Khutzeymateen Inlet West Conservancy is part of the Khutzeymateen group of protected areas northwest of Prince Rupert and north of Lax Kw'alaams. BC Parks says the Khutzeymateen Inlet and Khutzeymateen Inlet West conservancies were designated in spring 2008 after negotiations between the provincial government and First Nations governments following the North Coast land-use plan.
Access to the protected areas is primarily by boat, while floatplane and helicopter access to Khutzeymateen Park is tightly controlled.
Khutzeymateen Inlet West Conservancy is a small but important part of a carefully managed coastal protection complex. BC Parks describes it as a 362-hectare Schedule F conservancy within the Khutzeymateen Inlet, allowing necessary resource access to adjacent timber harvesting lands while adding protection for Khutzeymateen Inlet Conservancy and the grizzly bear sanctuary.
The wider inlet contains locally important salmon-bearing streams, key intertidal areas, and areas of First Nations traditional use. It is historically associated with the Gitsi'is Tribe and with Lax Kw'alaams and Metlakatla First Nations, collectively Coast Tsimshian.
Visitors should treat the area as a regulated grizzly habitat destination. Guided grizzly bear viewing tours must use a permitted guide, and visitors arriving in the inlet are asked to check in at the K'tzim-a-deen ranger station.
Plan around permitted guided grizzly viewing, boat-based travel, salmon-stream and intertidal awareness, cultural learning, careful photography, marine route planning, and hunting only where open and permitted.
There is no land access in the grizzly bear sanctuary, and the Khutzeymateen River estuary is closed to public access. Check in at the ranger station and follow all inlet conservancy and sanctuary rules.
