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Kootznoowoo Wilderness: The Bear Fort

Walk carefully here. The Tlingít people of Southeast Alaska have long known that brown bear outnumber people by a large margin in the rainforest island wilderness known as Kootznoowoo, the “bear fort.” Here the brown bear confronts us with our fear of the primeval forest and serves as the ambassador for all things wild. If we followed the brown bear through the course of her year, from her rocky alpine den to a coastal stream exploding with spawning salmon, we’d discover a vast place known intimately by smell and taste. If we followed her tracks along the edge of a meadow to her lingering scent on the bark of a spruce tree, we’d inhale her secret message: “I am here, I walk this place.” It is your place to feel the wild pulse of the earth, where the ambassador treads on padded feet. Walk carefully.

"When a pine needle falls in the forest, the eagle sees it; the deer hears it, and the bear smells it."
- an old First Nations saying