Outdoors/Adventure

Outdoors digest: Ice fishing jamboree approaches, bear-viewing permits available

The ice is thick. The fish are roaming. And on Feb. 11-12 hundreds of Alaskans will take part in the 29th annual Jewel Lake Ice Fishing Jamboree, sponsored by the Swim Like a Fish Foundation.

[Video from last year's ice-fishing jamboree]

The free, two-day event is open to the public. Pre-drilled holes, ice-fishing poles, bait, hot chocolate and snacks will be provided. There will also be door prizes, a warming fire and information on winter water safety.

The Swim Like a Fish Foundation is a nonprofit that relies on volunteers and donations for the jamboree and other events. Anyone wanting to volunteer or donate can call Susan at 907-444-4456 or Lakota at 907-891-1817.

Kenai River board members sought

Want a voice on the future of the Kenai River? There are three vacancies on the Kenai River Special Management Area Citizens Advisory Board, which offers state park managers with recommendations on the river's special management area.

Board members selected will serve from July 2017 through June 2020. Applications will be accepted through March 31.

Anyone interested should fill out an application form available at state parks offices. Applications will be accepted through March 31.

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For information, please contact the state park office at 907-262- 5581.

Film festival has Alaska-based offering

One of the nation's top outdoor and adventure film festivals — and one with an Alaska offering — will make its way to Kenai later this month.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival will be held at the Triumvirate Theatre, 42715 Kenai Spur Highway, on Feb. 25.

Among the festival's seven films is "The Super Salmon," about the conflict over whether to build a hydroelectric dam on the Susitna River. Proponents said a dam wouldn't affect the watershed's famous salmon runs because of its location, upstream of where fish usually swim. But research showed something different.

Other films include "Guided," a profile of Maine wilderness guide Ray Reitze, and "Secrets Held in the Ice," documenting glaciologist Claude Lorius' 30 years of ice research aiming to understand Earth's climatic history.

Tickets ($20 for members of the Kenai Watershed Forum and $30 for nonmembers) are for sale at the sponsoring Kenai Watershed Forum and on the organization's website.

Anan bear-viewing permits available

Permits are available for visitors wanting see black and brown bears at Anan Wildlife Observatory in Wrangell this summer.

Anan Creek attracts one of the largest pink salmon runs in Southeast Alaska, and bears gather to fatten up on them.

Twenty permits a day are available for the prime July 5-Aug. 25 season. No permit is needed other times of the year at the primitive recreational spot, one of Alaska's premier bear-viewing sites.

Visitors arrive by boat or float plane. The bear observatory can be reached via a half-mile long, two-foot wide elevated boardwalk.

Reservations can be made at the recreation.gov website or by calling 1-877-444-6777. The TDD number is 1-877-833-6777.

Permits cost $10 apiece, with a reservation fee of $6 per transaction.

To accommodate last-minute planning, four permits each day will be made available at the Wrangell District Office of Tongass National Forest during the season through weekly lotteries. All lottery requests must be made in person at the Wrangell Ranger District front desk.

 Changes proposed at Alaska national parks

What the National Park Service calls "compendiums" for public comment will be open through Feb. 15. A compendium — one for each Park Service area in Alaska — pulls together all designations, closures and restrictions for the park.

Among the changes proposed this year:

— Katmai National Park proposes restricting the use of tripods and rail-mounted fixtures on its Brooks Falls Platform due to limited space. Monopods and tripods in a collapsed configuration would be authorized. The change is due to an increasing demand for viewing space on the elevated walkways and platforms. The Brooks Fall platform, which overlooks the falls and affords outstanding opportunities to watch bears fishing and interacting with other bears, is particularly popular.

— Kenai Fjords National Park proposes to close Exit Glacier Road to highway vehiclesexcept for permit-holders, when the state closes or barricades Exit Glacier Road outside the park boundary. The reason for this restriction is to match the state winter closure. The state closes the road in winter when highway vehicles can no longer safely travel the road.

— Lake Clark National Park proposes to adopt food storage restrictions at Kontrashibuna Lake and Tazimina Lake due to increased visitation. The proposed change seeks to minimize the potential for bear-human conflicts in these areas.

Mike Campbell

Mike Campbell was a longtime editor for Alaska Dispatch News, and before that, the Anchorage Daily News.

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