The latest iteration of bear-proof fencing at Community Waste Solutions uses materials that were discarded at the landfill in addition to chainlink fencing, hotwire, and weed wrap shown on Monday, July 15, 2024, at the landfill in Haines, Alaska. (Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News)
The latest iteration of bear-proof fencing at Community Waste Solutions uses materials that were discarded at the landfill in addition to chainlink fencing, hotwire, and weed wrap shown on Monday, July 15, 2024, at the landfill in Haines, Alaska. (Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News)

A six-week construction project has culminated in what Community Waste Solutions general manager Craig Franke hopes will be a solid defense against a furry menace: brown bears. 

“So this was our third…

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...