Finn McMahon practices using bear spray during the Living With Bears presentation at the public library on Friday, April 28, 2023. Residents also got to pet Karelian bear dogs.

Haines police say they haven’t yet gotten any calls about bears yet this season. But several residents have posted photos of paw prints or other bear sign on social media – so it’s clear they’re waking up. 

Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife management biologist…

Rashah McChesney is a multimedia journalist and editor who has reported and edited newsrooms from the Deep South to the Midwest to Alaska. For the past decade, she has worked in collaborative news as the...