Bad news for bears

Despite the strong opposition of superintendent Kurt Hensel and the park’s citizens' advisory board, a controversial new black bear hunt in Chugach State Park is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 and last a full month. That’s due to the stubborn insistence and disgraceful backdoor machinations of Ricky Gease, director of Alaska’s State Parks.

As reported last fall, Gease ignored the desires of Hensel and the advisory board — and also public testimony that overwhelmingly opposed the hunt — in unilaterally approving the hunt in one of the park’s more popular areas, McHugh Creek valley; it’s so popular, in fact, that the use of firearms is normally banned for public safety reasons.

In doing so, Gease lied to park staff and the citizens' advisory board and deceived the public, a dishonorable act that apparently hasn’t disturbed his bosses, which include Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige and Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

After learning of Gease’s action, Anchorage attorney Tom Meacham filed an administrative appeal with Feige last October on behalf of himself and five other individuals, including me, while arguing — with considerable supporting evidence — that Gease’s permit allowing the new hunt violated a state statute and therefore should be held “unlawful and void.”

Rather than use this as an opportunity to overturn Gease’s decision, Feige instructed “the Division” — that is, Gease — to change the conditions of the special-use park permit to make it lawful, thus giving her tacit endorsement of the hunt. She explained her decision, and rationale, in a letter to Meacham on Aug. 28, more than 10 months after he filed his appeal and just more than a month before the hunt was to begin.

Not that they care — their actions, or inaction, clearly suggest otherwise — but both Feige and Dunleavy are now complicit in Gease’s unjustified and, I would argue, unethical action.

To provide some context, in March 2019, the Alaska Board of Game had approved two new nine-month black bear hunts in the Campbell Creek and McHugh Creek drainages, two of the park’s most popular recreational areas. Such hunts would inevitably create conflicts with recreational groups that have long histories in those valleys, particularly hikers, backpackers, wildlife watchers, mountain runners and possibly even skiers.

The game board took such action despite clear opposition from both the park’s superintendent and advisory board. The rationale was to provide more bear-hunting opportunities, though as Hensel points out, some 80% of Chugach State Park is already open to black bear hunting.

“I’m convinced that there’s absolutely no reason to open new hunts,” Hensel says. “In my view, they’re in direct conflict with park purposes. I’m trying to represent the park, and the park has nothing to gain from them. It would be a no-win situation.”

Hensel had one final card to play that would trump the game board’s decision: The newly proposed hunts would be in areas closed to the discharge of firearms, because of public safety concerns.

Furthermore, an Alaska statute makes it clear that when there are agency conflicts inside Chugach State Park, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which manages hunts, “shall cooperate” with park managers.

In short, Hensel could simply refuse to issue any special permits to allow bear hunting in the new areas, whatever the game board decided. So there’d be no hunt.

If only it were that simple. But of course politics came into play, in the form of Ricky Gease.

In summer 2019, Gease met with game board chair Ted Spraker — since retired — and Fish and Game personnel to come up with a more restrictive, “experimental” compromise: a month-long hunt in the McHugh Creek valley only, with limited participation — only three permits are to be issued. That’s what Gease presented to the citizens' advisory board at its September 2019 meeting.

Only one problem: Several members of the park’s advisory board were unconvinced. Given their earlier opposition and the suddenness of this new tack, an overwhelming majority of the board wanted to more fully consider and debate the proposed “experimental” hunt. Reluctantly, Gease agreed to wait until the board’s next meeting, in October.

I was among those who witnessed Gease assure the advisory board at its Oct. 14, 2019 meeting that he would take no action before the board had an opportunity to discuss and vote upon the proposed bear hunt. I and nearly everyone else in the room left the meeting certain that some spirited discussions would take place before any final decision would be made.

But Gease then went ahead and gave his OK in mid-September, without informing anyone connected to the park.

He had blatantly lied to all those concerned.

Gease did try to explain his actions at the October meeting. He argued that he had to make a decision if the hunt were to happen in 2020, even though earlier he had signaled his willingness to wait for the board’s input, even if that meant delaying the hunt a full year. He also maintained that he was simply accommodating a “sister agency,” even though his primary obligations should be to Chugach State Park staff and its advisory board — and the park itself. Again, state statute makes clear that Fish and Game “shall cooperate” with park managers, not vice versa.

Such arguments completely ignored the core issue: the question of whether the hunt should occur at all, precisely the question that the citizens' advisory board planned to discuss at its October meeting. In the end, Gease’s explanation — his excuses — didn’t pass the red-face test.

What makes Gease’s actions especially maddening and abhorrent is that he ignored and dismissed the perspectives of people with a longer connection to, and better understanding of Chugach State Park.

To their credit, some board members expressed their frustration with Gease and made it clear his actions were “a breach of trust.” In the end, the board voted overwhelmingly — 9-1 — to formally request Gease to rescind his decision.

For a while, those opposed to the new hunt held out hope that either Gease or Feige would reverse the decision, given the outrageous circumstances under which it was approved.

That hasn’t happened, so it appears the more restrictive, “experimental” hunt will take place, though local activist Rick Steiner has made a last-minute appeal to the Department of Public Safety, asking Commissioner Amanda Price to “order an emergency closure” of the McHugh Creek black bear hunt for public safety reasons.

That appeal is a long shot at best, but one can hope for a miracle.

Even given the great likelihood that the hunt is a done deal, I would urge concerned Alaskans — especially those who recreate in Chugach State Park — to contact Ricky Gease (ricky.gease@alaska.gov, 269-8700) and Corri Feige (corri.feige@alaska.gov, 269-8431) and express your opposition not only to the hunt, but the way it was approved.

Almost certainly, the game board — with or without Ricky Gease’s help — will attempt to continue and expand this “experimental” hunt in future years. We Alaskans need to be ready to join park staff and the advisory board in saying no more new bear hunts in Chugach State Park.

Anchorage nature writer Bill Sherwonit is a widely published essayist and the author of more than a dozen books, including “Alaska’s Bears” and “Animal Stories: Encounters with Alaska’s Wildlife.”

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