On the eve of the Chilkat Valley’s first bear festival, one group of guests was conspicuous by its absence early this week: bears.
“The bears aren’t here,” said Ann Puffer, an organizer of the two-day event that starts at Harriett Hall Friday evening. “Speedy (a 10-year-old sow ear-tagged #235) is the only one that’s been active at the river this year.”
But don’t worry yet, it’s still early in the bear season, said Anthony Crupi, regional bear biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, who has studied brown bears along the Chilkoot River since 2000.
“This is about when things start to pick up. At this point in the year, we typically have one or two bears. I know we have two adult females out there and at least one cub,” said Crupi, who will share information about the local bears at the festival Friday night, including six years of data from radio-collared Chilkoot bears.
By the third week in August, there are usually four or five bears along the river, Crupi said. Numbers increase until peaking in mid-September, when 15 or more individuals can be counted on a single night, he said.
Worries about missing bears aren’t unique to Haines this year. Yakutat residents are saying the same thing. Sightings may be low because warm spring temperatures generated abundant vegetative browse.
Also, last year’s pink salmon return on the Chilkoot River – at 8,195, the lowest number since 1996 – wasn’t good for cub survival. Chilkoot pink escapement has averaged 49,000 since 2000, Crupi said.
As of press time Wednesday, 11,000 pinks had passed Chilkoot weir, a number about 1,500 fish off the 10-year average of 12,500 for this week, according to fisheries biologists in Haines. Rain-gorged river flows may be slowing escapement, they said.
This time of year, brown bears might be along the Chilkoot Lake shoreline, Crupi said. Almost 100,000 spawning sockeye salmon have escaped into the lake, an unexpected jump from a run that was projected to be below the 10-year average escapement of 65,287 reds. Fish and Game aims to get between 38,000 and 86,000 spawning sockeye in the lake each year.
This year’s large sockeye escapement may be attracting relatively more bears to Chilkoot Lake, Crupi said.
“In July and early August, most bears are on the lake or somewhere else. They’re on walkabout for the best places where sockeye spawn,” Crupi said. “The berries are also good right now and it’s about 10 days before the pinks (salmon) ripen up and spawn.”
The “Celebration of Bears” festival is a free, family-oriented event to learn about bears and participate in fun activities.
Events ranging from talks about safety in bear country to bear biology and Tlingit cultural understandings of bears will be held at the public library, Harriett Hall, ANB Hall and Tlingit Park through Saturday.
For more information, go to http://www.bearfoundation.org. Sockeye Cycle, Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation and Great Bear Foundation are sponsors of the event. See bottom of page 9 for a full schedule of events.