Thomas floats idea
for Chilkoot bears

By Tom Morphet

State Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, told the Haines Chamber of Commerce last week he’s floating a proposal that would close a section of road along Chilkoot River for bear viewing, perhaps by resurrecting a section of the Glory Hole Road to get motorists and campers into Chilkoot Lake.

The proposal is a response to community requests for action and concerns by the state about liability, said Thomas, who has been discussing options for the area with state Division of Parks director James King.  

Closing the road has been discussed previously. Thomas’ idea is to close it between a lodge recently built by the Folletti family on a riverside bluff and the Chilkoot culture camp, and designate the area as a special recreation use area under the state Division of Parks that allows traditional activities, akin to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

Elevated walkways and viewing platforms would be built to improve viewing and minimize run-ins between bears and people. Similar platforms work well at a bear-viwing area near a hatchery in Kake, Thomas said.

An uptick in brown bear visitation during the past decade has attracted visitors, photographers and tour companies to the short river that was previously the domain of sport fishermen. Traffic jams and dangerously close bear encounters are among the problems that have resulted along the narrow, unregulated stretch of riverside road. A 2003 report estimated 80,000 visitors are drawn to the area each summer.

Thomas said he hopes to have a meeting in Haines on the idea in the next few months. “We’ll go forward and see how people are with it. It can go one way or the other. You know Haines.”

Staffers in his office are currently considering the boundaries of the proposed special use area, he said. The land in the road closure area is held by the state, he said.

Parks director King said the discussion of a special use area is so new, he’s apprehensive about talking about it.

“This is just an idea. It’s conceptual. We’re not pushing anything on anybody. We’re just throwing out ideas and trying to move the discussion a little further down the road,” King said.

King said it makes sense to move the road off the river, to focus the uses that need to be along the river, and to put the area under a single agency’s authority. “You’d give one agency jurisdiction to go in and manage recreation and deal with the challenges of having a lot of different users in one small area.”

Potential changes may include moving the campground and boat-launch away from lakeside areas frequented by bears, King said.

“It’s not our jurisdiction at this time to be taking the lead with this. The next step is the community needs to come forward and flesh out these ideas a little further and see if (the proposal) is going to be something the community will support, or are there concerns,” King said.

Tour operator Dan Egolf this week said he wasn’t sure whether he’d agree with closing the road. The option was discussed by a Chilkoot River Corridor working group that came up with recommendations for the area six years ago, but there wasn’t consensus on it, Egolf said.

One issue is that cars provide a refuge for viewers who need to get away from bears quickly, he said.

“How do you access the bear-viewing stands? If the bear-viewing stand is going to be for 20 people, there’s got to be a parking area for 20 cars,” Egolf said.

Relocating the road west of the existing one would potentially impact bear bedding areas as well as hundreds of archaeological features from the historic Chilkoot village site, Egolf said.

The CRC working group came up with recommendations that have been implemented, he said, including starting a bear monitor program, prohibiting camping on the road, getting people off the river’s east side and erecting signage.

Chilkoot Natives are so concerned about disturbing sites that even signs in the area have been set in buckets instead of into the ground, Egolf said. “It’s a touchy thing, trying to lessen the impact of the human footprint on that area. I don’t think there’s a quick fix.”

Pam Randles sits on the board of the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation, a group dedicated to protecting Chilkoot bears and promoting co-existence with people.

The foundation doesn’t have a position on Thomas’ proposal, but there are merits to it, Randles said, namely removing crowds of cars and people from bears. Impacts on bear bedding areas posed by a new road are a concern, but not one greater than problems with the current road location, she said.

“What we have now is a safety and liability issue for people and bears,” Randles said.

Closing the road raises the question of accommodating sport fishermen, some of whom use their cars to stow their catch, Randles said. A photo on the foundation’s website shows two bears fishing for salmon in close proximity to nine anglers.

Randles said she also expected tour companies would have concerns with Thomas’ proposal.

“That’s a multi-million-dollar income source for the community. If we’re going to change the pattern of visitation there, we’re going to have to think it through,” she said. “(The proposal) is very much worth looking at, but there are a lot of kinks.”

For his part, Thomas said he expected the proposal would draw fire.

Using the former Glory Hole Road would require agreement by the numerous heirs to the Frank Dennis allotment, he said. The allotment is located where the Glory Hole Road and Lutak Road intersect.

 Thomas said he foresees gating the Glory Hole Road where it would extend beyond the campground road.

If the Connelly Lake hydroelectric project advances, the road beyond the campground would be improved with bridges, but he would favor limiting that section to non-commercial use by hikers and four-wheelers. 

Parks director King said discussion of Connelly Lake would be part of the larger planning process. “The process would look at all those things, but the community has to band together to decide them, and make a clear decision on what they want to see happen.”

For this season, the state has budgeted for a bear monitor, who advises visitors on behavior around bears. The bear foundation’s Randles said she hopes a contribution from the borough would fund two monitors, as one isn’t enough to manage crowds at the site, she said.

Bears gather along the river from mid-July to mid-September.