Game Board Proposals Threaten
McNeil River Sanctuary

by Tony Dawson, FOMR Board Member

Challenges to the safety of McNeil River's unique brown bears seem endless as conflicting groups squabble over use of natural resources and wildlife. Again, your comments are urgently needed.

The latest threat to the famous bears of McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Refuge, and Katmai National Park, takes form as Proposal 31 to the Alaska State Board of Game. Offered by the Matanuska Valley Advisory Committee, the plan suggests re-opening a small area between McNeil River and Katmai National Park that closed to hunting in 1985.

A corridor between safe zones was deemed critical to the protection of park and sanctuary bears, so concerned citizens and government agencies negotiated closure of all brown bear hunting in this then-active guided hunt area. Hunts for other species continued. The land trades portion of the agreement await completion.

Those pushing to open the land apparently do so for two reasons: 1.) they see an opportunity to access a population of mature bears that have been unhunted for 12 years; and 2.) they are using the hunt reopening as a political ploy to force government completion of land trades now in limbo rather than simply communicating through normal channels.

FOMR's Board of Directors opposes this proposal because it simply recreates the same threat to bears traveling between the park and the sanctuary that existed in 1985. The Alaska Board of Game judged bear hunting in the area unacceptable then. It should not be reopened now. For more than a decade, bears have become accustomed to this area as a "safe" corridor, so today's need for protection is even greater.

As for using hunting of McNeil/Katmai bears as a bargaining tool, the Board believes this is a selfish justification for a proposal whose real purpose threatens McNeil bears. The proposal's authors do not care that these bears are habituated to humans, and far more valuable alive in McNeil Sanctuary and Katmai. As always, FOMR believes hunting habituated bears is both unethical and unsporting.

One other proposal before the Alaska Board of Game concerns McNeil River Sanctuary directly. Proposal 167 asks that the sanctuary be "closed to all viewing until the bear population is reduced." Despite McNeil's unblemished safety record, it seems proposer Tommy Ramsey thinks the tolerant bears at McNeil represent an "unnatural" and "dangerous" situation. He suggests both bears and humans will benefit from the closure - despite the fact that he calls for a reduction in bear numbers. I suspect the bears "reduced" might fail to see the benefit!

Clearly, this is a "nuisance" proposal, but it still deserves a swift, strong answer from all McNeil River advocates. The FOMR Board encourages you to voice opposition to this ridiculous proposal, and to the waste of time this sort of nonsense imposes on the busy Board of Game.

Time is short, but please voice your concerns. Thanks for your help!

Comments must arrive at the address below by February 28, 1997:

Attn.: BOG Comments
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Boards Support Section
P.O. Box 25526
Juneau, AK 99802-5526
FAX: 907-465-6094