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32For years, the grizzly bear has been declining in numbers
0:05:32 > 0:05:33in the North Cascades.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37There's lots of human pressure on this landscape.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39But if I can still find one here
0:05:39 > 0:05:44it would give me hope for the rest of the wildlife in these mountains.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51It's mid-winter and bears are hibernating,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54so I'll see what other animals I can find.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Temperatures can dip to minus 20 for a week or more.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11January is generally a quiet time of the year for all wildlife.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18But it's usually a different story around home.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25These Bohemian Waxwings are drawn in
0:06:25 > 0:06:27to feed on one of the crab apple trees.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33We put out seeds and attract all sorts
0:06:33 > 0:06:38of these wintering forest birds like the redpolls and chickadees.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45It's great having this little bit of wild so close to home.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55But because we feed them, it's not a very good indication of the true state of the natural community.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59I need to get out and spend more time getting a feel
0:06:59 > 0:07:01for these mountains again.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07My work has taken me away so much I haven't spent the time
0:07:07 > 0:07:10roaming these hills as I did when I was younger.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13So I decide it's time for a camping trip.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Growing up here it was easy to take this place for granted.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29It wasn't until I left that I truly began to appreciate it.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36My 16-year-old son Logan is joining me.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Logan has been coming on filming trips since he was just a baby
0:07:40 > 0:07:45but we haven't spent the time getting to know our own mountains
0:07:45 > 0:07:46as I did with my father.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53With his growing interest in photography,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56I'm looking forward to his help on this project.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08One of the things I enjoy about photography is the way
0:08:08 > 0:08:13taking pictures can sometimes change how you look at a familiar place.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23Time-lapse photography is a wonderful way to get a sense of the landscape
0:08:23 > 0:08:27and the processes that happen beyond the usual level of our awareness.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33It's easy to forget that the stars are not fixed
0:08:33 > 0:08:37and that we live on a world that is constantly moving.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52I'm surprised we could see the lights from the city of Vancouver,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54100 miles away.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02It's a reminder of how much the human influence
0:09:02 > 0:09:04extends around here now.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14100 years ago, there were still huge areas of wilderness
0:09:14 > 0:09:17that animals had all to themselves. Not any more.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22With our powerful machines, we can go anywhere.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28It means that wildlife and people are bumping into one another
0:09:28 > 0:09:30much more than ever before.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35This is especially true in my old home town of Princeton,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38about 12 miles downstream from where I live today.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It's pretty much the same as when I was growing up
0:09:43 > 0:09:46but there have been some changes.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47CAR TOOTS HORN
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Mule deer have moved into these suburban neighbourhoods where I grew up.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01These deer have access to lawns, flowers and ornamental shrubs
0:10:01 > 0:10:05that are nurtured and pampered by the local residents.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08And there aren't any wild predators here.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21The town deer have also learned to exploit another source
0:10:21 > 0:10:22of human-created food.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33Although we don't like to see wild animals rummaging in our leftovers,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36to the deer, there's nothing wrong with this.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45But what I think is really interesting about having the deer in town now
0:10:45 > 0:10:50is how they're allowing us to re-think our ideas of community.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57Aldo Leopold wrote about the need to expand the human concept of community
0:10:57 > 0:11:00to include the non-human things
0:11:00 > 0:11:05like soil, water, plants and wildlife.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12It's been 60 years since Leopold's proposition but in my old home town
0:11:12 > 0:11:16I think we're beginning to grasp the concept.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27In late March, the winter melt begins.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25After the snow melts, the forests in the lower valley bloom with spring flowers.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32Now is the time to find bear families out of their winter dens.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34And not far from my home,
0:12:34 > 0:12:39I'm thrilled to find a mother black bear and her cubs.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43It looks like she has two, about three to four months old.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46They're still so tiny.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50But these cubs would have been only the size of a squirrel
0:12:50 > 0:12:53when they were born in the den in February.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Mother bears can look a little ragged in the spring.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14This one's walked through a patch of burdock plants.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17She's covered in burrs.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22By feeding around these plants,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26bears help distribute their seeds throughout the forest.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41A bear's limbs are jointed very much like a human.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Some of the things they do can look pretty funny.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48This cub looks like he's had one drink too many.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02It feels good to find a mother bear with her cubs.
0:14:02 > 0:14:08It makes me optimistic that, as the season moves on, I'll be able find a grizzly up in the mountains.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18May is when the balsam root -
0:14:18 > 0:14:21we call it wild sunflower - blooms in the forest meadows
0:14:21 > 0:14:22around my home.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31For me it's a sign that the mother deer will soon have their fawns.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53This is the time of the year when the forest grasses and flowers
0:14:53 > 0:14:55are at their peak nutritional value.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08For the wood's deer, it's a time to make up for the poor feed
0:15:08 > 0:15:12they've endured over winter, especially the mothers who have been pregnant.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34Even though it's June, there's still a lot of snow in the high country.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38But the long days of sun really begin to turn up the heat,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40and the rivers swell with meltwater.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Water is one of the key components of life.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Aldo Leopold often wrote about the importance of water
0:15:56 > 0:16:00to the landscape, especially in the dry American southwest.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07The east slopes of the Cascade Mountains
0:16:07 > 0:16:10are also dry so this meltwater is critical
0:16:10 > 0:16:12to the network of lakes and ponds
0:16:12 > 0:16:16which are a big attraction for the people that live here -
0:16:16 > 0:16:19as it is for some of the other members of this community.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28Every year a family of osprey returns to the lake near our home to nest.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36The increasing human presence on the lake so far doesn't seem to be bothering them much.
0:16:41 > 0:16:48But then I notice that the male osprey is flying elsewhere to fish, where there aren't any speedboats.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54The osprey is an ambush hunter.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Flying above the lake, they look for the ripples
0:16:57 > 0:17:00of a fish's fin near the surface.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05They have to have incredible eyesight and impeccable timing.
0:17:19 > 0:17:25The osprey goes deep into the lake, even sinking below the tip of its upraised wings.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40It's a lot of work for the male osprey to get
0:17:40 > 0:17:45a fish back to his nest, and he has to do this several times a day.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03He needs his feathers dry to get the best lift.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30With power boats criss-crossing his nest site lake,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34the osprey will have a harder time feeding his family this summer.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36POWERBOAT ZOOMS PAST
0:18:38 > 0:18:42We're not used to thinking about the needs of wild animals around us.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50We can't just relegate wild nature to parks and nature preserves.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52There's not enough of them.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54We need to learn to share the land.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01And for many species, their needs are on a scale that makes it easy to share.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Loons are one of the most ancient species of all modern birds.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12They've been around for millions of years.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32They're excellent swimmers...
0:19:35 > 0:19:39..but their feet are so far back on their bodies,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41they're awkward on land.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48It means their nests need to be very close to the shore, so you tend
0:19:48 > 0:19:52to only find loons on lakes that don't have powerboat activity.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Loon numbers aren't what they once were, but they still do make
0:19:59 > 0:20:01a good living on these quiet lakes.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13The great blue heron is another species that does well
0:20:13 > 0:20:15around backwater ponds.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19But they also have to have a good healthy forest nearby for nesting.
0:20:22 > 0:20:23It can be a pretty tough life
0:20:23 > 0:20:26being the smallest heron chick on the nest.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36It seems that the smaller the animal,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39the easier it is to share our space with it.
0:20:39 > 0:20:45These small ponds represent a massive breeding ground for insects.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50They support a network of creatures like this spotted sandpiper,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52and this dragonfly.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Dragonflies are fierce predators but, being so small,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02they can slip between the cracks in our busy human world
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and find all the room they need to survive.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10We have lots of dragonflies that live in the small ponds
0:21:10 > 0:21:11in our front garden.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15This type of wildlife is easy to miss.
0:21:16 > 0:21:23So it can be difficult to appreciate all the nature around us using just our human senses.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30But with this camera I can take up to 2,000 pictures a second
0:21:30 > 0:21:32and open up a window into the world of nature
0:21:32 > 0:21:35that we couldn't see any other way.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52It's beautiful how these dragonflies move.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Their two sets of wings work independently,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59giving them incredible manoeuvrability and speed.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40Watching the beauty and grace of these small creatures got me wondering
0:22:40 > 0:22:44what else there is in nature around us that we can't really see.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Logan and I took the camera down to the river and I couldn't believe how
0:22:53 > 0:22:58beautiful even something as simple as the flow of water over the rocks
0:22:58 > 0:23:01could be when you slowed it down.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26You can see how clear the water is -
0:23:26 > 0:23:30a good indicator of the health of our mountain ecosystem.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44The smaller creatures can usually find enough space around us
0:23:44 > 0:23:45to meet their needs.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49But in these mountains, a grizzly needs about 100 square miles
0:23:49 > 0:23:52to find enough food to survive.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Their just isn't enough true wilderness left in our world
0:23:56 > 0:23:59for them to live free from contact with humans.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10In America, the grizzly ran out of wilderness 100 years ago.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Today, we're at that point in my home mountains.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It's no wonder the grizzlies are so hard to find.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30However, I do have lots of experience finding grizzly bears.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34In the past, in most places where I filmed bears, like here in
0:24:34 > 0:24:40coastal Alaska, I've always had one really important thing going for me.
0:24:40 > 0:24:46The bears were coming out into the open looking for something - salmon.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07The salmon in the rivers are the bait that lures
0:25:07 > 0:25:13these normally shy animals out into the open, where I can film them.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19But finding the grizzly bear in my home mountains is going to be another story.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Here there are no salmon.
0:25:27 > 0:25:33The rivers on this side of the Cascade Mountains drain east into waterways that have dams
0:25:33 > 0:25:37which prevent the salmon from getting up into these mountains.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Most of the food for bears in this country is forest plants
0:25:44 > 0:25:47but it's very hard to spot them feeding under the trees.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54I know in other mountain ranges they go up into the high country in the summer to eat alpine plants.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05But after searching the area I hadn't seen a single bear.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11I thought I might be able to spot one or two and focus my search on the ground.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15But there's too much high country and the bears
0:26:15 > 0:26:19are too few and far between to make it practical to use the helicopter.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24I'll have to think of something else.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37After the helicopter trip, I wanted to go out and find the mother black bear and cubs again.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40I really needed a bear fix.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46I knew just where to find her.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50She was in exactly the same spot as before.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56Mother bears with young cubs will hang out in a very small area of forest if they feel safe.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03Young cubs are vulnerable.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06They can't run very far or fast.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09But they're excellent climbers.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12So as long as they're in the forest they're pretty safe.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19But watching them hanging from the branches in the top of this dead tree 25 metres above the ground,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23I wasn't sure how safe these little daredevils really were.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30It was then I noticed there were three cubs.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33I don't know where the third had been hiding when I saw them before.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40I also noticed that the mother bear had managed to rub off
0:27:40 > 0:27:41most of her burrs.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44She looked to be in much better shape than I remembered.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52She started calling the cubs to come down from the tree.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10But she looked a little nervous and agitated.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Maybe my presence was starting to bother her.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33Then I heard something moving through the bush to my right.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36It was another mother bear with cubs.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48There were two bear families in the same spot.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53This mother bear that had just arrived was the one
0:28:53 > 0:28:55that I'd filmed last time.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58The one with the burrs and the two cubs.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04This was a different family.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08The mother of the three cubs was a bigger and older bear.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10I could see that now.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24I realised that the bear with the two cubs must be the daughter of the older looking mother
0:29:24 > 0:29:28because the two families were so relaxed with one another.
0:29:31 > 0:29:37In bear society, mothers will share their home territory with their female offspring.
0:29:46 > 0:29:53I'm always amazed by how animals I think I know so well can still surprise me.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57I wouldn't have thought that two mother bears with five cubs between them
0:29:57 > 0:30:02could have shared this little patch of forest for as long as they did.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04We could learn a lot from them.
0:30:06 > 0:30:13The problems we face in sharing the land with wildlife like bears resides more with us than with them.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15It's not that bears can't live near people,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18it's that people won't let them.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26There was one animal I remember seeing a lot of when I was growing up,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30but so far this year, I have yet to catch a glimpse of one.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38Then a friend found a family of them living in the woods.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41And this was something that I had never seen before.
0:30:44 > 0:30:45A coyote den.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51I've seen lots of coyotes over the years
0:30:51 > 0:30:53but I've never seen pups at a den.
0:30:57 > 0:31:03They're only a few weeks old and just starting to explore the world outside the den.
0:31:03 > 0:31:09Coyote pups are the same size as wolf pups when they're born but they mature much faster.
0:31:10 > 0:31:15In a couple of weeks these guys will be weaned and eating meat.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28It looks like six pups, which is average.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31But Coyotes can have up to 19.
0:31:31 > 0:31:37It must make for a crowded den so it's no surprise they're coming out here to spread out and sleep.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43But pup mortality is high.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Three out of four won't survive to adulthood.
0:31:57 > 0:32:02Now that it's mid-July and most of the snow has melted from the high country,
0:32:02 > 0:32:04I can get out to look for bears again.
0:32:10 > 0:32:16This remote mountain pass is one place I know grizzlies have been seen in the past.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24Aldo Leopold wrote that a place was only true wilderness
0:32:24 > 0:32:29if you could ride a horse across it for two weeks without seeing any sign of man.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Those days are long gone here in these mountains but there's still
0:32:32 > 0:32:36enough space for me to feel the wildness of this place.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40I wonder if it feels that way to a grizzly, though.
0:32:42 > 0:32:48We haven't found any bears yet but we are seeing some animals that like this high, open country.
0:32:50 > 0:32:57A mountain goat's hooves have a soft inner pad which gives them excellent grip on these rocky slopes.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08Further down the valley we find a herd of mothers and young.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Mountain goats don't like to stray too far from the rocky cliffs
0:33:17 > 0:33:20as this is their main protection from predators.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28But sometimes they're forced to come down off the cliff to find fresh green feed.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Mountain goats are actually not true goats at all.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43They're more closely related to antelopes.
0:33:53 > 0:33:59Not all of the country where I need to look for animals is wilderness.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Much of the valley where I live is ranch land.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11Agriculture is an important part of the community around here.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21Although agriculture seems a gentle use of the land, throughout history
0:34:21 > 0:34:28it has probably been the single biggest source of conflict between humans and the natural world.
0:34:30 > 0:34:35During Aldo Leopold's era, the sweeping changes to the landscape he witnessed in the American west
0:34:35 > 0:34:40were largely the result of the cattle industry's war on predators.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49I have filmed wolves hunting in packs, bringing down large prey.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53Like the grizzly bear, they are formidable predators.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07Ranchers found it so challenging to live with these animals
0:35:07 > 0:35:13that they were systematically exterminated across their entire range in America.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17The wolves are long gone from these mountains where I live.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21Although there are signs that they're making a tentative comeback.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30But there is one predator left around here the ranchers find easier to get along with -
0:35:30 > 0:35:36the coyote, which doesn't hunt in large packs and whose prey is often much smaller.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Like grasshoppers.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45Though this youngster still needs a bit of practice getting the technique right.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21Sometimes you just have to slow down and focus.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37As August draws to a close the shrinking day length
0:36:37 > 0:36:42begins to turn the leaves on the aspen trees from green to gold.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01River levels drop as all the snow in the mountains has melted by the end of summer.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10Autumn is my favourite time of the year.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14I love the clear days and crisp, cold nights.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19And the colours are beautiful.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26But the vast majority of the forest in our part of the world is evergreen.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30These trees are adapted to the colder northern climates.
0:37:30 > 0:37:36Their leaves have a thin needle shape which reduces their exposure to cold.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44In recent years there's been a problem in the forest around our home.
0:37:45 > 0:37:51Some evergreen trees are changing colour now, but it's not due to the season.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53These trees are dying.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01I wanted to see the creature that is causing all this destruction.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08I was surprised at how many bugs we caught in just one night.
0:38:08 > 0:38:14They seem to be so small to be causing such destruction.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18These insects have always been a part of this forest ecosystem
0:38:18 > 0:38:22but their numbers have been rising and no-one is quite sure why,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26although global warming is probably having an effect.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33These tiny bugs are mountain pine beetles.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38They burrow under the bark and lay eggs which hatch into larvae
0:38:38 > 0:38:41that chew their way around the tree girdling it,
0:38:41 > 0:38:48cutting off the flow of nutrients and water between the roots and crown, eventually killing the tree.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55The scale at which this is impacting the landscape is huge.
0:38:55 > 0:39:03Thousands of acres of forest are dead or dying across the eastern slopes of the Cascade mountains.
0:39:03 > 0:39:09With warmer winters and drier summers, the beetle has been gaining ground.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17But what has been a bane for the forest has been a boon for the logging industry.
0:39:20 > 0:39:25More forests are being cut now to keep up with the beetle kill then ever before.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32And the speed with which we can cut down the trees is much faster than ever.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36Our powerful machines can rip through the forest at an alarming rate.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43What used to take a team of men a week can now be done in a day or less.
0:39:53 > 0:40:00All of these dead trees end up at the local sawmill, which keeps the economy of the town rolling.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13Our machines are so powerful we can go anywhere and do anything we want to the land.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19We are chewing up the forest and spitting it out.
0:40:27 > 0:40:33The scale at which we are changing the landscape now is unprecedented.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38It's never been more critical to show respect to the land and its inhabitants.
0:40:41 > 0:40:47Although the actual logging can be destructive, it is in some ways the least damaging of the impacts.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50The forest can grow back.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54Wildlife can and does live in these areas as the trees re-grow.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01The bigger impact I think is the access that the logging creates.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05Roads into previously pristine valleys.
0:41:11 > 0:41:17There is virtually no place left in this entire mountain range that can't be reached by road.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22And everywhere there are roads, there are people.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31Today our human world overlays the natural habitat of wildlife
0:41:31 > 0:41:36so completely that they cannot escape our presence.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39They have nowhere left to hide.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49But seeing this little black bear feeding on these rosehips beside the road
0:41:49 > 0:41:52is the sign I've been waiting for.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56The fall berry season is going to give me my best chance to find a grizzly.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06It's September and time for me to get back into the mountains.
0:42:10 > 0:42:15Still, finding any grizzly in this massive landscape is going to be huge challenge.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19Especially since there are so few of them left.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21As well, our window is short.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Snow will start to bury this high country next month.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36The North Cascade Mountains are a steep, rugged range.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39It's a lot of work getting around.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44But the bears' main source of food to fatten them up for winter is here.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52These are blueberries and huckleberries and they only grow up high in the mountains.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55They are full of sugar and excellent eating.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Logan is the fourth generation of the family coming up
0:42:59 > 0:43:02into these mountains to pick berries in the fall.
0:43:10 > 0:43:16The strategy is to scan these open berry slopes looking for bears.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26I remember years ago when I could sit in a spot like this
0:43:26 > 0:43:29and count up to a dozen or more black bears at one time.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37After looking for hours, Logan and I only see one.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39It's a little black bear.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49This little bear seemed a bit nervous of us
0:43:49 > 0:43:55so standing up and rubbing on this tree is his way of showing off a bit,
0:43:55 > 0:43:58making sure we understand how big he is.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13I really enjoy it when wild animals treat me like a natural part of their world.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Fall is a critical time for bears.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26These tiny berries are all these mountain bears have available to them to fatten up for winter.
0:44:33 > 0:44:34This guy seems to be doing well.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37His coat is rich and black.
0:44:42 > 0:44:48Despite everything I've seen this year, I'm still optimistic.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50Spending time with Logan,
0:44:50 > 0:44:56I realise each generation seems to be more aware of conservation.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00When I was growing up we never thought we'd run out of the wild.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04But Logan's generation is developing a strong ethic,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07a personal responsibility to the natural world.
0:45:17 > 0:45:22Time is running out for me and my search for the grizzly bear in my home mountains.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Fall is coming to an end and I still haven't found any sign of them.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43From that first dead bear I saw as a boy,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45through my long career filming bears,
0:45:45 > 0:45:49the grizzly has been a major part of my life.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54In the relationship I have with bears, it seems though,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57that I'm the one that is benefiting the most.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00What are the bears getting from me?
0:46:00 > 0:46:02What can I give them?
0:46:11 > 0:46:15We get so much from nature and we give so little back.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22Aldo Leopold wrote more than 60 years ago that the way
0:46:22 > 0:46:25to saving the natural ecosystems of this planet,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27and ultimately ourselves,
0:46:27 > 0:46:34was by developing a personal relationship to the land and its myriad inhabitants.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37It was only by walking this path
0:46:37 > 0:46:40that we would ever be able to learn to love the wild
0:46:40 > 0:46:42enough to want to save it.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49For me the doorway to that path has been through the grizzly bear.
0:46:56 > 0:47:01It was October, and the first snows were beginning to dust the peaks.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06I knew this was my last chance to find a grizzly in my home mountains.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15On this late autumn day
0:47:15 > 0:47:17I finally found my grizzly.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Even though it was a long way away,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26as soon as I spotted it I knew right away what it was.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29The size and shape of its head and body,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32the colour of its back and hump.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38Even though I couldn't get any closer, it didn't really matter.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Just knowing that they're here is all the proof I need.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55We need to learn to love the wild,
0:47:55 > 0:47:59and I think there is no better place to start than with the grizzly.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08100 years ago Aldo Leopold saw the last grizzly in Arizona.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14The fact that today, I can still find a grizzly bear in my home mountains,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17despite the impact of our use on the land,
0:48:17 > 0:48:19gives me hope for the future.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43One of my inspirations for making this film was a short story
0:48:43 > 0:48:47written by Aldo Leopold, from his famous book, A Sand County Almanac.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50It's a story of a grizzly in the mountains of Arizona.
0:48:50 > 0:48:56And although it happened 100 years ago, Leopold's insights still ring true today.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05In 1909, Aldo Leopold came to work in eastern Arizona
0:49:05 > 0:49:09at a time when the American Wild West was coming to an end.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16Leopold was a man who enjoyed nature and the outdoors.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19He revelled in the raw wildness of this new country.
0:49:22 > 0:49:28His love for this wilderness was captured in his story called Escudilla,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32which was about a mountain and the grizzly bear that lived upon it.
0:49:32 > 0:49:37The mountain was the symbol of the foundation of wild nature
0:49:37 > 0:49:41that was present and visible in all aspects of his life in Arizona.
0:49:46 > 0:49:51After graduating from the Yale School of Forestry,
0:49:51 > 0:49:57Leopold got a job in the Apache National Forest measuring the areas of virgin timber,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00to determine the extent of the lumber that could be removed.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06He wrote about his mixed feelings in converting these beautiful trees
0:50:06 > 0:50:11into remote notebook figures, representing hypothetical lumber piles.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18But he could always emerge from a long and tiring day in the woods
0:50:18 > 0:50:23to be refreshed by the sight of the great mountain hanging on the horizon.
0:50:23 > 0:50:28As he wrote it, "But on the next ridge a cold wind
0:50:28 > 0:50:33"roaring across a sea of pines blew his doubts away..."
0:50:33 > 0:50:36MAN: On the far shore hung Escudilla.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43MAN: There was in fact only one place from which
0:50:43 > 0:50:46you did not see Escudilla on the skyline.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49That was the top of Escudilla itself.
0:50:49 > 0:50:55Up there, you could not see the mountain but you could feel it.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58The reason was the big bear.
0:51:02 > 0:51:08Old Big Foot was a robber bear, and Escudilla was his castle.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22No-one ever saw the old bear,
0:51:22 > 0:51:26but in the muddy springs around the base of the cliffs
0:51:26 > 0:51:28you saw his incredible tracks.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36Seeing them made the most hard-bitten cowboys aware of bear.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42Wherever they rode they saw the mountain,
0:51:42 > 0:51:45and when they saw the mountain they thought of bear.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55Campfire conversation ran to beef, bails and bear.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Big Foot claimed for his own only a cow a year,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05and a few square miles of useless rock.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10But his personality pervaded the county.
0:52:15 > 0:52:21Leopold lived in the American west at a time when it was undergoing massive change.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Progress was coming to cattle country.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27And progress had various emissaries.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31One was the first transcontinental automobilist.
0:52:31 > 0:52:36Automobiles were just beginning to replace the horse as the main means of transport.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40Another was a member of the women's suffrage movement
0:52:40 > 0:52:44that travelled the land promoting the new and radical idea
0:52:44 > 0:52:47that women should have the same rights to vote as men.
0:52:49 > 0:52:54Another change saw the stringing of the first telephone lines through the wilderness.
0:52:54 > 0:52:59Now even the far flung corners of the land were being connected
0:52:59 > 0:53:02by wires that could transmit instantaneous messages.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09And Leopold also wrote about another emissary of progress,
0:53:09 > 0:53:11but one with a much darker mission.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18LEOPOLD: A government trapper, a sort of St George in overalls...
0:53:19 > 0:53:22..seeking dragons to slay at government expense.
0:53:28 > 0:53:35"Were there", he asked, "any destructive animals in need of slaying?"
0:53:35 > 0:53:40Yes, there was the big bear.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51The trapper packed his mule and headed for Escudilla.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05In a month he was back...
0:54:06 > 0:54:09..his mule staggering under a heavy hide.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20There was only one barn in town big enough to dry it on.
0:54:27 > 0:54:34He had tried traps, poison and all his usual wiles to no avail.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41He had erected a set-gun in a defile,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44through which only the bear could pass, and waited.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22The last grizzly walked into the string
0:55:22 > 0:55:25and shot himself.
0:55:25 > 0:55:26GUNSHOT
0:55:29 > 0:55:31It was June.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33The pelt was foul.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36Patchy and worthless.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42It seemed to us rather an insult to deny the last grizzly
0:55:42 > 0:55:47the chance to leave a good pelt as a memorial to his race.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51It was only after we pondered on these things that
0:55:51 > 0:55:56we began to wonder who wrote the rules for progress.
0:55:59 > 0:56:05Since the beginning, time had gnawed at the basaltic hulk of Escudilla,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09wasting, waiting and building.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14Time built three things on the old mountain.
0:56:14 > 0:56:20A venerable aspect, a community of minor animals and plants,
0:56:20 > 0:56:23and a grizzly.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27The government trapper who took the grizzly
0:56:27 > 0:56:31knew he had made Escudilla safe for cows.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34He did not know he had toppled the spire off an edifice,
0:56:34 > 0:56:39a building since the morning stars sang together.
0:56:48 > 0:56:54We forest officers who acquiesced in the extinguishment of the bear
0:56:54 > 0:56:57knew a local rancher who had ploughed up a dagger
0:56:57 > 0:57:01engraved with the name of one of Coronado's captains.
0:57:05 > 0:57:10We spoke harshly of the Spaniards who, in their zeal for gold and converts,
0:57:10 > 0:57:14had needlessly extinguished the native Indians.
0:57:21 > 0:57:27It did not occur to us that we, too, were the captains of an invasion
0:57:27 > 0:57:30too sure of its own righteousness.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Escudilla still hangs on the horizon.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44But when you see it, you no longer think of bear.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48It's only a mountain now.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:16 > 0:58:19E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk