Over the past few years, an average of 1-7 bears have been killed in Sitka annually, often a result of bears having become accustomed to human food sources trash cans, compost piles, pet food bowls, or pets chained in yards while owners leave for the day. Up to 100 calls are placed each summer to officials about bears in neighborhoods, 80% of which are related to human trash.

To date, Sitka has only bear-proof garbage containers in at the Starrigavan Campground north of town, but none at the Blue Lake Forest Service campground that borders town in bear feeding and travel corridors. Problem bears are shot, and relocation never occurs because it just doesn't work once a bear knows where food is, it will just come right back. Beyond bear deaths, we don't want to see someone seriously hurt by a bear. We believe the number of human/bear interactions as a direct result of negligence in waste disposal and access to human food can be significantly reduced, resulting in wilder bears and a safer community. 

Several years ago Sitka Conservation Society  formed the Sitka Bear Working Group (BWG), comprised of education specialists and habitat biologists from Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), two retired state bear biologists, ecologists from SCS, and Sitka citizens. The BWG primary mission is to educate Sitkans how to keep bears wild and people safe by handling their trash responsibly.

Research

The Sitka Bear Working Group researched records of bear sightings in Sitka from 1998 to 2003, and entered these records into a database. From this we produced a map (above) showing problematic neighborhoods and trends over the last 5 years. Sightings of bears in town were plotted and colored according to the month. Knowing what areas of town the bears are honing in on is crucial to our efforts to remove or reduce the attractants.

Community Outreach

Each spring, as bears exit their dens, SCS will launch a community wide educational campaign. The campaign will use a variety of radio, TV, and printed means to help spread the message about proper trash storage. We are seeking volunteers to help distribute door hangers (about proper waste handling) in problem neighborhoods, and hang posters at important civic sites. We also produce bumper stickers which can be placed on trash cans or vehicles reminding citizens to be bear aware. Lastly, ADF&G will give presentations in schools in hopes that young students will encourage their parents to handle human waste properly.  Other communities such as Anchorage and Juneau have had great success reducing problems with bears in town. Over the coming years, Sitka will need to follow Juneau's model and use bear proof containers for problem neighborhoods and campgrounds. Our community can be bear-safe both for the sake of the bears and our kids and pets. Do be in touch if you?re willing to pitch in and help distribute educational materials, speak in schools, or help in any way!

Bear Fences

For people who camp in the Alaskan wilds, portable electric bear fences are the best invention since pepper spray.  They're lightweight and small enough to carry in your backpack, and they enclose enough space for several tents.  All you do is poke four corner posts in the ground, string the wire between them, attach the electric capacitor, and flip on the switch. Powered by ordinary flashlight batteries, they can deliver a whopping 6,000 volt shock.  Bears almost invariably touch a wire with their nose, mouth, or tongue, which assures that they get the full jolt.      

Testimonials by those who have used bear fences:  

For three months I bicycled through the Yukon, British Columbia's mainland and outer islands, and Alaska, camping every night. Obviously bears -- both black and brown/grizzly -- were regular companions in such remote country, and it was not uncommon to encounter a dozen in a single day. While I did have friends with me for some of the trip, I was often camping alone, and keeping bear-safe was a critical matter. Besides the usual precautions of hanging food (and all cooking gear, including the camp stove fuel) high off the ground between two trees, not cooking anywhere near where I slept, and not camping next to fish streams, there was one new piece of equipment I treasured: the Electroguard bear fence. It's not uncommon in Alaska to see a cabin protected by an electric fence, but never before had I seen a backpacker version. High Country Enterprises, of Palmer, Alaska, produces a 2 pound electric fence kit that takes little more room than a set of tent poles in your pack. Most nights I would set the fence up around my tent and I've never slept better in the bush! 

The kit contains four tent pole-type stakes that you stick in the ground around your tent at 20 foot spacings. From them you suspend two current-carrying lines, one at cub and one at adult head height. A small unit the size of a walkman attaches to the lines and, run by only two AA batteries, produces enough current to give a good zap to the bear unfortunate enough to lick the lines or touch them with its nose. The whole system takes 10 minutes to set up, and provides a 400 square foot safety zone. (See photo of fence around my food in the alpine).  

On occasions where I was camped in the alpine, with no trees from which to suspend my food, I would simply set up the fence far from my camp and leave the food within its perimeter. Never did I lose any food.  

I have no idea if a bear ever wandered into camp at night and chose not to investigate my tent because of the fence, but I'm sure that I slept better nonetheless. And for $300, great nights of sleep whilst out in the boonies is a minor investment. Check it out at www.electrobearguard.com, and view videos of the fence being tested at the "Products" page of the above site.  – Kenyon Fields      

 
The fences have been extensively tested by some of the most respected bear researchers, who give them a resounding thumbs up, as you can learn from the articles listed below.  I've used one for the past couple of years in places with very heavy bear traffic along the the Katmai coast, in the Brooks Range, and here in the Tongass.  The price is about $300 (about what you'd pay for a good tent)--very little to pay for the security and comfort.  – Richard Nelson     

Excellent articles about bear fences and other deterrents:
Electric Fences for Bear Country Campers (ADFG):
http://www.wildlifenews.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlife_news.view_article&articles_id=174 
Protecting Your Camp from Bears: Electric Fencing (U.S Geological Survey):  http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/safety/electric_fencing.htm 
Bear Pepper Spray: Research and Information (U.S. Geological Survey) http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/pepperspray/pepperspray.htm

Companies that make and sell bear fences include: 
Electro Bear Guard Ultra Lite (2 lbs):
http://www.electrobearguard.com/Product.html  
UDAP Bear Shock (4 lbs): https://store.udap.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=P&Product_Code=BEF&Category_Code=BEF