Chilkoot River - Preservation Issues

Preservation Issues

Conflicts have arisen in the Chilkoot River Corridor (CRC) between humans and the grizzly Alaskan bear, which frequent this region in large numbers, particularly during the months of August–September in search of the red salmon fish in the river, and, that is when large number of visitors also frequent the area to watch the bears and the bald eagles along the Alaska Highway and the Alaska Marine Highway System. To ensure a smooth interaction between the two attractions namely Salmon and Bear, the Haines Chamber of Commerce, the Lynn Canal Conservation, Inc., and the Chilkoot Indian Association launched jointly the Chilkoot River Corridor Strategic Planning Project (CRC). The basic objective of this project was to evolve and put to action a plan for the long range sustainable management of the outstanding natural, cultural, historical, and socio-economic resources of the Chilkoot River Corridor. After several meetings, the CRC has identified for action the following, as a guide to the Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation to act upon:

Management issues

These issue relate to enhancing capability of the State Agency to Manage Recreational Use, create a self-help program for the visitors to avoid interference; minimize use of overnight camping along the CRC, create more spacious parking space and avoid incidence of damage to the lake from use of motorized transport; minimize, respect and preserve Chilkoot Historical Resources; launch 'Public Awareness Programs' of the cultural significance of the area and help existence of the Chilkoot Culture Camp.

Wildlife issues

Wildlife issues of concern are: avoidance of ‘Human-Wildlife Conflicts’ by monitoring and improving visitor activity with adequate interaction; to enhance habitat and scenic values, and to ensure that exclusive corridors are maintained for the Brown Bears to access/egress their feeding areas in the Chilkoot River, totally unhampered.

Future planning

This essential planning is a continuing process to identify and interpret 'Brown Bear Habitat and Use Patterns' so that the Agency could take appropriate further development decisions.