On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, we assembly members approved a permit for another new tour along the Chilkoot River.
We did this despite concern from the Haines Borough’s own tourism office that the situation between bears and people along the Chilkoot corridor desperately needs to be addressed, as well as similar comments from visitors and current tour permit holders.
Lower 48 bloggers already are posting photos of crowds around bears portraying the Chilkoot as something approaching a horror movie petting zoo. What’s happening at Chilkoot is no longer economic development; it’s devaluation of an economic opportunity to provide a pleasing and safe bear-viewing experience.
But because driving right up to a wild brown bear represents freedom to some people and a license to print money to others, we’ve sat on our hands.
On April 25, borough leaders will meet with state parks officials to discuss parks issues, including the Chilkoot corridor. In advance of that meeting I’m proposing the assembly place a moratorium on new tour permits visiting the lake and river corridor.
I’m calling for such action because the Haines Borough Assembly, in good conscience, can no longer continue add to a bad situation on the Chilkoot. Also, as the borough has no authority to limit car or pedestrian traffic there, the one meaningful action we can take is to halt – at least for now – putting new tours out there.
These are among the reasons I’m seeking a moratorium (which could be lifted once new protocols are in place) and why I believe the moratorium should come before talks with the state. They include:
- Once we begin talks aimed at additional controls or restrictions, we can expect a flood of applications for permits from those seeking to be grandfathered in to business on the Chilkoot. A moratorium would set those aside for now and allow us time to consider Chilkoot comprehensively – instead of on a per-tour-permit basis.
- A borough moratorium would signal to the Division of Parks that the Haines Borough is serious about meaningful changes in management at Chilkoot. This would both empower the state and save us a lot of hemming and hawing.
- A borough moratorium would signal to residents, Chilkoot users, fishermen, tour operators and others that they should come to the table now, as we are intent on supporting changes to improve the current situation there.
For years, the coffee table talk about Chilkoot has amounted to this: Once someone gets hurt by a bear there, everything will change. Fortunately for us, the only thing hurt so far is our reputation as a bear-viewing destination. And that’s something we can fix, if we act in time.
If the State of Alaska doesn’t act in a meaningful way, we’ll pay at Chilkoot either with lives of people or animals or with continued tarnishing of our reputation as a tourism destination, or with both. Further, the restrictions the State of Alaska will place on the corridor in the event of a mauling would likely be much more extensive than any action we take in the absence of such an incident.
I’m not interested in any of the above consequences resulting from our continued inaction or lack of resolve. There are some regulations that, with a modicum of foresight, should be able to be written without edicts from above and without using blood for ink.
Please join me in this effort. If you agree with a moratorium on new tours, please express that soon to your assembly members and to Mayor Jan Hill. Thanks.