Permits for bear viewing at one of Alaska's top sites will soon be available.
The Anan Wildlife Observatory, 30 miles southeast of Wrangell in Southeast, is considered a world-class site for watching black and brown bears gorge on pink salmon. Peak viewing season is July 5-Aug. 25, and permits cost $10, plus a reservation fee of $6 per transaction. They're available beginning Feb. 1
Up to 20 permits a day are handed out during peak season. Visits other times of the year don't require a permit.
Anan Creek attracts the largest run of pink salmon in Southeast Alaska. There's a covered viewing shelter, decks, a photo blind and an outhouse at the site.
"For accessibility and availability, nothing touches Anan," Sylvia Ettefagh, the founder of Bearfest, a Wrangell festival that will run July 27-31 this year, told the Capitol City Weekly. Ettefagh, who runs Alaska Vistas tour company with husband John Verhey, launched Bearfest as a way to boost tourism in Wrangell.
Reservations are available online at www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Information on the observatory, including site restrictions and a list of authorized guiding services, can be found the Tongass National Forest website.
Girls on Ice accepting applicants
Girls on Ice, a free wilderness education program, is accepting applications through Jan. 29. Each year, two teams of nine teenage girls and three instructors spend 12 days exploring mountain glaciers and alpine landscapes in Alaska or Washington through scientific field studies with professional glaciologists, artists and mountaineers.
The program was created by Alaska glaciologist Erin Pettit, who got the idea for the program not long after she helped lead field trips for inner-city elementary schoolers in Los Angeles.
"They made me realize the impact even a short day hike can have on kids, especially those that haven't had that opportunity with their families," Pettit said.
The program, operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Natural Science and Mathematics, will offer two expeditions this year:
• Girls on Ice Alaska is designed for girls ages 16-18 from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Yukon or California. The Alaska expedition runs June 17–28, and girls sleep outdoors while exploring an Alaska glacier.
• Girls on Ice North Cascades expedition explores Mount Baker, an ice-covered volcano in Washington.
The program helps girls learn about the natural processes that create the alpine world, develop critical thinking skills and explore the connection between science and art.
"(The teens in the program) made me realize the impact even a short day hike can have on kids, especially those that haven't had that opportunity with their families," Pettit said.
Girls on Ice began in 1999 in Washington, adding Alaska in 2012.
For more information and to learn about the application process, go to http://girlsonice.org/apply/.