* More than 44 percent of the North American coastal rainforest - ranging from Northern California Redwoods to Kodiak Island, Alaska - has been developed. Only 16 percent of the rainforest has been protected, over two-thirds of which is in Alaska. South of Canada, many protected areas are situated in mountains and non-forested areas.
* Of the 15 largest watersheds in British Columbia, 14 are more than 40 percent developed.
* South of the Canadian border, only three watersheds are less than 50 percent developed: Elwha River in Washington, Taylor Creek in Oregon and Big Sur River in California.
* Only 11 of 46 large watersheds remain intact, including five in Alaska and six in British Columbia. No pristine coastal rainforest watershed remains intact south of Canada.
* At the time of the first European exploration, 68 different First Nation (Indian) language groups lived among the coastal rainforests, with an estimated population of 234,000. They included 16 groups in California, 15 in Oregon, 16 in Washington, 18 in British Columbia and 3 in Southeast Alaska. Of these, 26 languages are extinct; 18 are spoken by fewer than 10 persons; 12 by fewer than 100 and 8 by more than 100. The status of four groups is unknown.
* After a century and a half of development, First Nation populations are a fraction of their former size, the native forests are much smaller, and the non-natives who moved in number in the millions.
Source: Rain Forests of Home: An Atlas of People and Place, by Ecotrust, Pacific GIS and Conservational International, 1995.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1997
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