I would like to raise another question in regards to the agencies who seem "very comfortable" with the sound science that supports that the number of bears taken in this region (about 30 bears a year) is reasonable. One should remember that bears are extremely complex, intelligent animals, with a vast memory of how and when to access food sources. They state that biologists flew over this unit in August and counted a bear for every square mile, and that this density is "high." Bears are not necessarily resident creatures with a set home range- their location varies with a vast number of factors. For example, I know from working on the Katmai Coast this summer that there was a failure
of many crucial fish runs, namely the pink salmon runs of july
and August in dozens of river systems. The bears, especially the sows with cubs, and single, fertilized sows, did not get the calories they needed during the early summer. The high country lakes and rivers of the Preserve provide the last late fish runs and some of the most productive berry crops for the
bears who need the calories the most. I beg the question,
did the August survey of bear numbers represent a growing population, or an influx of transient bears who traveled long distances from the Katmai Coast and only 25 miles from McNeil River who were trying to compensate for food source limitations in other regions? Can we be sure? I beg managers to be extremely careful as grizzly bears have one of the slowest reproductive rates among terrestrial mammals. If we make a mistake and overharvest, it takes a long time for the populations to recover. These populations are too valuable for mistakes to be made. Is it worth the risk? I hope managers consider Chris and Ken's valuable anecdotal data that supports a drastic drop in bear numbers in the preserve. The issue of ethical hunting is a less viable point. This is an issue of overharvest through mismanagement. SHould hunters be killing single sows? Should there be a harvest cap on the hunt? Should the season be rolled back to mid october? Should the population survey techniques be scrutinized to the fullest degree? YES!