The problem sounds the same as the rest of the state - more bears, more problems.
The control problem is this: everybody has a TV, so therefor... everyone considers themselves a bearwatcher. So now you have 299,000,000 bear watchers vs 1,000,000 or so bear hunters... (hell, I dont know the actual number) As I was talking about with the new hunting bill through senate, I hate when this stuff goes nationwide.
Statewide people understand better the bear problem. They really just need to know how it is affecting the lives of other residents. I applaud efforts by Palin and others who want to educate people about predator control programs, and don't think of it at all as any type of propaganda - it is based on scientific research. What I think needs to be done in Katmai is exactly what is going on in the rest of the state.. look at actual numbers, how they are changing, and what the actual bear population is in the area.
One thing I think which can be done is to limit the number of bears which are in more populous areas - as in allow people to hunt where people are more likely to be bothered. So there will still be an animal population, but just concentrated in a more rural area. One is an example of the moose hunt here in unit 7. There are many moose which live on the east side of the seargent icefield, by nellie juan lake, and some which live on the west side. The ones on the west side are the moose which are getting hunting pressure from the road system. This means that the very much less accessible moose don't have much hunting pressure (very much less as in you have to fly in to get them, and pretty much only nellie juan lake gives you access to the main area) So then the moose which are by the road system get taken, and have a haven farther away to maintain the total population.
I feel as with bears, that if you take them out of a certain area, and protect them in others, you will have some movement to where there is a less populous area (where they are being hunted)... but here is the trick, the bears that move into that area will not have the time to become accustomed to human ways - as they are being harvested.
Now really, this should have much to do with the Katmai bear viewing area. As I feel that this area belongs to the bears much more than the humans, as it is a main source of food, and trying to take them away from their food source is completely wrong. But if residents which live in the area find that in their towns they are being affected by bears, then they should be able to help control the population in that general area of their dwelling. That leaves the bears to their food source, protects the residents in their areas, and still leaves bears in the areas they have always been for viewing.
