Lynne Seus

Nebraska native, Lynne Seus, along with her husband, Doug, who hails from Pennsylvania, bought their first captive Rocky Mountain wolf in 1971 and subsequently launched a career in the animal training business for the entertainment industry. Between educational programs for universities and commercial shoots for television, Lynne and Doug expanded collectible North American animals including cougars, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, raccoons and owls. However in 1977, these two famed animal handlers bought an orphaned Kodiak bear cub from a zoo in Peoria, Illinois. They founded Vital Ground Foundation in 1990 through a purchase of two hundred and forty acres of prime grizzly bear habitat adjoining The Nature Conservancy's Pine Butte Swamp Preserve along the eastern front of Missoula, Montana's Rocky Mountains. Their cinematic work with Bart the Bear including The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986), The Great Outdoors (1988), Legends of the Fall (1994), and The Edge (1997). The Seuses operate Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife in Heber City, Utah. Their exclusive focus in on grizzly bears and timber wolves. A substantial amount of their time, resources and the talent of their animals are dedicated to promoting the work of Vital Ground.