A Pack Creek Timeline

by Sarah Dunlap and Mark Kaelke

Pack Creek offers a compelling and powerful wildlife viewing experience to visitors; one that gives rare insights into the lives of creatures that are too often misunderstood and sensationalized. As a world-renowned destination for bear watching the value of a place like Pack Creek is obvious. Less obvious is how the unique human history and land use management decisions regarding Pack Creek have created and shaped human/bear encounters at this creek into something special. What follows is a timeline of important events and decisions that have formed the Pack Creek experience of today:

• 1934: The Alaska Territorial Commission closes Pack Creek to bear hunting and at the same time creates the 46,000 acre Thayer Mountain closed area; extending from Salt Lake (upper Mitchell Bay northeast of Angoon) to Thayer Peak. This decision marks a compromise between national “Save the Bear Campaign” supporters (such as Washington DC conservationist Arthur Pack, for whom Pack Creek was named) who want to make all of Admiralty Island a bear refuge, and local Aaskan development interests. This original Pack Creek hunting closure covered 5,700 acres of the Pack Creek drainage, but results in closing only a half mile of the beach; making the Pack Creek bears vulnerable to being easily killed on either side of the mouth of Pack Creek.

• 1935: Forest Service selects Pack Creek as a brown bear viewing area. That year the Civilian Conservation Corps constructs Pack Creek’s first observation tower and trail.

• 1956 - 1989: Stan Price resides at Pack Creek. Stan’s thirty some years of residency at Pack Creek has an immense effect on fostering the habituation of the local bears. He lives comfortably in their midst and forms close bonds with many individual bears. His presence discourages poaching, and his hospitality, home movies, and tales of life among the bears help promote Pack Creek as a bear viewing destination.

• 1984: Bear hunting closure expanded to Swan Cove and Windfall Harbor. The original nohunting area proves to be too small to sufficiently protect the bears frequenting Pack Creek. The Alaska State Board of Game approves a proposal to expand the closed area to include the drainages on either side of Pack Creek along with two islands (Windfall and Swan) lying just offshore of Pack Creek’s tidal flat. This adds approximately 75 more square miles to the closed area. At the same time the Thayer Mountain closure is reduced by an equal amount of acres so that there is no net-loss of Admiralty acres to bear hunting.

• 1985 - 2006: Numerous proposals are brought before the BOG to re-open bear hunting in the closed areas adjacent to Pack Creek. The Alaska Board of Game repeatedly considers proposals (in ‘85, ’87, ‘90, ’91, ‘97, & ’06) brought by a small group of area bear hunters to reopen portions of the expanded closed area. Each time public outcry, scientific evidence, and the recommendations of the managing agencies overwhelming support continued closure. The BOG ultimately rejects each proposal.

• 1987: Rangers begin regular on-site presence. Rapidly increasing unmanaged visitation at Pack Creek leads to growing problems of displacement, potential food conditioning, and stress to the bears. Joint on-site management by U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game staff begins providing educational information to visitors while placing restrictions on food, movement and visitation times. This establishes an approach towards more intensive management of visitors. Today rangers are stationed on-site at Pack Creek from June 1st - September 10th of each year.

• 1989: Maximum capacity set at 24 people per day. To reduce impacts on the bears a maximum number of daily visitors is established for the peak viewing season during the July and August salmon run. Further refinements to visitor management are added over time including implementation of a restricted permit system and limits on the number of commercially guided visits.

• 1990 - 1991: State of Alaska establishes Stan Price State Wildlife Sanctuary. After Stan’s death in 1989, Alaska honors his memory by making Pack Creek a state wildlife sanctuary. Only the Pack Creek estuary (tideland is managed by the state and the uplands are managed by the Forest Service with game regulations by the Board of Game) is given the legislative protection of sanctuary status. Swan Cove, Swan Island, Windfall Harbor and Windfall Island tidelands and uplands remain closed to hunting only by order of the Alaska Board of Game.

• 1993: Per person permit fee is implemented. In 1993 the per person, per day fee is $10; it rises to $36 in 1997, and then to $50 in 1999. These dedicated fees are used to cover part of the cost of managing of the area.

• 2006: Most recent proposal to re-open bear hunting in Swan Cove and Swan Island rejected by the Board of Game. Once again the BOG is persuaded by vigorous public protest to unanimously reaffirm the need to retain the no-hunting boundaries around Pack Creek. However, the fact that this issue continues to be raised underscores the need to now make this conclusively debated, scientifically verified, long established and broadly supported land use decision permanent. Let us hope that 2007 can one day be added to the Pack Creek timeline as the year that this is accomplished.