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Date Posted: 18:00:57 01/14/05 Fri
Author: El
Subject: Guys? This is VERY important to the El

Okay, you guys, the following is an email I recieved from Karyn, who put together the whole Alaska study last year. This is very important to me and I would appreciate if everyone at least spread the word if not wrote a letter themselves. Thanks.


January 6, 2005

Dear Douglas River research participants:

As many of you know, the Alaska Board of Game will be considering a proposal to open Douglas River to brown bear hunting after a 30 year hunting closure. There are 2 things you can do to help assure that Douglas bears are protected. 1. Write a letter to the Alaska Board of Game stating clearly that you oppose proposal #129 and provide solid reasons why it should remain closed. 2. Write a letter to the Alaska Chamber of Commerce (the regional office, Anchorage office, & Homer office) expressing your concern over the Board of Game proposal and informing them of the tourism value of Douglas. Letters are needed by February 18th. Please feel free to pass on any and all of the below information to others that might send letters. If you have any questions or need more information, do not hesitate to contact me. The state administration in Alaska and the current Board of Game are very pro-predator control and it is very likely they will try to push through the proposal to open Douglas. Your letters are VERY much needed! Please pay close attention to the below suggestions for letters.

I can not thank each and every one of you enough for caring about the Douglas bears and taking the time to assure their continued protection.

Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
Karyn
PhD Candidate – Washington State University
PO Box 8872
Reno, NV 89507
karynrode@hotmail.com


1. Alaska Board of Game Letter
Please send your comments regarding hunting of Douglas Bears to the Alaska Board of Game by February 18, 2005. Handwritten comments have the greatest impact. Mail or fax them to: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Boards Support Section, PO Box 25526, Juneau, AK 99802-5526; Fax: 907-465-6094. BE SURE TO REFER TO PROPOSAL #: 129 and state clearly that you OPPOSE this proposal and request that the Board of Game REJECT it. State that you also oppose PROPOSAL #137 and the opening of any areas currently closed to hunting and trapping. NOTE: Do not refer to “Douglas River”. Refer to this area as the “state land south and west of McNeil River and north of Katmai National Park”. Proposal #129 proposes hunting at Douglas specifically, whereas Proposal #137 suggests a review of hunting and trapping closures in all areas in southcentral Alaska. To view proposals go to the Board of Game website at: http://www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us/gameinfo/meetinfo/gprop.php. I highly recommend that you do NOT write an emotional appeal but that you provide valid scientific and economic reasons for Douglas remaining closed to brown bear hunting. Keep letters brief and to the point.

Below is information that may assist in constructing your comments.

In nearby hunting areas, including Katmai Preserve, brown bear harvests have doubled and tripled in the past 10 years. Record harvests have occurred in the past 2 years suggesting that there is ample opportunity to harvest brown bears in existing hunted areas.
There is no evidence that bears at Douglas River consume ungulates, such as moose and caribou. One of the primary arguments for increasing predator harvests in the state is to increase ungulate populations. Movements of collared bears was primarily in tidal areas along the coast and at salmon streams away from areas where ungulate populations are found. Similarly, no sport-fishing occurs at Douglas River, so there is no direct competition between bears and anglers for salmon.
There is no consistent monitoring of bear populations in this area or the Alaska Peninsula as a whole. Current population estimates for the Peninsula have been extrapolated from 2 surveys conducted at Black Lake, over 200 miles from Douglas River, and from a single survey in Katmai National Park in the late 1990’s.
Bears of Douglas interact with people both within Katmai National Park, at McNeil River, and at Douglas. Due to the lack of hunting in those areas over the past 30 years, they lack a fear of humans and make no effort to avoid people.
Douglas has strong potential as an ecotourism site. In the past 2 years over 100 tourists visited Douglas staying for 3-7 days at a time. Over 70 of these individuals traveled from the lower 48 and therefore, contributed to Alaska tourism by staying at local Bed and Breakfasts, hiring a $500 charter flight to the site, and traveling elsewhere in the state, including Denali National Park, Anchorage, and the Kenai Peninsula. Hunting could jeopardize the ability to observe bears at Douglas and therefore, a form of revenue for the state.

2. Alaska Chamber of Commerce Letter: There are 3 branches of the Chamber of Commerce & you can send them all the same letter. It would be great if you could indicate the amount of money and time you spent traveling around Alaska (not just your time at Douglas). Specify that not only is tourism at Douglas jeopardized, but bear-viewing throughout this region would be jeopardized by opening Douglas to hunting since these bears are known to travel to a number of bear-viewing areas in Katmai Preserve and at McNeil River.

Letters can be sent to:
1. Alaska Chamber of Commerce, Anchorage Regional Office, 601 W. 5th
Ave, Suite 700, Anchorage, AK 99501, Fax: 907-278-6643.
2. Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Stacy Schubert, 441 W. 5th Ave, Suite 300, Anchorage, AK 99501-2365,
and
3. Homer Chamber of Commerce, Derotha Ferraro, PO Box 541, Homer, AK 99603, homer@xyz.net.



I apologize for not cutting this. If you guys can spread the word on your own journals or websites or what have you by posting this message (which is really important) or write your own letters, I would LOVE it!! I was out there, I saw those animals. Of course, I'm not going to put that in my letter, but I'm putting it here. It was an amazing experience, and they don't need to be hunted. Please help stop this from going through. The population is well balanced and hunting will be quite detrimental to the ecosystem.

Thank you in advance
Me

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