Change is coming to the Chilkoot Valley - Alaska Chilkoot Bear
Bear Tracts
A L A S K A C H I L K O OT BEAR FOUNDATION
V O L U M E
1 ,
I S S U E
1
W I N T E R / S P R I N G
2 0 0 9
Change is coming to the Chilkoot Valley Winter is upon us now as we enter our third year as an organization working to promote positive change for the Chilkoot. Last summer witnessed the return of bears familiar to us from seasons-past and visitors eager to see them. Most visitors know of a particular productive old sow who, three times in the past decade, reared triplets along the Chilkoot River. Most of those cubs died, the result of growing up too close to too many people. Fortunately though, BMJ (Big Mama Jama), identifiable by her immense size and perpendicular pinkie toe, returned last spring to try it again with yet another cub.
© Ron Horn BMJ, the most dominant sow on the river, returned with one new cub in 2008.
This sow finally realized success in the genetic sense last summer as well, when for the first time one of her cubs survived long enough to have cubs of her own.
It was
interesting to watch this five year old bear teach her two cubs to access and fish the river in the same patterns that BMJ had taught her. Chilkoot have been grim. INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
She beat those odds and now her cubs stand a chance at
learning to benefit from the river while avoiding human hazards. An undertaking easier said than done, though possible if the changes coming to the Chilkoot are positive. Bear Monitor Next Summer?
Bear Foundation Awarded Grant for BMJ Lives Interpretive Sign Grant
1 1
Bear Monitor 1 Update
Interpretive Signs
Last
The Rasmuson Foundation recently awarded the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation a $7k grant to make four riverside interpretive signs to educate the visitors about salmon, forest ecology, Native culture, and bear
CRC Recap Director Spotlight Injured Bear Update ACBF Mission
2 2 3 4
The odds of a cub surviving on the
behavior. The designs for the displays were
summer,
Alaska’s
Governor
Palin
received a resolution from the Haines Borough with supporting letters requesting that
the
bear
monitor
program
be
reinstated. ACBF also requested oversight by one agency with authority to create and manage a new special management area.
created three years ago by local contractors
This plan appears to be possible if Alaska’s
Tim
State budget passes.
Shields
and
Pam
Randles,
with
As proposed, this
assistance from Alaska State Parks. The
project includes funding for a natural
signs will be donated to Parks and in the
resource specialist to actively guide people
absence of a bear viewing platform will serve
to reduce bear-human interactions. Also, a
to
viewers.
management plan would be developed.
View the interpretive signs on our website:
Additional phases could include adding
www.bearfoundation.org
viewing walkways or moving the road.
passively
congregate
wildlife
- Anthony Crupi
PAGE
2
From then til now...
Help me by joining the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation. Do it now, before it is too late.
We believe that the best way to preserve the gifts of the Chilkoot and to resolve issues is to work cooperatively with the diverse interests that have a stake in the Chilkoot.
In the year 2000 the community of Haines held a town meeting to address problems that had arisen along the Chilkoot River. The Chilkoot is a small river that follows a glacier-carved valley from the Takshanuk Mountains to the salt water of Lutak Inlet. A long, narrow glacial lake is situated approximately one half mile above the river mouth. All five species of Pacific salmon are found in the river, three are abundant. The salmon provide food for a wide range of species, most notably the Alaskan brown bear, which is the largest land carnivore in the world. Humans also utilize the river corridor. For more than two millennia the Chilkoot Indians have shared the river with the bears, the eagles, the otter. However, the modern river is considerably different. Forty years ago loggers bulldozed a road along the shores of Lutak Inlet. In the late 1980's the road was upgraded and eventually paved, giving better access to the lower river and the lake. The Chilkoot was now virtually the only place in Alaska where people could drive to the water's edge and watch brown bear feed on salmon. And therein lies the problem. Increasing pressure from residential construction, sport fishing and tourism has changed the balance along the lower river. There are frequent bear/human encounters, displacing the bears from their feeding
activity. This raises public safety and conservation issues - and also economic issues, given the importance of tourism in the local economy. Following the town meeting in 2000 the Chilkoot River Corridor (CRC) Working Group was formed. Representatives from various user groups served on the committee - Lutak residents, sport fishermen, Chilkoot Natives, conservationists, and commercial tour operators. The committee used a consensus model and would not move forward until all stakeholders were in agreement. The committee’s work was facilitated by a five year study of human/bear interactions along the Chilkoot that was conducted by Anthony Crupi of Utah State University. After three years of meetings, the CRC Working Group came up with a plan that listed specific goals and proposals to meet those goals, both long term and immediate. For example, four interpretive signs were designed to educate the public, a code of conduct was created and a bear monitor program instituted to help mitigate bear/human interactions. Once the plan was devised, the group disbanded. Unfortunately in the continued on page 3
Why I choose to be a member of the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation Norman H. Blank Patricia and Norman Blank
Close to fifty years ago my wife, Patricia, and I arrived in Haines, and like so many other people eventually found our way to the Chilkoot River to go fishing. As soon as we had completed the short drive to Chilkoot Lake my thoughts were that I had never been to a more picturesque place, and I have had no reason to change my mind since. As a member of the Foundation I feel that I can be helpful in preserving the qualities of this unique area that make it important to so many people.
BEAR
TRACTS
VOLUME
1,
ISSUE
1
PAGE © Steve Vick ‐ UpNorth Photo
In recent years, bear/human conflicts like this have increased.
From then til now...continued from page 2 following years the group’s work lay fallow while the situation along the Chilkoot worsened. Management decisions were complicated by the patchwork of government authorities in the Chilkoot Valley - Alaska State Divisions of Parks, Forestry, Fish and Game, and Transportation - all had some degree of responsibility, yet no one agency was willing or able to take the reins. There was no funding for either interpretive signs or the monitor program.
3
of the CRC, a group of local residents formed the nonprofit Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation to function as a voice for the Chilkoot. Lifelong Alaskan Dick Folta, who was instrumental in the formation of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, was again a motivating force. He rallied the local residents and secured status as a nonprofit for the Foundation. Board members were drawn from the groups represented on the CRC Working Group. Anthony Crupi, whose studies along the Chilkoot enable him to recognize each bear (and quite a few of the tourists) was elected as president. And then the work began. The ACBF is currently seeking funding to implement the proposals of the CRC. Now, at last, the interpretive signs are ready to go in place. Funding for the bear monitor position for this summer is uncertain. Money for planning was placed in the state budget, then removed, and now possibly reinstated. Progress is being made but of a slow and dilatory nature. So slow that it makes a brown bear lazing in the grass of the lower river banks seem almost hasty by comparison. But we cannot give up. Unless we can forge alliances among organizations, individuals and government agencies, and somehow find the will to confront these problems, the Chilkoot will suffer the fate of so many other rivers and the beautiful web of salmon, bear and eagle will be only a memory.
Recognizing the need to continue the work
-Tom McGuire
Very localized news item - return of the crippled bear In 2007 an injured bear caught the attention of Chilkoot residents and visitors. It was a juvenile female whom we had watched accompanying her mother the previous two summers. Now she was on her own and something bad had happened. In late June she appeared dragging herself along by her forelegs, barely able to move. One of the neighbors had shot at an overly inquisitive bear, perhaps it was this one. There was no way of knowing the extent and cause of the injury without capturing the bear.
© Michael Quinton
The bear convalesced in a stand of grass near the river's edge. Gradually she became more mobile and when the salmon run began she was able to forage successfully. Because of her lack of mobility she was not as quick as other bears to flee the presence of humans and became a familiar presence alongside the sport fishermen and tourists. By the time of the fall rains she had gained considerable weight but still had very marginal use of her hind legs. Whether she could overwinter successfully was a big question.
However, last June the bear did in fact reappear. She was somewhat scrawny, with a thin coat and an atrophied right hind leg, but still alive. Like the previous summer she spent the early summer days in the tall grass by the river's mouth. Unfortunately she was soon in trouble again. She broke into a house and stole food from the kitchen. A neighbor shooed her away before she caused further damage but in the following days there were similar incidents. This was not a good scenario. In her crippled state the bear was at an extreme competitive disadvantage. If a bear comes to depend on people as a food source it will probably not enjoy a long life. On the brighter side, by mid-June three sows with cubs had been sighted on the lower river. One with three cubs, another with two. A third sow had two cubs initially but, sadly, one of them disappeared. The lower Chilkoot has long been a productive nursery for brown bears but lately fewer cubs have been evident. This year's crop is cause for celebration but the question remains: when the salmon return to the river will the ever-increasing human activity displace the mother bears from the lower Chilkoot River banks? - Tom McGuire
© Erin Williams Bears and people come in close contact , as food and angler’s fish are easy prey.
ACBF was recently awarded a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to have 4 interpretive signs built. This sign represents the ecology of the bear-salmon forest.
Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation – Mission Statement For more than two thousand years humans have shared the Chilkoot River valley with salmon, brown bear and eagles. As the home for many generations of Chilkoot Natives the land is a repository of cultural significance, as well as prime wildlife habitat. The lower river corridor is currently used by local residents and travelers for subsistence and sport fishing, for wildlife viewing and commercial tourism. Increased pressure on the resource has called into question whether the balance of human and bear activity can continue. The ACBF would like to help forge partnerships to ensure that all elements of the ecosystem will continue to exist in harmony for generations to come.
Hibernation Reminder Please RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP to the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation each winter solstice.
Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation PO BOX 1188 Haines, Alaska 99827 { MAILING LABELS HERE }
phone: 907-321-3403 email: [email protected] Bear Tracts is published by ACBF, a volunteer run non-profit organization. We rely on your support and membership to help protect the Chilkoot River watershed for generations to come.
Partnerships for Harmony in Nature www.bearfoundation.org
A L A S K A C H I L K O OT BEAR FOUNDATION
V O L U M E
1 ,
I S S U E
1
W I N T E R / S P R I N G
2 0 0 9
Change is coming to the Chilkoot Valley Winter is upon us now as we enter our third year as an organization working to promote positive change for the Chilkoot. Last summer witnessed the return of bears familiar to us from seasons-past and visitors eager to see them. Most visitors know of a particular productive old sow who, three times in the past decade, reared triplets along the Chilkoot River. Most of those cubs died, the result of growing up too close to too many people. Fortunately though, BMJ (Big Mama Jama), identifiable by her immense size and perpendicular pinkie toe, returned last spring to try it again with yet another cub.
© Ron Horn BMJ, the most dominant sow on the river, returned with one new cub in 2008.
This sow finally realized success in the genetic sense last summer as well, when for the first time one of her cubs survived long enough to have cubs of her own.
It was
interesting to watch this five year old bear teach her two cubs to access and fish the river in the same patterns that BMJ had taught her. Chilkoot have been grim. INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
She beat those odds and now her cubs stand a chance at
learning to benefit from the river while avoiding human hazards. An undertaking easier said than done, though possible if the changes coming to the Chilkoot are positive. Bear Monitor Next Summer?
Bear Foundation Awarded Grant for BMJ Lives Interpretive Sign Grant
1 1
Bear Monitor 1 Update
Interpretive Signs
Last
The Rasmuson Foundation recently awarded the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation a $7k grant to make four riverside interpretive signs to educate the visitors about salmon, forest ecology, Native culture, and bear
CRC Recap Director Spotlight Injured Bear Update ACBF Mission
2 2 3 4
The odds of a cub surviving on the
behavior. The designs for the displays were
summer,
Alaska’s
Governor
Palin
received a resolution from the Haines Borough with supporting letters requesting that
the
bear
monitor
program
be
reinstated. ACBF also requested oversight by one agency with authority to create and manage a new special management area.
created three years ago by local contractors
This plan appears to be possible if Alaska’s
Tim
State budget passes.
Shields
and
Pam
Randles,
with
As proposed, this
assistance from Alaska State Parks. The
project includes funding for a natural
signs will be donated to Parks and in the
resource specialist to actively guide people
absence of a bear viewing platform will serve
to reduce bear-human interactions. Also, a
to
viewers.
management plan would be developed.
View the interpretive signs on our website:
Additional phases could include adding
www.bearfoundation.org
viewing walkways or moving the road.
passively
congregate
wildlife
- Anthony Crupi
PAGE
2
From then til now...
Help me by joining the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation. Do it now, before it is too late.
We believe that the best way to preserve the gifts of the Chilkoot and to resolve issues is to work cooperatively with the diverse interests that have a stake in the Chilkoot.
In the year 2000 the community of Haines held a town meeting to address problems that had arisen along the Chilkoot River. The Chilkoot is a small river that follows a glacier-carved valley from the Takshanuk Mountains to the salt water of Lutak Inlet. A long, narrow glacial lake is situated approximately one half mile above the river mouth. All five species of Pacific salmon are found in the river, three are abundant. The salmon provide food for a wide range of species, most notably the Alaskan brown bear, which is the largest land carnivore in the world. Humans also utilize the river corridor. For more than two millennia the Chilkoot Indians have shared the river with the bears, the eagles, the otter. However, the modern river is considerably different. Forty years ago loggers bulldozed a road along the shores of Lutak Inlet. In the late 1980's the road was upgraded and eventually paved, giving better access to the lower river and the lake. The Chilkoot was now virtually the only place in Alaska where people could drive to the water's edge and watch brown bear feed on salmon. And therein lies the problem. Increasing pressure from residential construction, sport fishing and tourism has changed the balance along the lower river. There are frequent bear/human encounters, displacing the bears from their feeding
activity. This raises public safety and conservation issues - and also economic issues, given the importance of tourism in the local economy. Following the town meeting in 2000 the Chilkoot River Corridor (CRC) Working Group was formed. Representatives from various user groups served on the committee - Lutak residents, sport fishermen, Chilkoot Natives, conservationists, and commercial tour operators. The committee used a consensus model and would not move forward until all stakeholders were in agreement. The committee’s work was facilitated by a five year study of human/bear interactions along the Chilkoot that was conducted by Anthony Crupi of Utah State University. After three years of meetings, the CRC Working Group came up with a plan that listed specific goals and proposals to meet those goals, both long term and immediate. For example, four interpretive signs were designed to educate the public, a code of conduct was created and a bear monitor program instituted to help mitigate bear/human interactions. Once the plan was devised, the group disbanded. Unfortunately in the continued on page 3
Why I choose to be a member of the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation Norman H. Blank Patricia and Norman Blank
Close to fifty years ago my wife, Patricia, and I arrived in Haines, and like so many other people eventually found our way to the Chilkoot River to go fishing. As soon as we had completed the short drive to Chilkoot Lake my thoughts were that I had never been to a more picturesque place, and I have had no reason to change my mind since. As a member of the Foundation I feel that I can be helpful in preserving the qualities of this unique area that make it important to so many people.
BEAR
TRACTS
VOLUME
1,
ISSUE
1
PAGE © Steve Vick ‐ UpNorth Photo
In recent years, bear/human conflicts like this have increased.
From then til now...continued from page 2 following years the group’s work lay fallow while the situation along the Chilkoot worsened. Management decisions were complicated by the patchwork of government authorities in the Chilkoot Valley - Alaska State Divisions of Parks, Forestry, Fish and Game, and Transportation - all had some degree of responsibility, yet no one agency was willing or able to take the reins. There was no funding for either interpretive signs or the monitor program.
3
of the CRC, a group of local residents formed the nonprofit Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation to function as a voice for the Chilkoot. Lifelong Alaskan Dick Folta, who was instrumental in the formation of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, was again a motivating force. He rallied the local residents and secured status as a nonprofit for the Foundation. Board members were drawn from the groups represented on the CRC Working Group. Anthony Crupi, whose studies along the Chilkoot enable him to recognize each bear (and quite a few of the tourists) was elected as president. And then the work began. The ACBF is currently seeking funding to implement the proposals of the CRC. Now, at last, the interpretive signs are ready to go in place. Funding for the bear monitor position for this summer is uncertain. Money for planning was placed in the state budget, then removed, and now possibly reinstated. Progress is being made but of a slow and dilatory nature. So slow that it makes a brown bear lazing in the grass of the lower river banks seem almost hasty by comparison. But we cannot give up. Unless we can forge alliances among organizations, individuals and government agencies, and somehow find the will to confront these problems, the Chilkoot will suffer the fate of so many other rivers and the beautiful web of salmon, bear and eagle will be only a memory.
Recognizing the need to continue the work
-Tom McGuire
Very localized news item - return of the crippled bear In 2007 an injured bear caught the attention of Chilkoot residents and visitors. It was a juvenile female whom we had watched accompanying her mother the previous two summers. Now she was on her own and something bad had happened. In late June she appeared dragging herself along by her forelegs, barely able to move. One of the neighbors had shot at an overly inquisitive bear, perhaps it was this one. There was no way of knowing the extent and cause of the injury without capturing the bear.
© Michael Quinton
The bear convalesced in a stand of grass near the river's edge. Gradually she became more mobile and when the salmon run began she was able to forage successfully. Because of her lack of mobility she was not as quick as other bears to flee the presence of humans and became a familiar presence alongside the sport fishermen and tourists. By the time of the fall rains she had gained considerable weight but still had very marginal use of her hind legs. Whether she could overwinter successfully was a big question.
However, last June the bear did in fact reappear. She was somewhat scrawny, with a thin coat and an atrophied right hind leg, but still alive. Like the previous summer she spent the early summer days in the tall grass by the river's mouth. Unfortunately she was soon in trouble again. She broke into a house and stole food from the kitchen. A neighbor shooed her away before she caused further damage but in the following days there were similar incidents. This was not a good scenario. In her crippled state the bear was at an extreme competitive disadvantage. If a bear comes to depend on people as a food source it will probably not enjoy a long life. On the brighter side, by mid-June three sows with cubs had been sighted on the lower river. One with three cubs, another with two. A third sow had two cubs initially but, sadly, one of them disappeared. The lower Chilkoot has long been a productive nursery for brown bears but lately fewer cubs have been evident. This year's crop is cause for celebration but the question remains: when the salmon return to the river will the ever-increasing human activity displace the mother bears from the lower Chilkoot River banks? - Tom McGuire
© Erin Williams Bears and people come in close contact , as food and angler’s fish are easy prey.
ACBF was recently awarded a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to have 4 interpretive signs built. This sign represents the ecology of the bear-salmon forest.
Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation – Mission Statement For more than two thousand years humans have shared the Chilkoot River valley with salmon, brown bear and eagles. As the home for many generations of Chilkoot Natives the land is a repository of cultural significance, as well as prime wildlife habitat. The lower river corridor is currently used by local residents and travelers for subsistence and sport fishing, for wildlife viewing and commercial tourism. Increased pressure on the resource has called into question whether the balance of human and bear activity can continue. The ACBF would like to help forge partnerships to ensure that all elements of the ecosystem will continue to exist in harmony for generations to come.
Hibernation Reminder Please RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP to the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation each winter solstice.
Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation PO BOX 1188 Haines, Alaska 99827 { MAILING LABELS HERE }
phone: 907-321-3403 email: [email protected] Bear Tracts is published by ACBF, a volunteer run non-profit organization. We rely on your support and membership to help protect the Chilkoot River watershed for generations to come.
Partnerships for Harmony in Nature www.bearfoundation.org
