By Jessica Edwards
Division of Parks officials this week said $10,000 for a bear monitor
position along the Chilkoot River corridor was likely to materialize in coming weeks, and
the Haines Borough Assembly Tuesday voted to contribute $2,000 toward the position.
Parks director James King is trying to get $2,000 each from Haines
Borough, Division of Parks, Division of Sport Fish, Division of Commercial Fisheries, and
Division of Wildlife Conservation.
"He’s trying to cobble up something among the agencies out
there," said Haines state park ranger Joel Telford. He said King has spoken to
borough mayor Fred Shields about the contribution. "That would get us through the
season, anyhow."
Regional parks superintendent Mike Eberhardt said he hoped the
borough’s decision Tuesday to dedicate $2,000 would put pressure on the other
agencies to commit money.
If funded, a monitor would begin mid-July and work through the end of
August, during the period of heaviest bear traffic.
"My guess is the money will show up," Eberhardt said.
"It won’t be a law enforcement person at $10,000, but we will have some presence
out there."
The bear monitor position will be similar to one funded between 2002
and 2007 by Fish and Game, he said, serving in an educational and interpretive capacity.
Eberhardt said reinstating the position without additional enforcement
authority was less than ideal, as past monitors have said enforcement is difficult without
a badge.
Funding for planning and enforcement next year would rely on pressure
applied by local groups and the municipality on the legislature and governor’s
office, Eberhardt said.
State Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, this year put $90,000 in the
state’s operating budget for interagency planning at Chilkoot, but Gov. Sarah Palin
vetoed the money in June.
Increasingly heavy visitation and tourism to the area to view bears
feeding along the Chilkoot River have caused serious concern for public safety over the
past decade, but the complex overlapping jurisdictions of state agencies and private and
tribal land holdings has delayed tighter management.
"I’m delighted it looks good for a monitor position this
year," said Pam Randles, a member of a local group formed to lobby the governor and
legislature following Palin’s veto.
The group’s first priority has been securing immediate funding for
a bear monitor, she said, with a long-term goal of reinstating management planning money.
"I hope we can get an enforcement person out there in the
future," Randles said. Although past monitors had successfully diffused a majority of
interactions between bears and humans at Chilkoot, those who didn’t respond to past
monitors set an unfortunate precedent. It’s critical that a bear monitor have
authority to issue citations, she said.
The monitor will get a uniform and shotgun training but won’t
issue citations, Telford said.
