Several state agencies and the Haines Police Department are aware of at least two problematic bears in the Chilkoot Lake area.
But, while rumors are spreading around the campground – the increased threat of bear interactions has not deterred visitors like 60-year-old Shawn Knight from staying in the campgrounds.
“I have no issues with being in a tent. I don’t carry any soaps or toothpaste into my tent with me. And I smell worse than the bear,” he joked while changing a flat tire on his Subaru. His tent was just 10 feet away and his bear spray was within arms’ reach.
Knight was jovial and unassuming at that moment– sitting down loosening the lug nuts from the deflated tire with ease. He said he must’ve gotten the flat sometime after coming from Haida Gwaii in British Columbia and sightseeing in Chilkat State Park.
He said he’s very bear aware, growing up in the mountain west and living in Utah where he played football for Brigham Young University. And the six-foot-six, first round draft pick former defensive end for the New Orleans Saints is a bear of a man himself.
“I’m a biscuit away from 300,” he grinned. “A big breakfast then I’m probably over, but for the record, I’m gonna say I’m 299.”
He said there was no camp host when he arrived, but he did strike up a conversation with someone from the Division of Parks who warned him of two young bears.
The signs and the warnings don’t bother Knight, but they did concern his 80-year-old mother, Jackie Knight, enough that she slept in their vehicle.
“I sleep very soundly. And you know, I keep the food in the car with my mother,” he chuckled.
Knight has three cans of bear spray: one at his side, one in his tent, and one for his mother in the car.
“She just felt more secure being in a car and she locks the doors. And realistically, if you look at the chances of probability, there’s over 35 sites. So one in 35 with locked doors, I feel pretty comfortable,” he said. I’m sure there’s a camper or two that has a larger scent footprint than I do.”
Alaska Department of Fish and Game area management biologist Carl Koch wants campers to take precautions.
“If they’re gonna camp in the Chilkoot, don’t use a tent or, or make sure you have a very good functioning electric fence around your tents. That would be my advice,”said the former New Jersey paramedic turned wildlife biologist.
Bears will look for easy meals, and if there’s an easy meal they’ll go for it, he said. “Be extremely diligent with your food, and any other attractants. [Put them] in a secure place. Inside an electric fence is actually a good choice for that.”
Koch said the bears in the Chilkoot area are habituated – meaning a bear that shows little to no overt reaction to people as a result of being repeatedly exposed to things like people camping without substantial consequence.
He said someone sent him a video several weeks ago that showed two juvenile bears unsuccessfully attempting to get into a dumpster at the campsite. The bears then tore down a tent nearby.
“When I spoke with the camper, they told me that there was bug spray and some treated lumber that they were using for firewood but they couldn’t think of too much that would have attracted the bear.” Koch said he was told they didn’t have toothpaste, food or any other attractant.
“What was strange was the bears focused on those tents in that campsite and didn’t go after any others,” he said.
Koch said that the campers were fishing every day.
“Maybe they didn’t know there was some fishy odor on the sleeping bag from going to sleep at night or something like that. They just don’t exactly know why. I know that they were all fishing from like 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. and came back to the tents collapsed.”
Koch said the area, which falls under Alaska State Parks jurisdiction, is a challenging place to manage.
Southeast region parks superintendent Preston Kroes said the bear activity is definitely picking up – and he has been in contact with Haines police about it to keep them in the loop about what is happening at the campground.
Kroes said he told the police there was a bear in the campground that had gotten some food from people who were eating breakfast after it scared them away.
Kroes said the lack of other food sources has contributed to the increased activity.
“There’s always bear activity out in Chilkoot and this year is no different. The only difference this year is that the salmon run is so slow … that the bears are definitely looking for food and these younger bears are getting pretty scrawny looking and definitely will take any opportunity,” he said.
Although there have been several incidents, Kroes has not closed tent camping on the grounds. He leaves the choice up to individual campers.
“That’s their prerogative, if they don’t feel safe,” he said.“There’s a lot of people that aren’t comfortable around bears.”
Kroes, who lives in Juneau but was in Haines over the weekend, said the bear activity will only increase as the salmon runs improve.
“On Saturday, while I was out there, I saw these four different bears in different areas in the immediate neighborhood,” he said.
The increased salmon runs also mean more visitors in the area to view the bears, said Kroes. He’s also concerned that more people will mean more reports of bear encounters – which will invariably draw more curious people.
“So to me [it’s] a fine line on reporting on some of this bear activity because that just means more people, more potential or more likely that there’s going to be an increase of potential contact,” he said.