Founded in 1990, Vital Ground is an accredited land trust that protects and connects the highest priority grizzly bear and wildlife habitat with strategic conservation easements and land acquisitions.  We also work with community partners to prevent conflicts between bears and people.  To date, Vital Ground has helped to protect, enhance and conserve over 900,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, and British Columbia. We have protected in perpetuity 50 properties on over 9,000 acres.We recently worked with more than 60 biologists to determine the highest priority private lands in need of habitat protection and conflict prevention. This conservation assessment prioritizes 188,000 acres for protection and 21 landscapes for conflict prevention efforts. We are now working to protect and connect these critical landscapes.