Libenson is getting treatment in Juneau for injuries, including broken ribs and wounds on her back, that she got in the resulting scuffle. Haines police and Alaska Wildlife Trooper Josh Whitby have closed the trail and are searching for the bear. 

Both Haines police chief Jimmy Yoakum and Libenson shied away from calling the incident a “mauling.” 

“The bear was not stalking me. I didn’t have something that it wanted. We just ‘boom’ came upon…

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...

Lizzy Hahn is a reporter and photographer from Nome. She has worked in newsrooms across Alaska including the Anchorage Daily News, Nome Nugget and UAF Sun Star.