But biologically, we need to treat them as if they weren't there. To understand how boundaries affect wildlife, says Quinn, consider the plight of the transboundary North American grizzly bear. In the United States, grizzlies are protected by the Endangered Species Act. In Canada, the far-roaming carnivores have no such legal protection. In the United States, where grizzlies are slowly expanding their habitat east of the Rocky Mountains, the Endangered Species Act cannot protect them outside of existing, recognized habitat areas.
Grizzly bears know no boundaries.
This crossing sign is on the Shoderee Ranch near Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada, near the Montana border. Perhaps more important, he says, the two countries will benefit from a generation of new environmentalists who can work comfortably in both systems and on both sides of the border. Students enrolled in the Montana-Calgary course say the transboundary study is already helping them break down their own cultural and political barriers. Reflecting on his experiences in Central America as an environmentalist and labor organizer, Hughes says that even he is surprised today by the oft-pronounced differences in land management techniques in the two North American countries. Here in the United States, we tend to legislate conservation.