FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Help Sought Finding Bear ‘Garbage Caches’

By TOM HESSE
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka’s Bear Task Force committee is looking to get a jump on the city’s annual spring cleaning drive, and is asking residents to identify the sites most often visited by dumpster diving bears.

A sow and cubs look out from the Fortress of the Bear in 2010 after being trapped by ADF&G officials. The bears had been getting into garbage in the area. (Sentinel file photo)


    Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Phil Mooney said there are a number of “ garbage caches” where bears hide  garbage from recent raids. These caches can contain several truck-loads of old refuse, Mooney said. They’re not only messy, but the high bear traffic poses a danger to people.
    “The bear chooses where it wants to go with the garbage,” Mooney said. “They knock a can over, they grab the bag and they run to a spot nearby that’s out of sight where they can sift through and see what they’ve got. Then the ravens come in and the dogs come in and they help scatter it.”
    For that reason, Mooney is organizing a cleanup effort to target some of these areas he knows about, and he’s asking the community for help identifying other “garbage caches.”
    “We know there’s quite a few around town and we’re trying to hit those, but we know there’s a number of them that we don’t know about,” Mooney said. “We’re asking the community for some help because people probably know of some of these areas and where the bears hang out and we’d like to get these areas cleaned up.”
    Anyone with information on the location of a possible bear buffet should contact the local Alaska Department of Fish and Game office at 747-5449.
    The “Clean the Scene” campaign should help curb bear traffic around town and make it easier to manage future garbage problems, Mooney said.
    By cleaning up the garbage cache areas, Mooney said, it will be easier to tell which neighborhoods and houses are having trouble securing their  garbage cans.
    “We’ve had a number of complaints over the years pertaining to garbage, but when we have these areas that are filled with years of  garbage it’s hard to determine where the problem is coming from,” Mooney said. “We’re just going to try and start with a new baseline that will allow us to work through the problems.”
    The cleanup team includes volunteers from the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H Club and local government personnel from the city offices, police department, trooper academy, Forest Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The Baranof Island Housing Authority is using its own volunteers to clean around the Indian River area.
    The first cleanup event is planned for this Saturday on Harbor Mountain Road. Mooney said organizers are hoping to work out the kinks of the cleanup operation so they can spend the next few weeks getting to the  garbage sites before the bears do.
    “We want to get in there early before the vegetation leafs out and before the bears come in because that obviously makes it a lot harder to clean the sites,” Mooney said.
    Some bears have already emerged. A sow and young cub have been reported in the 4400 block of Halibut Point Road and another bear has been reported near the golf course and the Halibut Point Recreation site, Mooney said. He said more bears will be on the way as the food resources improve.
    “I kind of gauge it by how the skunk cabbage is doing, and they’ll target that as it starts to pop out,” he said. “Right now there’s not a whole lot of food and typically early on we’ll get a flush of activity around town before they head up for other food, so we want to get to those caches early.”
    Mooney said it’s helpful if you are as specific as possible when reporting a location. And, as always, Mooney encourages people to be mindful of their  garbage and to keep it inside until pickup day.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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