Timeshare Shows Up in the Most Unusual Situations… This One is Bearable

Sometimes we run across timeshare news that just isn’t the vacation ownership story we usually present on The Timeshare Authority blog.

This atypical story of shared property ‘ownership’ is like most timeshares in that it involves a scenic locale. But beyond that, you won’t find many of the components typically associated with timesharing, such as the choice between a one or two-bedroom timeshare condo, a sparkling swimming pool, or even a comfy fireside for toasting your toes after a day on the ski slopes.

Instead, this timeshare involves 650 acres of working forest in Boundary Creek, Idaho and a simple arrangement of land sharing between the timber investment firm of Forest Capital Partners and a dozen or more grizzly bears. The arrangement was entered into last June in the hopes of protecting the bears, that were once considered an endangered species and are still protected by the US federal government as a recovering species.

Timeshare for the Bears

The rugged and beautiful land involved in the timeshare is located in a valley between the Purcell mountains and northern Idaho’s Selkirk Mountains. Because as many as a dozen grizzlies have been seen at a time in the Boundary Creek land parcel, loggers have agreed to suspend or curtail operations there especially during the spring and fall when the grizzlies use the areas as a migratory corridor.

Robyn Miller, who is The Nature Conservancy’s conservation manager for northern Idaho, says, “This project is a phenomenal example of conservation that permanently protects important habitat for endangered species, while also supporting the local economy.”

And it serves to remind all of us, that no matter how you look at it, timeshare is a fundamental concept with many merits and a surprising number of applications.

Learn more about protecting wildlife. The Nature Conservancy