VITAL GROUND FOUNDATION INC

Vital Ground works to protect and restore North America's grizzly bear populations for future generations by conserving wildlife habitat, and by supporting programs that reduce conflicts between bears and humans.

Working with private land owners,we:
1) protect critical landscapes with land acquisition and conservation easements that grizzlies need to survive, not only for bears but for all other species that share their world;
2) work to prevent conflicts between bears and humans;
3) target projects that sustain habitat connections and conserve the highest priority landscapes; and
4) ground our projects in current science and strong partnerships.

With a seasoned and knowledgeable staff, and working with volunteers and partners, we collaborate, assess, and complete long term projects to protect and restore natural areas and corridors where grizzlies and other wildlife can move freely and safely. Vital Ground is an accredited land trust and uses private land conservation tools to permanently protect key habitat.

Since 2018, Vital Ground has worked with over 60 grizzly bear biologists and managers to identify and prioritize the private lands most important for habitat protection and conflict prevention. We've identified more than 188,000 acres critical for habitat protection through land acquisition or conservation easements. Biologists also prioritized 21 landscapes needing activities to reduce conflicts between bears and people. Our conservation efforts in the coming years will be aimed at protecting and connecting these critical landscapes for bears and other threatened wildlife communities.

Since its founding in 1990, Vital Ground worked with conservation partners to protect, enhance and conserve over 1 million acres of critical wildlife habitat in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, and British Columbia. Since becoming an accredited land trust in 2005, we have protected in perpetuity 59 properties on over 10,000 acres in the U.S. Northern Rockies.

As the urgency for land protection accelerates, Vital Ground has increased its impact. In the next two years, we aim to permanently protect more than 10,000 acres of private land in Montana and Idaho. This work supports one of the most diverse and intact large-scale wildlife communities left in the world.