Will Troyer Bear Wrangler The Memoirs

BEAR WRANGLER
Bear Wrangler
Memoirs of an Alaska
Pioneer Biologist
Wi ii Tvovrv
Ui vrvsi :v or Ais Pvrss
Faiibanks
2008 Univeisity of Alaska Piess
All iights ieseived
Univeisity of Alaska Piess
P.O. Box 756240
Faiibanks, AK 99775-6240
ISBN: 978-1-60223-043-9 (cloth)
978-1-60223-044-6 (papei)
Libiaiy of Congiess Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tioyei, Will (Willaid A.)
Beai wianglei : memoiis of an Alaska pioneei biologist i Will Tioyei.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-60223-043-9 (cloth : alk. papei) ISBN 978-1-60223-044-6 (pbk. : alk. papei)
1. Tioyei, Will (Willaid A.) 2. BiologistsAlaskaBiogiaphy. 3. Natuial histoiy
Alaska. I. Title.
QH31.T765T76 2008
591.9798092--dc22
2008009913
Covei design by Dixon Jones, UAF Rasmuson Libiaiy Giaphics
Tis publication was piinted on acid-fiee papei that meets the minimum iequiiements foi
ANSI i NISO Z39.481992 (R2002) (Peimanence of Papei foi Piinted Libiaiy Mateiials).
Contents
1 Noith to Alaska 1
2 Summei on the Situk 5
3 Sand Point Summei 17
4 Wiangell Game Waiden 27
5 Fish Cop 37
6 Adventuies with Goats 45
7 Souidough Chaiacteis 53
8 Romance in Juneau 59
9 Kodiak Refuge Managei 67
10 Wiangling Kodiak Beais 75
11 Life at Camp Island 89
12 Disastei at Tonki Cape 99
13 Becoming a Bush Pilot 107
14 Beai Suiveys 115
15 Managing the Kenai Refuge 125
16 Building a Canoe System 135
17 A Day in the Life of a Refuge Managei 145
18 Woiking foi Wildeiness 151
19 Te Remote Sea Islands 159
20 Along the Aictic Coast 171
21 Te Fiith Rivei Valley 181
22 Biids of the Delta 191
23 Leaving the FWS 199
24 Dait Guns at Katmai 207
25 Tuiquoise Lake Calving Giounds 221
26 Dangei in Oui Business 235
Index 243
Dedication
To my family LuRue, Janice, Eric, and Teresawho share my love for wildlife
and the outdoors.
Acknowledgements
I am especially indebted to my son Eric, who critiqued each chapter and oered
valuable advice as to the contents and the organization of the book. I am also
grateful to my wife LuRue who spent many hours patiently editing the text. She
encouraged and cajoled me to continue working on the manuscript when I was
often tempted to quit. Without these two, the project would never have been
completed.
To my colleagues who accompanied me in the eld and shared my adven-
turesgood and bad: many thanks!
Chapter 1
North to Alaska
H
uge white-capped combeis slammed into the Sablesh, peiiodically caus-
ing its bow to sheei left and iight. Te skippei, Gene Stubb, thiottled back
the engine and spun the wheel to face each onslaught. Looks like a ieal noieastei
coming down the stiait, he said to me.
My queasy stomach began to ieally chuin. I knew I was in foi anothei siege of
seasickness. I giipped the poitside window ledge tightly and biaced my legs as
wave aftei wave bioke ovei the bow. A small chaii slid acioss the wheelhouse ooi
and ciashed into the wall. It was getting too iough! Te skippei spun the wheel to
staiboaid, and the Sablesh slowly iesponded. A moment latei the waves weie on
oui stein and we weie iunning with the iaging seas.
We bettei get out of this stoim while we can, Captain Stubb shouted. Well
iun behind that island ahead and hole up in Aleit Bay until it blows itself out.
I wholly agieed, as I was sweating piofusely and swallowing to keep eveiything
down. But to no avail. I ian foi the head and got iid of bieakfast and lunch. It was
the thiid time I had been seasick in as many days, and now my voyage of adven-
tuie did not seem to be so much fun. I dove foi my bunk and lay theie, wishing I
weie on solid giound.
Te Sablesh continued to ioll as the bieakeis suiged into oui stein, but aftei thiity
minutes we gained the leewaid side of the island and the wateis calmed. I ciawled out
of the bunk and went to the wheelhouse, wheie I ciacked a window foi some fiesh aii.
Captain Stubb looked at my ashen face and giinned. Not feelin so hot?
I did not answei, just fiowned.
1
2 BEAR WRANGLER
Te little Sablesh was only thiity-six feet long and heavily loaded with sup-
plies and people, so it did not take veiy iough seas to make it buck and ioll.
My ieal jouiney to Alaska had begun many yeais befoie. As a teenagei dui-
ing the eaily ,os I had iead many books about the Last Fiontiei. Te stoiies
enthialled me: a vast land ielatively uninhabited and teeming with exotic wild-
life. It was a diiect contiast to the Indiana faim life I knew. In ,8 I diove the
Alcan Highway to Alaska. Aftei spending a few weeks in this immense noith-
ein land of high mountains, lakes, glacieis, and an unending taiga foiest, I was
convinced it was the place wheie I wanted to live and woik someday.
In ,, duiing my junioi yeai at Oiegon State College in Coivallis, I heaid
about a job in Southeast Alaska. Te seasonal position was with the commeicial
sheiy ieseaich bianch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice (FWS). I was a
wildlife management majoi and not looking foi a job in sheiies, but woiking in
Alaska caught my attention. I applied foi the job, even though I would have to
miss spiing teim.
Now, heie I was, ghting my way thiough iough seas along the coast of Biitish
Columbia, seasick, but deteimined to see it thiough. We had left Seattle thiee
days eailiei, bound foi Ketchikan and anticipating a thiee- to foui-day voyage.
Unfoitunately, we had not yet ieached the halfway point. I wondeied if my weak
stomach would suivive the long tiip.
Tiee of us seasonal employees weie aboaid the Sablesh, along with Captain
Stubb, his wife, and theii foui-yeai-old son. His wife was an incessant talkei and
Te FWS Sablesh anchored along the British Colunbia coast in I,I.
ôrth to Alaska 3
constantly sought my eai. I was in no mood to talk when I was even slightly nause-
ated fiom the iolling ship, so I often ietieated to my bunk to avoid hei chattei.
We tied up at the dock in Aleit Bay and spent two days in the Canadian sh-
ing village befoie the stoim subsided. Te tiip to Ketchikan continued to be one
stoim aftei anothei, and I became seasick at least foui moie times. We woiked
oui way noith along the coast, dashing foi sheltei when the seas got too iough
and iunning when the weathei peimitted. I got a lesson in Canadian geogiaphy
as we passed Bella Bella, the Queen Chailotte Islands, Piince Rupeit, and vaiious
othei islands and landmaiks along the Biitish Columbia coast. On the tenth day
we nally ieached oui destination.
Ketchikan was a typical shing town in Southeast Alaska, with its maiitime
businesses ciowded along the seashoie. Laige seineis, tiolleis, gillnetteis, and
sailboats lled the local boat haiboi and weie anchoied in eveiy cove that
oeied piotection fiom stoimy seas. Numeious docks jutted into the salt watei,
and boaidwalks lined many stieets. A foiest of huge spiuce, cedai, and hemlock
tiees boideied the edge of town. Wet sphagnum moss hanging fiom the tiee
bianches typied the iain foiest that coveied this pait of coastal Alaska. Fishei-
men in knee boots and foul weathei geai stiolled along the boaidwalks, con-
tiasting shaiply with the bankeis in business suits. Tis shing town was quite
dissimilai to the small towns I was used to in the States.
We spent seveial days in town iecupeiating fiom oui voyage and taking on
moie supplies. We then headed up the coast past Bell Island Hot Spiings and
anchoied at the mouth of a small salmon stieam. Aftei hauling the equipment a
hundied yaids up the stieam, we pitched oui plywood tent fiames on foui feet
of haid-packed snow that iemained fiom wintei. As spiing piogiessed and the
snow melted, the tent fiames sometimes diopped a few inches, scatteiing oui
supplies on the ooi.
We stayed two months at the ist site and at Old Tom Cieek in Skowl Aim
on Piince of Wales Island, clipping the adipose ns fiom tiny pink salmon fiy.
We caught the newly hatched sh in nets and placed them in small, shallow pans
of watei mixed with a few diops of alcohol, which slowed theii squiimy move-
ments. We then held the subdued sh between two ngeis, clipped the ns, and
ieleased them back into the stieam. Pink salmon ietuin to theii paient stieam to
spawn aftei two yeais at sea. Te adults with clipped ns would latei be counted
in salmon catches and in the stieams to deteimine suivival success and migia-
tion patteins.
Aftei a few weeks of constantly clipping ns, the task became a bit boiing. But
I loved the evenings and o-duty days when I ioamed the beaches and foiests
4 BEAR WRANGLER
obseiving numeious deei, black beai, and othei wildlife. Occasionally I found the
tiacks of a wolf in the sand oi obseived ied fox feeding on clams. Te bays weie
lled with vaiious species of sea ducks, shoiebiids, and bald eagles. I wandeied
the beaches and foiests foi miles and nevei saw the tiack of anothei human. I
was captivated by the wildlife and by the massive wildeiness in this wild, iemote
countiy. Wheie I had giown up in Indiana, the countiyside was dominated by
developed agiicultuial lands, people, and cities. As I expeiienced these wild
lands I had so often iead and dieamed about in my youth, I iealized that I felt
at home.
Tis eaily spiing job neai Ketchikan tuined out to be only a pielude to a sum-
mei of adventuie.
5
Chapter 2
Summer on the Situk
I
hiked up the Situk Rivei one moining, passing numeious small pools, iies,
and giavel bais. A few ied salmon weie alieady ghting theii way upstieam,
haibingeis of the hoides of salmon that would soon follow. A deep pool lay
befoie me, and in the placid watei I could see dozens of steelhead tiout moving
back and foith. Occasionally one iose to snatch an insect. My hands shook with
anticipation as I attached a small luie to my shing line. I cast the luie above the
tiout and slowly ietiieved it, expecting an immediate iesponse, but nothing hap-
pened. I cast again and again, without success. My euphoiia faded, and I became
fiustiated and angiy. Tis was not going to be easy aftei all. On about the tenth
cast the iod was neaily jeiked out of my hands. Te line was iipped fiom the
ieel as I fought to slow the sh. Te spool was almost empty when the steelhead
tuined and ian towaid me. I thought it was gone until the huge tiout leaped foui
feet out of the watei in a cloud of spiay. I was astounded at the size of the sh.
I was ieeling fiantically to take in slack line when it leaped again, shaking its
head violently in an attempt to thiow the luie. Te big sh iaced acioss the pool
seveial times befoie it began to slow its eoits. I woiked it closei to shoie, and
when the steelhead gave up the stiuggle, I pulled it onto the giavel bai, diopped
the iod, and ian foiwaid to claim my piize. I held up the twenty-six-inch sh,
haidly believing I had nally landed such a tiophy. I was elated and yelled, What
a sh! What a sh!
I tuined and looked downiivei. No one else was on the Situk, and in the dis-
tance I could see the weii, the stiuctuie thiough which I would count thousands of
6 BEAR WRANGLER
salmon duiing the couise of the summei. I looked at the sh in my hands again
and said to myself, Boy, theieie suie some majoi peiks to this job.
In May, aftei completing the pink salmon pioject neai Ketchikan, I was
oeied a job as weii watchman on the Situk Rivei neai Yakutat. My boss, Gomei
Hilsingei of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice, was the sheiy management
agent foi this iegion. When I aiiived at his oce in Juneau, he biiefed me on
my duties, which weie piimaiily to count the dieient species of salmon that
migiated up the Situk Rivei to spawn. Documenting the numbei of salmon in the
majoi stieams in Alaska helped the FWS monitoi the health of salmon popula-
tions that weie subject to intensive commeicial shing.
Aftei Gomei tiained me foi the summei job, he smiled and said, I piobably
shouldnt tell you this now, but foi youi infoimation the Situk Rivei is one of the
best spoitshing iiveis in Alaska. Remembei, youi ist piioiity is to count the
sh thiough the weii, but you should have plenty of time foi shing. Ill envy you
while Im sitting heie in this oce.
Gomei also infoimed me that I would be tiaveling to Yakutat aboaid the ves-
sel Kittiwake. It was one of the vessels the commeicial sheiy bianch of the FWS
maintained to assist them in caiiying out theii salmon management duties. I
was not eagei foi anothei long sea voyage, as I had not foigotten the iough tiip
Counting salnon through the sh weir on the Situk River in I,I.
Sunner on the Situk 7
to Ketchikan on the Sablesh only a few months befoie. Gomei must have iead
the scowl on my face. Oh, dont woiiy, he said. Its only a one-day tiip, and the
weathei foiecast is good.
His comment ielieved my feais tempoiaiily, and the next day I boaided the
Kittiwake. It was about fty-eight feet long, with lots of caigo space and limited
living facilities. Hank Museth, the skippei, met me as I stepped aboaid. Wel-
come to my ship, Will. Just take youi geai downstaiis and toss it on any empty
bunk available, he instiucted me.
Hank was a tall, lean man with a tanned leathei face acquiied fiom yeais at
sea. A few houis aftei we left Juneau, his deep bass voice iesounded thiough
the wheelhouse when he got on the iadio to let the Juneau oce know of oui
piogiess. Juneah, Juneah, dis is da Kidd-ah-wake appioachin Point Retieat, he
infoimed Hilsingeis oce.
Hank wained me to enjoy these ielatively calm wateis while I could, foi once
we passed Cape Spencei and enteied the Gulf of Alaska, we could expect iough
seas. I was not happy to heai those diie wainings, but I dismissed them foi the
moment. I was enjoying the scenic snowcapped mountains and the numeious
gieen foiested islands that suiiounded us. Te weathei was pleasant and I stood
on the deck of the Kittiwake with my binoculais obseiving the abundant maiine
Yakutat in I,I.
8 BEAR WRANGLER
life. Vaiious species of seabiids iose fiom the watei as the Kittiwake sent its wake
iolling towaid the shoies of Admiialty Island. I spotted haiboi seals lying on
iocky islets and sea lions diving as we appioached them. Seveial times I saw the
white head of a bald eagle sitting on its nest in the top of a tall spiuce tiee.
Soon aftei we iounded Point Retieat and enteied Lynn Canal, a pod of poi-
poises appeaied on oui poit side. Tey swam along the bow of the vessel foi
a few minutes, occasionally bieaking the suiface, then they fuiiously pumped
theii tails and iaced ahead befoie ciicling back to iepeat the playful peifoi-
mance. In Icy Stiait, neai the entiance to Glaciei Bay, a gioup of humpback
whales became visible. I was enthused at the abundance of wildlife and often
yelled at the ciew inside, Teies a whale! oi Look at the poipoises! Hank
only smiled at my exubeiance.
Daikness was falling as we enteied Cioss Sound, and Hank decided to spend
the night in Eln Cove, a small, well-piotected bay. He wanted to get a good
nights iest befoie we enteied the expected iough seas in the Gulf of Alaska.
Te next moining I was awakened by the noise of the Kittiwakes engine, and
a few minutes latei I heaid the anchoi chain being hoisted onto the foiedeck.
I quickly got diessed. Te smell of biewing coee peimeated the aii. Hank
and Pete, who was the boats cook and deckhand, weie listening to the maiine
weathei foiecast when I enteied the wheelhouse. Te foiecastei piedicted winds
fiom the noithwest at fteen to twenty knots and seas to eight feet. It was not
the best foiecast, but Hank thought we could make it.
Pete oeied a bieakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs, but I opted foi two
slices of toast, knowing fiom pievious expeiience that my stomach would be
chuining when the Kittiwake staited to buck heavy seas. Once we passed Cape
Spencei, theie would be no islands to duck behind along this iugged coastline.
Hank guied the tiip to Yakutat would take sixteen houis. Te Kittiwake made
a steady nine knots. Befoie long we enteied the unpiotected coast, and the Kit-
tiwake chaiged stiaight into the swells. It did not ioll fiom side to side, but the
up-and-down motion was enough to upset my weak stomach.
Hank saw my uneasiness and asked me to take the wheel while he went to
the galley foi a snack. An old seaman, Hank possessed an appetite that was not
cuibed by the bucking vessel. To keep the Kittiwake on couise, I quickly leained
to not oveicompensate on the wheel when the vessel wandeied slightly. I also
discoveied that steeiing kept my mind o my upset stomach.
By midafteinoon the seas had incieased, and at times the watei bioke ovei
the bow, slamming against the wheelhouse. Hank was foiced to thiottle back the
engine to ieduce the impact of the waves. Oui foiwaid speed slowed to about six
knots. I was iathei pale as I giasped the windowsill to steady my balance. Pete
looked at my ashen face and suggested I eat a few saltine ciackeis. It seemed to
help tempoiaiily, but I had no appetite foi food.
By nightfall the combeis had become laigei, ciashing into the wheelhouse on
a iegulai basis. My stomach was ieally ioiling by then, and I ian to the head to
upchuck what little food I had eaten in the last twenty-foui houis. I was mis-
eiable and wondeied how I could have signed on to this tiip aftei the similai
expeiience I had enduied en ioute fiom Seattle to Ketchikan only a few months
befoie. I vowed that if I evei got to shoie, I would nevei set foot on a boat again.
But I wanted the summei job on the Situk Rivei and consoled myself with the
thought that this tiip would not last foievei. I ciawled into my bunk and hung on
to the iailing to keep fiom being thiown onto the ooi.
Te dione of the vessels engine was often diowned out by the sound of
waves slamming into the ship. Aftei each onslaught the Kittiwake luiched and
iolled. Sometime duiing the night the iefiigeiatoi dooi came open, spilling
its contents. I heaid the sound of bieaking glass and iolling cans coming fiom
the galley, but I was too sick to caie what happened and only tightened my
giip on the iailing. I found out latei that Pete was also seasick. Only Hank,
the weatheied seaman, seemed unaected, but he latei confessed he had felt
a little queasy.
My miseiy seemed to last foievei, but nally the Kittiwake quit iolling. It gave
me some hope. An houi latei I was feeling much bettei and decided to get up.
I walked thiough the galley, wheie Pete was still cleaning up the mess, and said,
Good moining!
Whats so good about it? he answeied with a couple of expletives. I ignoied
his obvious bad mood and continued to the wheelhouse.
Hank was at the wheel. He smiled and said, Didja enjoy da iide?
Not exactly, I ieplied. I had a pietty miseiable night.
I peeied out the window. Fog coveied the ocean foi as fai as I could see.
Wheie aie we? I asked Hank.
Wished I knew.
Te Kittiwake, like most vessels in those days, had no iadai oi depth ndei.
Hank navigated by compass and dead ieckoning. Weie somewheie in Yakutat
Bay, but I dont know wheie.
He told me to get on the bow, take the lead line, and get some depth ieadings.
Te chill, fiesh aii smelled good, and I began to feel bettei. I took numeious
soundings and yelled the infoimation back to Hank. He took the data, looked at
the chaits, and guied we weie close to Yakutat. I saw a faint shoieline thiough
10 BEAR WRANGLER
the dense fog. Hank diopped the anchoi to wait foi the fog to lift so he could see
to entei the haiboi.
I had eaten nothing but a few ciackeis foi twenty-foui houis, and the smell
of fiying bacon in the galley whetted my appetite. Pete was now in a good mood
and had bacon, eggs, and hot biscuits ieady. I ate a heaity bieakfast, washed
down with coee and oiange juice. Te fog lifted aftei bieakfast, and nally we
weie tied to the dock in Yakutattwenty houis aftei passing Cape Spencei.
Yakutat had been a small Native village and a sea ottei hunting centei duiing
the Russian eia. It had since become a majoi commeicial shing poit, and now
the small town contained a sh canneiy, stoies, and othei small businesses. Te
Fedeial Aviation Administiation (FAA) maintained a modein aiipoit a few miles
out of town. It was a majoi stopovei and iefueling site foi commeicial aiilines
ying between Anchoiage, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Seattle.
Numeious salmon stieams owed into the Gulf of Alaska along the coast
fiom Yakutat to Diy Bay. Eaily in the ,oos, the canneiies had built a iailioad
fiom town to the Situk Rivei and beyond, foi the puipose of hauling sh fiom
the iiveis to the canneiies. It was still in use in ,, but tiucks mounted on
iailioad wheels had ieplaced the tiain. A well-built ioad piovided access to the
aiield, but past that point iail seivice was the only way to haul supplies to the
Hauling sh on the railroad.
Situk Rivei. Te camp wheie I was to woik was located on the west bank of the
iivei, seveial hundied yaids upstieam of the iailioad biidge.
Peisonnel alieady at the camp on the Situk consisted of Bob Bain, the FWS
enfoicement agent, his wife, Helen, and Laiiy Knapp, the sheiy management
agent. Two weeks aftei I aiiived, Geoige ONeil joined the ciew. A ietiied iail-
ioad employee fiom Michigan, One-Shot Geoige, as we knew him, was the ieal
chaiactei in camp. He had come to Yakutat to hunt biown beai seveial yeais
befoie. Te stoiy was that he had killed seveial beais, needing only one shot each
time. Te local people initiated him into theii tiibe as One-Shot Geoige. He was
quite pioud of this title and always intioduced himself as One-Shot Geoige. He
was iathei lean and agile foi his age, and his piominent ieddish hooked nose
ieminded me of the snout of a spawning male salmon.
We unloaded the Kittiwake, hauling the geai to the biidge and caiiying it
to camp. Next we installed the sh weii, which was stacked in pieces on the
iiveibank fiom the pievious yeai. Fiist we placed the hoises, which weie heavy
wooden tiipods, in the iivei and fastened them togethei with two-by-fouis and
heavy planks. We then nailed the smallei two-by-two weii pickets upiight to the
two-by-fouis and sandbagged the bottoms in the watei to help hold them against
the stiong cuiient. Te pioject took seveial days of haid laboi.
Our canp on the Situk River.
12 BEAR WRANGLER
A few ied salmon had enteied the iivei by the time we got the weii installed.
Tey swam back and foith in fiont of the pickets looking foi a way upstieam. Te
weii contained seveial gates, each of which had a white boaid staked to the iivei
bottom. When I opened a gate, the sh immediately passed thiough the weii. I
sat and counted them as they passed ovei the white boaid. At ist only a few
hundied salmon a day passed upstieam and I had ample time to take bieaks and
sh with One-Shot Geoige. Latei, duiing the peak of the iun when thousands
of salmon migiated upstieam, I spent most of my time counting sh. Tabulating
all the salmon became a bit boiing, but as Gomei had said, Te job has one big
assetspoitshing on youi time o.
Te steelhead weie alieady up the iivei spawning by the time we installed
the weii. Tey, unlike salmon, do not die aftei spawning, but go back to the
sea, ietuining to the iivei in subsequent yeais. Sometimes neaily one thousand
steelhead swam back and foith behind the baiiiei, looking foi a way back to
sea. Te law foibade shing within thiee hundied feet of the weii, but seveial
excellent pools, lled with these laige tiout, lay upiivei. One-Shot Geoige and
I spent houis at the pools, hooking, playing, and ieleasing these salmon-sized
sh. Usually the only spoit sheimen on the iivei weie One-Shot and me, on
some weekends a few local FAA peisonnel showed up. Heavy iains latei iaised
Te local barbershop on the Situk River.
the watei level of the iivei, and I had to open all the gates to keep the weii fiom
washing downstieam. Te steelhead all escaped back to sea.
One-Shot and I now tuined oui attention to the laige king salmon that
had enteied the iivei. Many of these weighed thiity-ve pounds oi moie. We
spent many houis catching and ieleasing these giants at a hot spot above the
biidge.
My ist king was the most exciting to catch. One-Shot and I had ieached
the pool eaily in the moining. Occasionally the back of a laige salmon bioke
the watei suiface. Okay, Will, you tiy ist, One-Shot said. I cast a luie acioss
the pool and staited the ietiieve. When the bait got to the middle of the pool,
the line went tight. Foi a moment I thought I had snagged the bottom, but
then the sh tuined and ian. I tiied to slow its iun. Hold him! Hold him!
One-Shot instiucted me. Keep the line tight.
Te iod bent double as I tiied to stop the salmon. I slowed it down, but the
sh continued to the fai end of the pool. Hang on, Will! One-Shot yelled.
Tats a big one.
He did not need to tell me. I had nevei hooked such a big sh. Hes a giant all
iight, I yelled to One-Shot, but Im not suie I can hold him.
One-Shot encouiaged me to stay with the sh and gave me all kinds of advice.
I put as much piessuie on the line as I could, and whenevei the sh gave me
some slack, I ieeled in line. I fought the monstei foi twenty minutes befoie it
One-Shot George and ne with a nornings catch of king salnon.
14 BEAR WRANGLER
began to tiie. Te king made seveial moie iuns, but eventually I got it neai shoie.
One-Shot slipped the net undei it and lifted the stiuggling sh out of the watei
and onto the giavel bai.
Holy smoke, I said to One-Shot. Tats a big, big sh! I ian ovei and pulled
the opping sh fiom the net and held him up to admiie.
Hes big all iight. I expect he will go close to thiity-ve pounds, One-Shot
piedicted.
Aftei admiiing my ist king, we both got back to shing. We landed thiee
moie and decided that was plenty. We stiung the foui sh on a laige pole and
caiiied them back to camp. We saved one foi eating, and I smoked and canned
the iest. I planned to ietuin to Oiegon State College in the fall. Te sh would
be a welcome change fiom the cheap hambuigei my ioommates and I ate most
of the school yeai.
Abundant wild stiawbeiiies weie anothei benet of the job. I picked and ate
them eveiy day foi foity days. Stiawbeiiies with whipped cieam, stiawbeiiy pie,
and stiawbeiiies in tapioca weie oui favoiite desseits. I also canned stiawbeiiies
to take back to college.
We often ate fiesh Dungeness ciab aftei Bob discoveied a small, shallow bay
neai Yakutat in which the ciabs could be captuied by hand on a low tide. I was
We conpeted with the bears for wild strawberries.
leaining the subsistence lifestyle in Alaska. It ieminded me of my youthful faim
days when we giew eveiything we ate.
Latei in the summei silvei salmon enteied the iivei in laige numbeis. One-
Shot and I shed them eveiy day. Tey took eveiy shiny luie we cast in fiont of
them, and we caught plenty.
By late August the ied salmon iun was just about ovei. Gomei Hilsingei sent
woid to shut down the weii and iemove it fiom the iivei. Laiiy and I spent sev-
eial days at this task and in secuiing the camp foi the wintei.
My ist summei in Alaska was coming to an end. I had enjoyed it immensely
and hated to leave. Te outstanding spoitshing, the vaiiety and abundance of
wildlife, the majestic mountains, and the vast unpopulated wildeiness appealed
to me. I was hooked on Alaska. As soon as I was back at college, I began to plan
my ietuin.
17
Chapter 3
Sand Point Summer
B
ob and I weie patiolling the southein side of the Alaska Peninsula with a
twin-engine Widgeon. Neai noon, as we appioached Oizinski Bay, we spot-
ted a laige vessel with thiee small catchei boats at the head of the bay. Diawing
closei, we saw that one of the small boats had its seine stietched acioss the mouth
of a stieam lled with salmon. Tiee sheimen weie in the shallow watei tiying to
diive the salmon into the net. Commeicial shing was not peimitted within thiee
hundied yaids of the mouth of any salmon stieam, laige o risnio maikeis weie
on each side of the stieam.
Bob looked at me with a giin. We got em!
I smiled back, but I was thinking, Wow! So this is what its like to catch an ille-
gal sheiman. Now what do we do?
I giaduated with a bacheloi of science degiee in wildlife management fiom
Oiegon State College in the spiing of ,a. I yeained to ietuin to Alaska to stait
a peimanent caieei in my chosen piofession. I had leained duiing the pievious
summei, howevei, that wildlife management jobs weie scaice. Alaska was still a
teiiitoiy then, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice was iesponsible foi manage-
ment of Alaskas wildlife iesouices. Its emphasis was on enfoicement and piedatoi
contiol. Teie weie appioximately twenty-ve wildlife enfoicement eld positions
in Alaska, while theie weie only about eight in wildlife management and ieseaich.
I wanted to be a wildlife biologist, but it was obvious that if I wanted to woik in
Alaska, my best oppoitunity was in enfoicement.
18 BEAR WRANGLER
Duiing the wintei Bob Bain had wiitten me seveial letteis encouiaging me to
apply to be his summei eld assistant. I had accompanied him on some enfoice-
ment patiols in Yakutat, and he appaiently thought I was a good enfoicement
agent candidate. He assuied me that the job would piobably lead to a peimanent
position. I decided to apply, and in late May, having been hiied, I ew to Anchoi-
age. Bob met me at the aiipoit, and we diove to Sewaid, wheie he was now sta-
tioned with the FWS. He had a split peimanent assignment: he seived as a game
waiden on the Kenai Peninsula duiing the wintei, and in the summei he was in
chaige of the commeicial sheiy enfoicement piogiam at Sand Point.
I spent a week in Sewaid, planning the summei piogiam with Bob and buying
supplies. Bob, a pilot, was assigned a twin-engine Widgeon to patiol the com-
meicial sheiy duiing the summei. We ew to Sand Point in the Widgeon the ist
week in June. Bob and his wife, Helen, had iented a house in the small community,
and I stayed with them when not on patiol. Sand Point is a small shing village on
Popof Island, one of the numeious islands in the Shumagin Island gioup south of
the Alaska Peninsula. Duiing Woild Wai II, the militaiy had built a small aiistiip
neai the village to help defend the aiea against the Japanese, who had invaded and
occupied seveial of the Aleutian Islands. Bob kept oui plane on this aiistiip.
Oui enfoicement distiict stietched ,o miles, fiom just noith of Chignik
Bay on the Alaska Peninsula southwest to the end of the Aleutian Islands. We
nevei actively patiolled beyond Unimak Pass, so in ieality oui distiict was about
Sand Point in I,:.
Sand Point Sunner 19
thiee hundied miles long. But it contained both the noith and south sides of the
Alaska Peninsula. Low clouds often pievented us fiom ciossing to the noith side
foi aeiial patiols.
In addition to the Widgeon, we had the Teal, a sixty-foot vessel with a ciew
of thiee, and thiee stieam guaids to help enfoice the commeicial sheiy laws
in this vast geogiaphic aiea. Te diesel-poweied Teal was an old boat, built in
,a, and was extiemely slow, with a top speed of seven knotsmuch slowei
than most commeicial shing vessels. With a slow patiol boat and only thiee
stieam guaids, oui enfoicement eoits weie quite limited, in addition inclem-
ent weathei often pievented us fiom ying. Te commeicial sheimen weie
well awaie of oui iestiicted capabilities to enfoice sheiy iegulations, and many
thumbed theii noses at oui eoits. Cieek iobbing was iampant.
I soon found out how agiant the violations weie. Bob and I ew ovei Oizin-
ski Bay in the middle of the day and caught the thiee sheimen in the piocess of
iobbing a cieek shoitly aftei I aiiived at Sand Point.
Aftei sighting the cieek iobbeis, Bob ciicled ovei the scene as the culpiits
looked up at us and likely thought, Oh shit, we got caught!
Bob made seveial moie passes as I photogiaphed the illegal sheimen foi
evidence. He then landed on the watei and taxied behind the laige vessel, letting
them know we intended to come aboaid. I thought we would both go aboaid
to make the aiiest and diiect them to pioceed to Sand Point to face the conse-
quences. Instead Bob said, You jump aboaid and biing em in. Wow! I had nevei
made an aiiest in my life. I was unsuie of myself and a bit scaied.
Te FWS Teal, our slow patrol vessel.
20 BEAR WRANGLER
Te skippei stietched out his hand and helped me aboaid. Te ciew mem-
beis on deck looked iathei glum, but the skippei smiled and said, Well, you
caught us!
I heaid the ioai of the aiiplane as Bob took o foi Sand Point. Boy, did I feel
small! I was one young, inexpeiienced enfoicement agent among a whole ciew
of unhappy sheimen. I knew they could thiow me oveiboaid if they wanted to,
but I took comfoit in knowing that Bob had witnessed my boaiding.
I looked into the skippeis eyes and said imly, Im going to have to take you
in to Sand Point. He nodded.
We wont have to biing in the small boat? he asked. I had not thought of
that, I was not suie of the iules when a laige ship with small catchei boats was
involved. I condently infoimed him that it was not necessaiy to biing in the
boatonly the men involved in the violation.
Te sheimen weie faiily fiiendly as we pioceeded towaid Sand Point, but I
was a bit uneasy. Tey oeied me a cup of coee, and we chatted about shing.
Tey knew they had been caught bieaking the law and would have to pay the usual
ne of sao to soo. Like many othei sheimen, they planned to pay the ne and
then make it all back on the ist night they could nd a cieek full of sh.
Te next day the magistiate convened couit in hei home, a common piactice foi
magistiates in small towns. She explained the violation and asked the skippei how
he pled. Guilty, youi honoi, he said. Ten he biiey explained that shing had
been pooi and they weie only tiying to make enough money to pay expenses.
She gave them a shoit lectuie about the evils of cieek iobbing, explaining that if
sheimen did not let salmon escape up the iiveis, theie would soon be no salmon
to sh. She paused foi a few seconds and looked the skippei stiaight in the eye. I
nd you guilty, and foi this violation you aie ned s;oo. She slammed down the
gavel. Te skippei got a sick look on his face. He had expected a maximum ne of
soo, based on hei past couit actions. Too latehe had alieady pled guilty.
Afteiwaid Bob questioned him about the length of the shing net. Te skip-
pei told him it was legal, but Bob had doubts. He told the skippei he was send-
ing me back out to measuie the seine. Bob latei infoimed me that I should have
also biought in the small catchei boat that was used in the illegal catch. I was
leaining fast!
When I ieboaided the vessel, the mood of the ciew had changed. Tey weie
an unhappy lot. Tey felt the magistiate had given them twice the ne that otheis
had ieceived foi the same violation. Tey implied that she had singled them out
because they weie fiom out of townAnchoiage. I did not feel too comfoitable
on theii ciaft and began to wondei if this enfoicement woik was foi me.
When we got back to Oizinski, I boaided the small catchei boat and measuied
the seine. I was ielieved when it tuined out to be legal. Bob aiiived befoie long in
the Widgeon and picked me up. He lectuied me again to always biing in all the
evidence I could. I was glad my ist enfoicement case was ovei. Bob, howevei, was
enthused about oui ist aiiest. He giinned and said, Well catch some moie.
I spent the summei alteinating my time between ying aeiial patiols with Bob
and doing vessel patiols on the slow Teal. Te vessel patiols weie long and often
boiing, as we spent many days at sea, but I iathei enjoyed the eccentiic ciew. Te
skippei of the boat, Howaid Maiks, had a diinking habit. He always had a bottle
of Scotch sitting in the wheelhouse, and he took iegulai nips. Duiing the couise of
a long day he usually consumed the entiie bottle. He held his liquoi well, howevei,
and I nevei detected that his diinking impaiied his ability to caiiy out his duties.
Befoie coming to Alaska, Howaid had tiaveled with a laige musical band on the
East Coast and was an excellent pianist. I nevei discoveied how he had made the
tiansition fiom a piofessional piano playei to a skippei of an Alaskan vessel.
Two othei ciew membeis weie assigned to the Teal: Hank, the engineei,
and Willie, the cook and deckhand. Hank was iathei aloof and had pioblems
pionouncing the vaiious Russian geogiaphic places along the coast. One day
he stumbled ovei Belkofski seveial times. When I chuckled at his eoits, he
Our patrol plane lands behind the FWS Teal.
22 BEAR WRANGLER
looked at me in disgust and said, Oh, I wished uh white man would ha got heie
fust! He was fiom the South, had woiked his way to Alaska aboaid a fieightei,
and had been at sea most of his life. Once in a while he told me about his sea
expeiiences, but most of his life iemained a mysteiy.
Willie was physically small and iathei quiet. He thought the sun iose and set
on Howaid and was fully devoted to him, both men enjoyed theii alcohol. Wil-
lie biought the skippei a cup of coee whenevei Howaid iaised his ngei to his
lips, and he always iefeiied to the skippei as Mi. Maiks when in the company
of otheis.
We often tied up at local docks and spent the night in small communities.
Willie soon had dinnei on the table and, aftei eating, he and Howaid headed
into the village to see the sights. Sometimes Hank and I accompanied them, but
I usually piefeiied to wait a half houi oi so, knowing things would have begun
to liven up. If theie was a bai in town, and theie usually was, Howaid and Willie
quickly snied it out. Te bai often had a piano, and aftei a diink oi two Howaid
would sidle ovei to it. At ist he ngeied the keys lightly to check the sound and
familiaiize himself with the feel of the piano. Ten suddenly his ngeis would y
ovei the keyboaid in a lively musical numbei. Boy, he could play! It was not long
befoie a ciowd, glasses in hand, gatheied aiound the piano. Willie always stood
at the end of the piano smiling, pioud that his boss was such an accomplished
pianist. Sometimes, like a conductoi leading an oichestia, he waved his hand to
get the ciowd enthused.
Tune aftei tune eiupted as Howaids ngeis glided iapidly acioss the keyboaid.
When he ied up an old numbei that eveiyone knew, the place would explode
with song. Howaid nevei failed to keep the clientele enteitained, and the musi-
cal evening often continued well past midnight. Aftei he had played at a iemote
village, the people iaiely foigot him. On futuie visits someone would boaid the
Teal to ask if Mi. Maiks weie coming ashoie to play. He always obliged.
Tailton Tee Smith, the sheiy management agent foi the distiict, often
boaided the Teal foi extended tiips. He loved to camp, sh, and obseive wild-
life. Te Teal ciew fiequently diopped him o on some iemote stieam foi a few
days oi moie, latei ietuining to pick him up. Howaid and Willie consideied
him a bit weiid because he was a lonei and took veiy little food with him. Tey
claimed he suivived on popcoin duiing these tiips. Tat was an exaggeiation,
foi I noticed he did take compact items of food besides the popcoin. He also
had some of the best lightweight camping equipment I had evei seen. Such
equipment was iaie in those days. I envied it and latei oideied some supplies
fiom his catalog souices.
One weekend he told the ciew he needed to check out Jude Island, a laige sea
lion iookeiy neai Sand Point. He had little ocial excuse to go to the island, and
Howaid told him so, balking at the tiip. Tee, howevei, convinced him that sea
lions ate salmon and he should leain something about the status of these maiine
piedatois. Tee invited me to accompany him, and I jumped at the chance foi a
bieak fiom my ioutine patiols.
Te day was cleai and calm, and as we appioached the iookeiy, Tee estimated
theie weie about ve thousand mammals on the island. We anchoied on the
leewaid side. When Howaid shut down the boats noisy engine, we could heai a
loud, constant ioai coming fiom the mass of bellowing animals.
Hank took Tee and me ashoie in the small ski. As we neaied the island, I
was almost oveiwhelmed by the deafening din and the poweiful stench. Te
sound of the ioaiing animals ieminded me of a livestock yaid that I had visited
a few times with my dad in Indiana. Te huge sea lion bulls fought constantly to
piotect theii laige haiems. Te biown adults contiasted with the neaily black
juveniles, which lay sleeping on iocks neai theii motheis. Hundieds of animals
dove and swam in the deep blue suif. Otheis clambeied out of the watei and
moved up the iocky shoieline in slow, ungainly movements. I moved thiough
the ciowd, photogiaphing the ioaiing, stinking animals. I made suie to keep my
distance fiom the huge, menacing males. I had nevei befoie been suiiounded by
Sea lions on Iude Island.
24 BEAR WRANGLER
such a mass of wild, bawling animals. I should have been intimidated, instead I
was exhilaiated and felt I was in my element.
Aftei seveial houis on the island, Tee signaled foi the Teal ciew to pick us up.
As we climbed into the ski and pushed o fiom shoie, seveial adult sea lions
swam undei it and one bumped the small boat, iocking it unsteadily. I giabbed
the gunwales, afiaid the ski might swamp, but it stayed upiight.
I had shot seveial hundied feet of movies and numeious slides while on the
island. It was a tiemendous expeiience, and as we weie tiaveling back to the Teal,
I said to Tee, Man, this has been one of the gieatest expeiiences of my life. Ive
nevei been suiiounded by such a mass of wild animals. I suie appieciate being
invited along.
Tee answeied, Ive wanted to do this foi a long time. It was also one of my
best expeiiences. We will have to do it again someday.
Aftei we got aboaid the Teal, we sat in the galley, each with a cup of coee,
and ielived oui day on the island. Howaid and Willie did not seem impiessed
and became boied with oui chattei. A night in a bai seemed moie exciting to
them than a day on a sea lion iookeiy.
A week latei I was invited aboaid a local canneiys biailing vessel as it emptied
the sh tiaps located on Popof Island. Fish tiaps weie numeious along the Alaska
Te author in front of the house rented by the FWS in I,:.
Peninsula, as they weie in othei paits of Alaska piioi to statehood. Te pile-diiven
tiaps, owned mostly by big canneiy opeiatois, weie extiemely ecient at catching
salmon. Te tiaps weie stiategically placed to inteicept schools of salmon as they
migiated fiom the open ocean to the spawning stieams. Te long, heavy-gauge
wiie leads extended a consideiable distance into the sea, wheie a wing steeied the
sh into the tiap by a seiies of piogiessively smallei enclosuies. Te sh weie held
in the tiap until a salmon tendei aiiived, biailed the salmon fiom the tiap, and
hauled them to the canneiy foi piocessing. Te small sheimen hated the tiaps
because they captuied a laige poition of the salmon haivest. Te owneis weie usu-
ally allowed to sh the tiaps fiom 6 a.m. Monday until 6 p.m. Fiiday.
As the biailing boat pulled alongside of each tiap, the ciew moved the nets
to conne the salmon to a small poition of the enclosuie. Tey then diopped
theii biailei, a long, heavy net with a weighted pole on one end, into the seeth-
ing mass of sh, letting it sink to the bottom befoie hoisting it aboaid with
hundieds of opping, squiiming salmon. Tey dumped the sh into the hold
of the vessel befoie diopping the biailei to ll it again. Tis piocess was awe-
some to see, and I was especially inteiested in documenting the piactice with
photogiaphs. Fish tiaps weie contioveisial and I did not expect them to last
much longei. Tey weie outlawed a few yeais latei, so I actually documented
the end of a histoiical eia.
We continued oui patiols the iest of the summei and aiiested a few moie
sheimen. I became moie condent in my duties, but I still did not get a thiill
Fish traps were still in use in I,:. Salnon followed the long leads into the trap.
26 BEAR WRANGLER
out of aiiesting sheimen as Bob Bain did. I fiankly wondeied if I weie going
to make a good enfoicement ocei. I did not feel that we weie veiy eective in
pieventing most of the unlawful shing activities, but I did believe we thwaited
a lot of illegal acts because of oui piesence in the geneial aiea.
In late August, at the end of the shing season, we loaded up oui geai, said
goodbye to Sand Point, and ietuined to home base, ying along the shoie of
Cook Inlet. I was amazed at the numbei of sh tiaps along this long inlet. As
I iecall, they weie spaced about one mile apait. Seeing such a vast numbei of
ecient tiaps, I undeistood why the small sheimen hated them.
Bob diopped me o in Kenai and told me to diive a new patiol cai to Sewaid.
I diove thiough Soldotna, which consisted of a lling station, a coee shop, and
little else. Eleven yeais latei I would live neai this giowing town. I continued
down the all-giavel Steiling Highway to Coopei Landing. It was my ist look at
the small, pictuiesque community wheie I would ietiie at the end of my caieei.
I ieached Sewaid an houi latei.
My Sand Point summei was ovei. I had enjoyed most of my expeiiences on
the iemote Alaska Peninsula, but now I was looking foiwaid to my next assign-
ment in a dieient geogiaphic iegion of Alaska.
Brailing salnon out of a sh trap.
27
Chapter 4
Wrangell Game Warden
T
he day I aiiived in Sewaid I was oeied and I accepted a peimanent posi-
tion as assistant enfoicement agent to Monte Clemmons at Wiangell, a sh-
ing town of appioximately ,oo people located on the noithein end of Wiangell
Island. Bob Bain had been iight. I now had a peimanent job in Alaska.
I ew fiom Juneau to Wiangell with Ellis Aiilines, one of the two aiilines that
seived the smallei communities in Southeast Alaska with amphibious aiiciaft. Only
foui passengeis weie on the ight, and the pilot invited me to sit in the copilot seat,
wheie I had an excellent view of the hoiizon. We passed ovei a multitude of islands,
bays, and inlets. Solid old-giowth iain foiests coveied the lowlands, and to my left
I could see numeious glacieis and snowelds that lay along the Alaska-Canada
boidei. In Fiedeiick Sound the pilot pointed out Peteisbuig, which lay within my
new enfoicement distiict. We passed ovei the massive Stikine Rivei delta, and then
the plane ciicled ovei Wiangell.
Monte met me as I stepped o the plane. He was a faiily tall, lean, neatly diessed
man. He took me to the FWS oce. Standing in fiont of a laige wall map of South-
east Alaska, he pointed out the boundaiies of the Wiangell Enfoicement Distiict.
In ,a theie weie foui enfoicement distiicts in Southeast Alaska, headquai-
teied in Juneau, Sitka, Wiangell, and Ketchikan. Agents enfoiced game iegulations
duiing the fall and wintei months and commeicial sheiy laws duiing the summei.
Te Wiangell distiict coveied the geogiaphic aiea fiom Biadeld Canal along the
mainland coast to Cape Fanshaw, the noithein poitions of Piince of Wales and
Etolin Islands, noith to Fiedeiick Sound, and west to Chatham Stiait. It included
28 BEAR WRANGLER
all of Kupieanof, Kuiu, Mitkof, Wiangell, and Zaiembo Islands and numeious
smallei islands, bays, channels, and inlets. Monte said it would take seveial
weeks of tiavel in a patiol boat foi the two of us to covei the entiie distiict.
He enthusiastically told me about his favoiite pait of the distiict, the Stikine
Rivei noith of town. It had a laige moose population, and the delta maishes
attiacted laige numbeis of wateifowl. Do you like to hunt ducks? he asked.
Boy, I suie do, I answeied. I like to hunt about anything.
He smiled. Well, youll get youi chance. We get a laige migiation of ducks
and geese that stop on the Stikine maishes each fall.
By the time I had spent an houi with Monte, I was convinced I had landed one
of the best jobs in Alaska.
I was in Wiangell less than a week when Monte sent me to the Stikine ats to
patiol the wateifowl season. Te ats weie indented with numeious tidal sloughs
and coveied with giasses, sedges, and othei plants favoied by ducks, cianes,
geese, and shoiebiids. Wateifowl used the delta maishes as a majoi stopovei
while migiating to and fiom theii noithein nesting giounds. Te multitude of
biids cieated a favoiite hunting aiea foi iesidents of Southeast Alaska.
Foi wateifowl enfoicement woik I used a small boat with a coveied cabin that
contained a cookstove and a bunk. I anchoied the ciaft in one of the deep sloughs,
and it seived as my living quaiteis while I patiolled the ats on foot. Weekends
Tis snall boat served as ny living quarters while I patrolled the Stikine River ats.
Wrangell Gane Warden 29
usually biought out a few hunting paities, and I checked theii licenses and bag
limits. Sometimes I would not see a huntei foi days, but I wandeied the maishes,
leaining the lay of the land and the favoiite hangouts of ducks and geese.
As enfoicement oceis, we did not weai unifoims. Monte encouiaged me to
hunt while on foot patiol, which also helped to disguise my piesence as a waiden.
I took advantage of this situation and killed my shaie of ducks and geese.
I issued a few wainings to hunteis who opened the season a few minutes eaily, but
I can iemembei making only one aiiest that ist fall. It tuined out to be a bit humoi-
ous. I ieceived a tip one weekend that a gioup of hunteis using the Guckei cabin on
the west end of the ats did not plan to pay much attention to bag limits. As I hunted
and woiked my way into theii midst, I staited checking theii bags of wateifowl. I
found that a huntei by the name of Pete had an extia duck in his possession. I wiote
him a ticket, took his ducks, and oideied him to iepoit to Magistiate Joel Wing in
Wiangell. Pete ieceived a small ne and ietuined to his home in Juneau.
Te aiiest ieceived some added publicity because Pete was pait ownei of a
laige maiine haidwaie stoie in Juneau and did a lot of business with the FWS.
When woid of his aiiest got out, pooi Pete took quite a iibbing fiom the FWS
peisonnel. Juneau hunteis leained to watch out foi the young game waiden dis-
guised as a huntei on the Stikine ats.
Te young gane warden Troyer disguised as a duck hunter.
30 BEAR WRANGLER
Seveial weekends latei, while I was checking the bag limits of a gioup of hunt-
eis, one man asked, Hey, aie you the guy who aiiested Pete with an extia duck?
When I confessed to being that culpiit, he chuckled. Well, he had it coming. He
has always biagged about getting moie than his shaie of ducks.
Most of my hunting consisted of walking along the edge of tidal sloughs oi
ponds and jump-shooting ducks. I iaiely missed, and I began to considei myself
a good duck shot. My ego was about to be deated.
In Octobei Monte assigned me to woik with Doyle Cissney, checking deei
and wateifowl hunteis in the numeious bays neai Peteisbuig. Doyle was a pieda-
toi contiol agent, but he had been sent to assist in game patiols that fall. It was
common in those days foi eld agents to opeiate a patiol vessel, and Doyle was
skippei of the FWS Black Bear. When I boaided the boat with my shotgun and
small pack, Doyle asked if I had biought plenty of shells. I told him I had one
box. He iaised his eyebiows, but did not say anything. Since I was going to be on
the tiip foi only ten days and theie was a possession limit of ten ducks, I guied
a box of twenty-ve shells would be plenty.
Oui ist stop was Whale Pass. Doyle liked to pass-shoot biids as they ew
thiough a naiiow gut. We anchoied the Black Bear, went ashoie, and hid behind
some iocks. Pintails and mallaids ew thiough on a iegulai basis, and I esti-
mated some weie going sixty miles pei houi with the stiong tailwind. I iaised
my shotgun when the ist ock appioached, but they zipped past me befoie I
could pull the tiiggei. I heaid Doyle shoot, but nothing fell. In a few minutes
foui moie pintails ew diiectly ovei me, I got o two shots without touching a
feathei. I then emptied my gun at a ock of mallaids, and a few minutes latei I
ied two useless shots at a single. I missed thiiteen ducks in a iow! I had no idea
how fai to lead these fast yeis. In fiustiation I pulled at least six feet ahead of
the next duck and when I shot, it folded. I now knew I was shooting fai behind
these speedy ducks, but even with this knowledge I continued to miss. I got only
thiee ducks with that entiie box of shells!
Doyle iibbed me a little when we got back to the boat and handed me two
moie boxes of shells. Heie, take these. I think youll need them befoie the end
of the tiip! He then told me, You got to lead ducks with a tailwind a long ways.
Teyie moving a lot fastei than you think.
I took his advice and got a little bettei at pass-shooting ducks, but I decided I
was not an expeit duck shot aftei all.
Doyle also taught me the fundamentals of towing a ski. Te deck of the Black
Bear was not laige enough to caiiy ouis, so we towed it behind the boat. One
day, befoie enteiing Sumnei Stiait, he asked me to check the ski. Te small boat
was sheeiing a bit, so I let out a little moie iope and ietied the line. Appaiently
I did not fasten it piopeily.
We got into heavy seas and I became seasick. I was thinking of lying down
when Doyle discoveied the ski was missing. He immediately tuined the Black
Bear aiound. As it tuined, the boat iolled violently, and foi a moment I feaied
the vessel would capsize. We scanned the iough seas foi twenty minutes befoie
sighting the ski bobbing on a high wave.
Ill pass the ski, tuin aiound, and swing alongside, Doyle told me. When I
do, you go to the back of the boat and tiy to lasso it.
In my sickened state I had no desiie to snag a boat in those pitching seas.
Te Black Bear again keeled fai ovei when Doyle tuined it aiound. Tat was too
much foi me, I leaned ovei a iail and upchucked. I iecoveied slightly, giabbed
a iope, and stood on the stein of the boat. Like a sea cowboy, I tossed the lasso
towaid the stiay boat seveial times, but I kept missing the cleat. I was ieady to
give up, but Doyle leaned out the window and yelled, Tiy again!
I was so sick I did not caie if I fell oveiboaid. Anything to escape my miseiy
would have been a welcome ielief. But the next time Doyle maneuveied the Black
Bear neai the ski I steeled myself and thiew the iope. Success! Te lasso landed
neatly aiound the cleat. I tied it tempoiaiily to the back of the boat, giabbed a
long-handled hook, and snagged the tow iope. Aftei I secuied the line piopeily,
I climbed inside the Black Bears cabin and collapsed on my bunk. I iested a few
minutes befoie continuing to the wheelhouse.
You dont look too good, Doyle iemaiked.
I did not answei. Te palloi of my face told the stoiy. Doyle did not make any
gieenhoin jokes. He knew I had leained a lesson.
Doyle piloted the Black Bear acioss the stiait and into a small, calm bay. We
anchoied and waited foi the stoim to subside. As bad as that expeiience was foi
me, it tuined out well. I nevei got seasick again!
We continued going fiom bay to bay checking deei and wateifowl hunteis.
At times we did not see anyone foi seveial days. We did aiiest one huntei foi
shooting a doe, the most common deei-hunting violation. It was anothei leain-
ing expeiience foi me.
We enteied a small bay on Piince of Wales Island and found a small shing
boat anchoied at the head of the bay. Doyle ciicled the boat with the Black Beai.
Two hunteis came out on deck to acknowledge us. Doyle waved a gieeting and
then said to me, Tose guys suie look suspicious to me.
I had no idea why he suspected them. Aftei we anchoied, Doyle said, Come
on, lets pay them a visit.
32 BEAR WRANGLER
We boaided the boat, and they invited us in foi a cup of coee. Tey infoimed
us they had been hunting deei but had not seen anything. Doyle asked, Mind if
we look aiound?
We checked theii ski and the hold, but we failed to nd anything. When we
ietuined to the galley, Doyle staited accusing them of shooting an illegal deei,
which they vehemently denied. I was amazed at Doyles sudden chaiges and a
little embaiiassed because they both seemed innocent to me. He ielentlessly
kept up the questioning. I was convinced they weie innocent and Doyle was out
of line, he did not have any evidence that they weie guilty. Tey continued to
deny any wiongdoing.
Te inteiiogation went on foi an houi. I was beginning to feel soiiy foi the old
man whom Doyle was accusing. Aftei a long silence Doyle suddenly asked him,
Whats that blood doing on youi aim? He pointed to the guys wiist.
Te old mans face tuined ied, and he immediately confessed. Yes, he said.
I shot a doe this moining and left it in the woods. He went on to say he needed
meat foi his family. He could not nd a buck, so he shot the doe and planned to
wait until daik to get the deei and take it home.
Doyle latei told me he had seen a couple of fiesh deei haiis on the iailing
when we boaided the boat. He also spotted blood on the mans sleeve when he
seived us that ist cup of coee. I had missed all the clues and thought he was
innocent. Obviously, I had a lot to leain in becoming a game waiden.
I did not spend much time in Wiangell that fall and wintei. A ie had buined
pait of the business distiict the pievious yeai, destioying the town theatei and
a few othei businesses. Few single ladies lived in town, so theie was not much
social life foi me. I theiefoie spent most of my time in the eld.
Te fui-tiapping season occuiied duiing the month of Decembei, and we
enfoicement oceis spent the middle of the wintei on fui patiols. Fisheimen
tiapped mink to supplement theii income. In a good fui yeai they could eain
an additional s,ooo oi moiea good chunk of change in ,a. Each tiappei
claimed a section of beach to tiap each yeai. We patiolled the aiea to make suie
nobody tiapped befoie oi aftei the season. Most tiappeis weie happy to see us
aiound because a few outlaws always tiied to get out eaily and swipe mink fiom
someone elses giounds.
By my second yeai I felt I had quite a bit of Alaska outdooi expeiience undei
my belt, and I became condent navigating in the wilds. But a fall hunting tiip
ieminded me that I was still a novice. I was on deei patiol with Tuiston Oicutt,
skippei of the Harlequin, the depaitments newly acquiied fty-foot patiol vessel.
Tuiston anchoied the boat neai Woewodski Island in Duncan Canal. Sig Olson,
the deei biologist foi Southeast Alaska, had come on patiol with us, as he often
did. Sig and I decided to make a shoit hunt on the small island that afteinoon.
Tuiston took us ashoie in the ski, and we followed a Foiest Seivice tiail
to a small lake. We decided to hunt up a iidge to the top of the island. Sig and
I got sepaiated, so I continued on alone. I woiked my way thiough the dense
foiest, but I did not see much deei sign until I got to the top. Many deei tiails,
seveial maiked with fiesh tiacks, ciissciossed the muskegs that dotted the iidge.
I sneaked along the muskeg edges but failed to see any deei. In the deepening
dusk I knew I should be heading down, but I hated to give up. Ten minutes latei
a doe ian acioss an open muskeg with a buck in hot puisuit. Te iutting season
had begun, and the buck had sex on his mind. Te doe stopped about sixty yaids
away fiom me, and the buck mounted hei. I spoiled the iomantic moment by
iaising my iie and shooting the buck.
I had just taken my ist deei in Alaska, a nice foiked hoin. I was excited! I
diessed the animal quickly and made a gambiel pack by slipping each fiont leg
thiough a slit I cut neai the knee joint of each back leg. I hoisted the deei on my
back using the joined legs as backpack stiaps.
My excitement at getting the buck was dampened by the iapidly falling daik-
ness. I thought I could still make it to the lake and then follow the tiail to the
beach. I huiiied on until I came to a stieam. I unloaded the deei to look foi a
ciossing point, but when I ietuined to wheie I thought I had put the deei, I could
In the I,os, Wrangell was nainly a connercial shing town.
34 BEAR WRANGLER
not nd it. It was just too daik to continue the seaich. I did not want to lose the
deei, so my only alteinative was to spend the night in the woods and wait foi
daylight. Since this hunt was to have been a shoit one, I had no tent oi sleeping
bag. Alieady I was not looking foiwaid to the night when iain began to fall and
I discoveied I had no matches.
I spent the night huddled next to a laige spiuce tiee. When I peiiodically
got cold, I walked aiound the tiee to get waim. I kept up this ioutine all night. I
thought about the nice waim bunk on the boat as I huddled undei my iaincoat. I
wondeied what Tuiston and Sig weie thinking when I did not show up. I vowed
numeious times duiing the night that I would nevei get caught out in the daik
again. At about seven in the moining, with enough daylight, I found the deei
lying within foity feet of the tiee. I was disgusted that I was so close and had
not been able to nd it. I loaded it on my back and continued down the iidge.
I anticipated ieaching the lake in less than an houi, but aftei an houi and a half
of walking I had to admit I was lost. Discouiaged, I consoled myself with the
thought that I was on a small island, if I continued downhill, I would eventually
hit a beach. A little while latei I got below the fog line and saw salt watei in the
distance. It was a lovely sight. I now iealized I had descended the wiong side of
the iidge aftei I killed the deei. A half houi latei I got to the beach and laid the
deei on a log. I knew once I found the Harlequin, I could use the ski to ietiieve
it. About an houi latei I spotted the Harlequin at anchoi. I ied seveial shots into
the aii, and eventually Tuiston picked me up.
Sig and Tuiston had been up most of the night looking foi me. Sig had
walked the tiail to the lake wheie he had last seen me without nding any fiesh
tiacks. He was woiiied something seiious had happened to me, so he took the
ski back to Peteisbuig to oiganize a seaich paity. Tuiston iadioed him that I
was okay befoie the seaich got undeiway. Sig ietuined a few houis latei. Boy, did
I get iazzed about getting lost on such a small island! I was embaiiassed but took
the iibbing. I nevei again went into the woods without a compass and matches.
Soon aftei I aiiived in Wiangell, I became fiiends with Lee Ellis, a skilled
woodsman. Some yeais befoie, Lee had spent the spiing months tiapping beavei
on the Stikine Rivei. He and some Canadians, who tiapped faithei up the Stikine
and Iskut Riveis, gatheied at the Canada-U.S. boundaiy each spiing aftei the bea-
vei season to wait foi the iivei ice to go out. While they waited, they socialized,
told stoiies of theii wintei expeiiences, and sipped a little whiskey. Te gatheiing,
known as the spiing iendezvous, was a big social event foi the tiappeis, who spent
lonely winteis in theii iemote cabins. When the ice bioke, they oated to Wiangell
in boats they had stashed at the boundaiy the pievious fall and sold theii catch.
Lee latei moved to Wiangell and became involved in guiding, commeicial
shing, and tiapping. Duiing my second yeai in Wiangell he talked Senatoi
Doiis Baines into getting a bill thiough the teiiitoiial legislatuie to fund addi-
tional piedatoi contiol woik in the Wiangell aiea. Of couise Lee got the job that
the bill cieated. Tat wintei Monte asked me to make seveial tiips with Lee to
help him check his bait stations aiound the islands.
Piedatoi contiol woik, conducted by Lee and FWS peisonnel, was populai
with the public in the ,os. Most people felt that the moie wolves killed using
piedatoi contiol measuies, the moie deei would be available foi hunteis. Te
most common method of taking wolves in Southeast Alaska was to poison them.
Te piedatoi men ist shot seals, also consideied a piedatoi, and skinned the
animals. Tey then cut the heavy layei of blubbei into one-inch squaies and
inseited a stiychnine pill into each piece of fat. Te bait was placed in stiategic
locations that wolves fiequented. In addition to putting out stiychnine bait Lee
set out coyote getteis. Tese poison tiaps had bait fastened to the top of a small
pipe containing an explosive. When an animal took the bait, the gettei detonated
the chaige and shot cyanide into the animals mouth. Getteis killed a lot of coy-
otes and wolves, but wolveiines also took the bait. I iemembei one weekend tiip
with Lee when we found seven dead wolves and two wolveiines. Back then most
people consideied wolveiines a nuisance, not a beautiful membei of the weasel
Surveying the Stikine River fron a nountaintop.
36 BEAR WRANGLER
family. I did not like poisoning wolves and wolveiines, but I did enjoy being out
with Lee. He was a good woodsman, and I leained many skills.
Duiing anothei wintei I helped Lee conduct a moose census on the Stikine
Rivei. We stayed at vaiious cabins on the iivei and ciicled the aiea on snow-
shoes, counting moose tiacks to deteimine population numbeis. I was twenty-
seven yeais old and in pietty good physical shape, Lee was in his late foities. I
consideied him to be an old man, but he snowshoed ciicles aiound me fiom the
beginning. I did not undeistand how he did it until I lifted his snowshoes that
ist evening. Tey weie light as a feathei compaied to my heavy commeicial tiail
shoes. He told me that the Tahltan Indians, who lived faithei up the iivei, made
the light snowshoes. Te fiames weie made of willow, and tanned moose-hide
stiips foimed the webbing. I oideied a paii that wintei and found I could move a
lot fastei on these handciafted shoes. Tey now giace a wall in my log home.
My job as a game waiden in Wiangell was vaiied, and I enjoyed it immensely.
I spent most of my time in the eld obseiving wildlife, checking hunteis, and
hunting duiing the appiopiiate seasons. Te job was leisuiely and giatifying. I
was giadually leaining new outdooi skills as well.
Lee Ellis puts on his âtive-nade snowshoes.
37
Chapter 5
Fish Cop
C
ommeicial shing dominated the Southeast Alaska economy in the eaily
,os. Piistine old-giowth foiests ieigned supieme thioughout the iegion,
but logging was limited. Te Ketchikan Pulp Mill was still undei constiuction.
Shiimp, black cod, and halibut weie sought-aftei species, but most commeicial
sheimen weie aftei salmon.
Salmon shing seasons weie shoit and extiemely competitive. Each boat ciew
was undei a lot of piessuie to get its shaie of the haivest and biing home adequate
cash income.
Enfoicement oceis also felt unielenting piessuie. We weie expected to be
in the eld day aftei day duiing the commeicial salmon season with little iest oi
sleep. Gone weie the leisuiely days of hunting and shing that we enjoyed duiing
the fall and wintei game patiols. Most of the salmon shing seasons occuiied
fiom May thiough August, I was always glad when they weie ovei so that I could
ielax again.
Fisheimen used seveial dieient methods to catch sh. Te Wiangell distiict
had tiolling, gill net, and puise seine eets. Fish tiaps, owned mostly by the big
canneiies, weie also scatteied thioughout the iegion.
Tiolleis weie a iathei independent gioup who shed foi king and silvei salmon.
Tiolling consists of diagging luies behind a boat and ieeling in the sh as they
stiike. Tiolleis gave us few pioblems, theii geai was not designed foi cieek iob-
bing. Tey had long seasons and extensive shing aieas, they had, theiefoie, few
incentives to bieak the law. Tiolling vessels weie usually opeiated by a single ownei
38 BEAR WRANGLER
oi by a husband-and-wife team. Many lived on the boats all yeai and did not own
a home in town. Tey often invited me aboaid foi coee.
Te diift gill net eet was conned to the wateis neai the delta of the Stikine
Rivei. Most gillnetteis opeiated theii own small vessels and lived in Wiangell oi
Peteisbuig when not shing. Te nets weie made of mesh of a designated size to
gill and hold a paiticulai-sized sh when they swam into the net. Peiiodically the
nets weie ieeled in and the sh picked. A few gillnetteis violated laws by shing
duiing closed peiiods oi in closed wateis.
Puise seineis opeiated laigei vessels with ciews of ve to seven people. When
the ciew sighted a laige school of sh, they enciicled it quickly with the net. Tey
giadually closed the seine and eventually biought the sh alongside the vessel,
wheie they biailed the catch aboaid the boat. Te puise seineis moved iapidly
fiom aiea to aiea as sh iuns developed. When the shing was good, they made
some laige haulswhich meant good money.
Most seineis weie law abiding, but Wiangell had its shaie of outlaws who con-
stantly tiied to outsmait us sh cops and swipe a few sh. Eveiy salmon stieam
had a closed aiea neai the mouth, wheie salmon foimed schools befoie migiat-
ing upstieam to spawn. Closed aieas full of sh weie a temptation, especially
when no law enfoicement people weie aiound. Habitual cieek iobbeis often
painted theii boats a daik coloi to conceal theii night opeiations. Some woiked
in paiis oi gioups, with one vessel stationed at the entiance to a bay watching foi
sh cops while otheis weie inside scooping up illegal sh. One gioup even used a
small plane. Te pilot located sh and kept tiack of oui patiol boats and planes.
Te FWS Hailequin, a fty-foot vessel, was used for sh and gane patrols in the Wrangell district.
Fish Cop 39
Foitunately, we weie not completely alone in oui eoits to catch the outlaws.
Law-abiding seineis often tipped us o to illegal activities.
Fish tiaps weie stationaiy. Te opeiatois weie not allowed to sh them on week-
ends. It was oui duty to see that the gates weie sealed duiing weekend closuies.
To enfoice the shing iegulations in the Wiangell distiict, we had between
twelve and fteen stieam guaids, a laige patiol vessel, and the occasional use of
a patiol plane. Te stieam guaids weie stationed at the mouth of salmon stieams
to keep sheimen honest. We iotated the guaids fiom one stieam to anothei to
piotect the most pioductive sh iuns. We used the fty-foot Harlequin to patiol
the wateis thioughout the distiict. Tuiston Oicutt, the boats young skippei,
and I spent most of the shing season aboaid the vessel. My iesponsibilities
included checking the stieam guaids peiiodically, keeping them supplied with
gioceiies, and moving them fiom stieam to stieam as the salmon iuns pio-
giessed. My boss, Monte Clemmons, spent most of his time in Wiangell supei-
vising the entiie opeiation and ying patiols. Te FWS had a twin-engine plane
in Ketchikan that was dispatched to the Wiangell distiict when needed.
We towed a sixteen-foot ski with a twenty-ve hoisepowei motoi behind
the Harlequin. Te ski was capable of speeds up to twenty-two miles pei houi.
I used this fast ciaft to zip in and out of bays and inlets to check sheimen. Te
Harlequin was capable of doing ten knots (neaily twelve miles pei houi), and
we ioamed fai and wide thioughout the distiict. We kept in iadio contact with
Monte in Wiangell and used code numbeis to iepiesent geogiaphic locations.
Tis seived to keep him infoimed of oui location and piogiess and to keep oui
I used a snall sixteen-foot ski to zip in and out of bays while on sh and gane patrols.
40 BEAR WRANGLER
movements seciet to outlaw sheimen. Monte, in tuin, suggested wheie we
should concentiate oui eoits. Te Harlequin had good living facilities, and
Tuiston and I fiequently iemained on patiol foi seveial weeks at a time. We
weie constantly on the move, often opeiated at night, and got little sleep oi iest
duiing the peak shing season.
Night opeiations weie sometimes dangeious, as it was dicult to see logs,
iocks, and othei obstacles. Te Harlequin was equipped with a compass, but no
Fathometei oi iadai. One night at about two in the moining we weie appioach-
ing Wiangell. Te city and haiboi lights weie aglow, and we weie anxious to get
home. But it was extiemely daik, and gillnetteis weie eveiywheie. Tey main-
tained night lights on theii vessels and on the ends of the gill nets. Tuiston had
the engine thiottled back and was maneuveiing the Harlequin aiound the maze
of gill nets whengiiiummp, we hit one. Befoie Tuiston could stop the engine,
the net had wiapped aiound the Harlequins piopellei. Te light on the end of
the net had failed. We had not only iuined a sh net, but we had to iadio foi help
and be towed into town. It took foui fiustiating houis to get to Wiangell. Latei,
the sheiman was compensated foi the accident.
We spent most of that day getting the net out of the piop, iefueling, and tak-
ing on moie supplies. Eaily the following moining we left on anothei patiol.
Neithei oui boss noi the honest sheimen wanted to see oui patiol vessel in
town at the height of the shing season. We weie undei continual piessuie to
Wrangell in I,,.
Fish Cop 41
stay in the eld. I was single, but Tuiston had a family, he did not see much of
them in the summei.
In addition to the piessuie to stay out in the eld as much as possible, I was
undei constant stiess to leain the tiicks of the job. Eaily in my enfoicement
caieei I decided to make a night ski patiol to neaiby Beig Bay. Monte had
iepoited laige schools of sh at the head of the bay, which was about twenty
miles fiom Wiangell. I left town aftei daik, and in an houi I had ieached Beig
Bay. I stopped at a iocky ieef and waited quietly. At about eleven oclock I heaid
seveial shing boats coming up the channel fiom Biadeld Canal. High tide
would be neai midnight, and I was convinced they weie coming to iob the cieek.
I waited neivously. Te aii was still, and I could heai the boats moving into the
bay. Tey weie iunning without lights, and in about thiity minutes they stopped
neai the head of the bay. I heaid a loud noise and assumed it was a net going into
the watei. I waited ten minutes and then jumped into the ski, staited the engine,
and ioaied up the bay. I pulled alongside the neaiest vessel, cut my engine, and
jumped aboaid. Seveial people weie standing on deck and knew what I was look-
ing foi. Butno nets in the watei! I iealized my mistake, I had heaid the anchoi
diopnot a net. I was embaiiassed, but I did not want to show my eiioi. Just
checking to make suie you guys aie legal, I iemaiked.
Well, foi youi infoimation, we just moved up heie to get an eaily stait in the
moining, the skippei ieplied, iathei saicastically. By the way, it might not be
healthy iunning aiound at night and jumping onto boats in the daik!
I knew this was no idle thieat. Some outlaw sheimen had ciiminal iecoids
and would no doubt haim sh cops if they thought they could get away with it.
A few yeais aftei I left Wiangell, a stieam guaid mysteiiously disappeaied. His
body was nevei found. Te FBI stiongly suspected one of the outlaw boats, but
they nevei gatheied enough evidence to convict the culpiits. Te disappeaiance
was nevei solved.
I got back in the ski and pulled into Wiangell at two in the moining, tiied
and disappointed. I ciawled into bed as quickly as I could. We weie scheduled to
leave foi anothei patiol at seven.
Despite many missed oppoitunities, we appiehended seveial seineis iobbing
cieeks, but they weie usually small vessels with pooi equipment that obviously
had not made a good catch in seveial seasons. I felt pity foi them iathei than
disdain. I wanted to catch the illegal opeiatois with the big boats and aiiplanes.
Due to theii oiganized methods and sophisticated equipment, howevei, we weie
iaiely lucky enough to make an aiiest. I felt like a small-town cop up against the
Maa, incapable of bieaking up the illegal activities.
42 BEAR WRANGLER
We also had to deal with Washington, D.C., politics that often iesulted in
bad sheiy management decisions. One yeai, late in the season, we iealized
that many of the stieams weie not going to get an adequate escapement of sh
to theii spawning giounds. Monte and I iecommended an eaily season closuie.
Dick Myion, the sheiy management agent at Ketchikan, agieed with this plan,
as did the iegional sheiy peisonnel in Juneau. When the big canneiy opeiatois
heaid about oui pioposal, they called theii political pals in Washington. Oui
iecommendations weie iejected. Once again we weie the little guys in the eld
getting dismissed by the poweiful Washington lobby. It was discouiaging. Most
sheimen felt the same way we did, and they piessuied the U.S. goveinment to
cede contiol of commeicial shing to the Teiiitoiy of Alaska. Gaining local con-
tiol of commeicial shing management was eventually one of the majoi factois
that biought statehood to Alaska.
We weie often undeimanned and undeiequipped to handle ceitain enfoice-
ment situations. One weekend duiing my second summei in Wiangell, Monte
sent me to Anan Cieek, neai Biadeld Canal, to oveisee the season opening.
Anan had a pink salmon iun that ieached laige numbeis eveiy othei yeai.
Fisheimen had taken ovei a million sh duiing the pievious peak and weie
expecting anothei bumpei haivest. Te season opened at 6:oo a.m. on a
Monday. I left Wiangell in a ski befoie foui oclock and aiiived neai Anan at
ve-thiity. I could haidly believe the numbei of seineis that weie waiting to
sh. I estimated that a hundied oi moie boats weie lined up along the blus oi
weie maneuveiing to get into position foi the six oclock opening. A few weie
still getting theii geai ieady. Numeious salmon weie jumping, indicating that
thousands of sh weie piesent neai the blus. It ieminded me of ciowds wait-
ing foi a ciicus paiade.
Seveial sheimen stopped me and iequested that I ie a shot to announce
the opening so that eveiyone could let theii nets go at the same time. I agieed
and ian back and foith in fiont of the vessels to keep eveiyone legal. Alone
in the ski, I felt quite small and oveiwhelmed, tiying to keep an eye on all
those anxious sheimen. By : a.m. all weie just itching to ielease theii nets.
Te tensions weie mounting, and I hoped no one would tiy to jump the gun.
Some of the sheimens neives may have been tight, but mine weie tightei. At
: I saw a boat ielease its net. All eyes weie on me, watching my ieaction. I
immediately ioaied up to the seinei in my small ski and yelled at him to stop.
I thieatened him with aiiest unless he pulled in his seine. Te skippei cuised
but began ietiieving the net. I pulled out in fiont of the boats again. It was
:,, and I immediately ied the iie. Te boats on eithei side of the one that
Fish Cop 43
had tiied to jump the season let theii nets go and cut in fiont of him. It was
exactly what I hoped would happen. I could tell the sheimen that I stopped
weie angiy, with one membei shaking his st, but seveial of the men on the
othei vessels waved at me and giinned, indicating theii appioval of how I had
handled the situation. I whooped and iaised my aims in celebiation. I ioaied
past the sheimen at full thiottle and felt a big sense of ielief as I sped back
to Wiangell.
I woiked as a sh cop foi only thiee summeis in Southeast Alaska, but they
weie thiee long summeisweeks and weeks of long days in the eld, woiking
undei a lot of piessuie. I was always glad when the commeicial shing season
ended so I could get back to the moie ielaxed fall and wintei game patiols. I usu-
ally celebiated the end of the salmon season with a physically demanding deei
hunt in the high countiy. It seived to ielieve my stiess and anxieties.
45
Chapter 6
Adventures with Goats
T
he mountain goats of Southeast Alaska aie tiue wildeiness animals. Tey
thiive in iemote mountain peaks chaiacteiized by piecipitous slopes. Tey
aie suie-footed and adept at sciambling along sheei clis and leaping fiom ledge
to ledge wheie few animals, including man, daie to follow.
I had iead that mountain goats weie the most dicult laige animals in Noith
Ameiica to meet on theii own tuif. Tis challenged me to want to do just that.
Not long aftei I aiiived in Southeast Alaska, I spotted a gioup of white goats
standing like sentinels on a high peak above Hoin Clis, neai Peteisbuig. As I
watched the majestic animals, I laid plans to meet them face to face in theii lofty
enviionment.
A few weeks latei I took a ski acioss Diy Stiaits to the bottom of the clis,
diifted in the sea watei, and gazed upwaid thiough iocks and ledges until I had
selected a ioute that led to the goats. I anchoied my boat and staited the climb.
I caiiied a light daypack with only a cameia, a telephoto lens, and a few sand-
wiches so I could move iapidly. Te ioute followed a iavine foi the ist thousand
feet, but it ended at the bottom of a cli. I was disappointed when I ieached this
baiiiei that I could not scale. I paialleled the iock wall foi a hundied yaids, and
when I found anothei opening, my spiiits soaied. Te hiking was steep and stienu-
ous, but in a few houis I was two oi thiee thousand feet above the ocean. I studied
the piecaiious slope I had climbed and got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I
iealized I would eventually have to nd my way down that tiicky slope. I put these
negative thoughts out of my mind and tiudged upwaid.
46 BEAR WRANGLER
Aftei climbing anothei twenty minutes, I ieached a iidge that I thought was
neaily level with the goats, so I followed it. I pulled myself up ovei a high iock.
When I peeked ovei the top, I was elated to spot a gioup of twelve goats: a mixtuie
of nannies, kids, and a few yeailings. Tey weie bedded down chewing theii cud,
as seiene as a heid of cattle in a pastuie. I cautiously iaised my head highei to get
a bettei look. An open meadow sepaiated us and pievented me fiom appioaching
any closei without spooking the animals. It would be a long shot foi the aoo mm
lens, but I iested the cameia on a iock and took a few photos. Tey weie not the
close-ups I had hoped foi, but they weie woith iecoiding neveitheless.
I watched the goats foi thiity minutes, hoping a few would iise and stait
feeding towaid me, but it did not happen. I waited anothei twenty minutes,
and then I impatiently began to inch towaid them. A watchful nanny spotted
me and jumped to hei feet. Tat set o a chain ieaction until the entiie gioup
stood and staied in my diiection. Oh no, I told myself. You have iuined
youi chances. But theie was no time foi iegiets. I snapped a few moie photos
befoie they tuined and disappeaied ovei a iise. I ian acioss the meadow just
in time to see them cioss a high snoweld. Following them on that slippeiy
slope was impossible.
You should have been moie patient, I scolded myself.
Dejected, I tuined to stait back, but then a lone goat emeiged on a ledge sev-
eial hundied feet below me and moved slowly behind a iock wall. My hopes iose
foi getting some close-up photos. I descended quickly to the ledge and followed
it aiound a cli just in time to see the animal leap acioss a small foui-foot gap.
Te wide ledge I was following naiiowed to two feet just befoie the bieach. It was
consideiably widei on the othei side, howevei, so I jumped acioss. I assumed I
had the goat coineied, but as I iounded anothei cuive, the nimble animal spiang
fiom the ledge and sciambled down a veiy steep mountainside. A slip on that
sheei slope would iesult in a two-hundied-foot fall. I nally admitted defeat and
tuined to ietiace my steps.
I now saw that I had to jump acioss the foui-foot gap and land on the nai-
iow two-foot ledge. Teie was no ioom foi eiioi. If I did not land exactly iight,
I would fall at least sixty feet. I was feaiful and sat down foi a few minutes to
calm my neives. I then stood up, iemoved my pack, held it in my iight hand, and
befoie I could have second thoughts, I leaped!
When my feet hit solidly on the othei side, I moved iapidly o the naiiow
ledge and then sat down again to compose myself. I knew I had naiiowly avoided
disastei and vowed to nevei again get myself into such a piedicament. While I
was iesting, I studied the landscape below and discoveied a ietuin ioute to the
Adventures with Goats 47
ocean that was much safei than the one I had ascended. I ielaxed, and within an
houi I was safely back at the ski.
My second encountei with goats came latei that fall. I was staying in a cabin
on the Stikine Rivei neai the Biitish Columbia boidei with two fiiends who
weie hunting moose. I wanted a mountain goat foi my fieezei and glassed the
mountains foi a likely piospect. On the second day I spotted a gioup in an alpine
meadow above the cabin. It looked like an easy one-day hunt, and I decided to
tiy the following day. I leained the haid way that hunting goats can be just as
dicult as tiying to photogiaph them.
I packed a few sandwiches, a hunting knife, a iie, and a paii of binoculais and
left camp the next moining befoie the sun iose ovei the mountains. I infoimed
the moose hunteis at camp that I would be back befoie daik. Tey had theii
doubts but wished me luck.
I followed a cascading stieam that led steadily upwaid thiough a foiest of
spiuce and aldei. It was a giadual climb, and in a few houis I ieached timbeiline
and peeied down at the cabin, which was now a meie speck on the iivei. I ieal-
ized I had misjudged the distance to the goats. Tey weie still a long way o and
moving away fiom me. I watched them disappeai behind a mountain. I huiiied
on, thinking it was still feasible to nd them, complete the hunt, and ietuin to
the cabin befoie daik.
I had sone narrow escapes while trying to photograph or hunt nountain goats.
48 BEAR WRANGLER
Aftei anothei houi of hiking I ieached the mountain wheie I had last spotted
the goats, but they weie gone. I climbed seveial moie peaks and scanned the vast
teiiain without success. Tey had simply vanished. It was neaily midafteinoon,
and I was ieady to give up. Discouiaged, I staited back by walking aiound a small
mountain. Teie they weie, iesting peacefully on an open gieen slope, unawaie
that a piedatoi was neaiby. Most of them weie ielaxed and chewing cud. I
debated about whethei it was too late to shoot one and still pack it out befoie
daik. Temptation oveicame good judgment. I caiefully glassed the animals and
selected one. Slipping my iie onto a iock, I aimed caiefully and shot a medium-
sized male. Te iest jumped up and disappeaied aiound the mountain. Te billy
was a beautiful specimen, and in many ways I hated to end its life. At the same
time I was euphoiic at my success. I wanted the supply of meat and the challenge
of taking a goat in such dicult teiiain.
Te dead goat was much laigei than I had estimated. I skinned it out caie-
fully and split it into two sepaiate packs. Te o pounds of meat was too heavy
to caiiy down the steep slope all at once. I packed it down the mountain by ist
caiiying one load about thiee hundied yaids and then ietuining foi the othei.
I iested often and enjoyed the mountain vistas of snowcapped peaks and the
winding Stikine Rivei valley fai below. It was immense, wild countiy.
Te light faded fast aftei sunset, and I became awaie I could not make it to the
cabin befoie daik. I did not ielish spending the night on the mountain without a
tent and sleeping bag, but I set my mind to accept the inevitable. Te numeious
snowelds ieected enough light so I could see to walk, but with the heavy pack I
had to move slowly ovei the iocky teiiain. Te exciting hunt now became diudg-
eiy, I was deteimined to nish the task, howevei. I was out of food, so I stopped
seveial times to eat the abundant bluebeiiies that giew along the ioute.
At about two in the moining it staited to diizzle, and visibility became lim-
ited. I moved slowly with my heavy pack, caiefully putting one foot in fiont of
the othei. Some houis latei I ieached the daik timbeiline, I could go no faithei
until daylight. I diew a light iain paika aiound myself and iested next to the goat
meat. Te iain and sweat had soaked my clothes, and I became chilly. I walked
aiound in ciicles to inciease my ciiculation and body heat. I longed foi the cabin
fai below and thought about the big meal I would eat when I aiiived. I kept up
the ioutine of iesting and moving in ciicles. Aftei anothei two houis, it became
light enough to follow the ioute down thiough the spiuce foiest. I stashed half
of the meat neai a huge bouldei and staited down with the iest. It was tough
going with the heavy pack, and I moved slowly down the steep teiiain. I spot-
ted the cabin fai below and knew each step was one closei to my destination. I
made it to camp at about ten in the moining, twenty-seven houis aftei staiting
the hunting adventuie.
I diopped the pack neai the dooi. My two fiiends in camp weie ielieved to see
me, they had been in the piocess of planning a seaich. A big pot of moose stew
simmeied on the stove. We exchanged hunting stoiies while I goiged. Aftei the
meal, I ciawled into my bunk and slept the clock aiound.
Te next moining aftei a big bieakfast, I infoimed my fiiends I was heading
up the mountain to get the iest of the meat. Aie you ciazy? one of them asked
in disbelief. Te beais have found the meat by now and made shoit woik of it.
Dont waste youi time.
But I was adamant about not wasting meat and deteimined to make an eoit
to salvage it. I followed the same ioute up along the mountain stieam in a diiz-
zling iain and aiiived at timbeiline in two houis. Te meat was undistuibed.
I took a shoit iest, loaded my pack, and ietuined to the cabin in iecoid time.
Needless to say, I had no desiie to hunt goats foi a while, as it took me seveial
days to iecupeiate fiom my maiathon hunt. I was, howevei, giatied at chal-
lenging the goats again, this time I would enjoy some delicious goat steaks as
compensation foi my eoits.
My next mountain goat adventuie was anothei photogiaphic safaii. It was a
neai disastei but ended humoiously. I knew about a gioup of goats that stayed
in the high mountains above Andiews Slough, a tiibutaiy of the Stikine. I
wanted some 6 mm goat movies and waited foi a suitable summei day. When
one aiiived, I took my ski up the Stikine Rivei and tied it to a spiuce tiee on
the banks of the slough. I giabbed my pack and pushed thiough the aldeis to
a long diaw that led up the mountain, it was still lled with snow. Te suns
iays spaikled like diamonds o the snowcapped peaks on this iaie cleai day in
Southeast Alaska. I climbed the long, haid-packed slope by digging the toes of
my boots into the im snow foi tiaction. Tough a bit slippeiy, it beat ghting
the aldei biush and devils club thickets that coveied most of the slope. I made a
iapid ascent and was soon in goat countiy.
I hiked aiound seveial mountain peaks and seaiched the slopes with my bin-
oculais, but I failed to nd the goats I had pieviously spotted. Like phantoms,
they had simply vanished into the immense wildeiness. I sat down to iest and
pondei my next move.
Te vistas themselves weie iewaiding. Seveial thousand feet below me the
Stikine Rivei wound like a giant seipent thiough a densely foiested valley.
Acioss the iivei, toweiing mountain peaks capped with snow thiust upwaid
into cleai blue skies. Te alpine slopes weie coveied with a coloiful aiiay of
50 BEAR WRANGLER
wildoweis. I took a few photos, but I wanted goat pictuies. Aftei iesting,
I seaiched additional slopes in vain. Finally in midafteinoon I gave up and
headed down the mountain.
I again chose the snowy iavine foi tiavel. Te descent, howevei, was much
fastei than the climb had been. I whittled o a six-foot aldei pole with my pocket
knife to aid in going down. Te snow was slick, but by sitting down, digging in my
heels, and iiding the aldei stick, I managed to stay in contiol most of the time as
I slid. It was a thiilling way to go down a mountain!
My biaking heels thiew tiaceis of snow into my face. I slid iapidly past the
aldeis on the edge of the iavine. At times the pelting snow obscuied my vision as
I slid and spun down the piecaiious slick slope. Peiiodically I halted and took a
biief iest befoie I shoved o again. Seveial times I caught myself saying, Whew!
Tat was a close one!
As I appioached the bottom in a paiticulaily steep section, I lost contiol. My
body spun in vaiious diiections, and I was unable to bieak my speed as I shot
down the slope. At any moment I expected to ciash into an aldei, and I feaied
foi my life. I fought to stop the despeiate, fast slide. A few seconds latei my pack
slammed into seveial aldei shiubs, but I iicocheted o. I dug my aldei stick into
the snow as haid as I could and managed to stop just befoie ieaching a gioup of
solid aldeis.
Holy cow! Youie going to kill youiself! I thought.
I iegietted my iecklessness, but it had been fast and fun!
I had a few biuises on my legs but no seiious injuiies. I stood up shaking,
knowing I had aveited disastei by a haii. I sobeily stepped o the snow and hiked
the iest of the way to the ski thiough aldei and devils club thickets.
Te mosquitoes weie atiocious neai the watei, and they attacked in swaims.
My shiit became coveied with the daik demons that bit unmeicifully. In des-
peiation I iipped o all my sweaty clothes, thiew them and my pack into the
ski, and dove undeiwatei. Te cool watei felt good and soothed the itchy bug
bites, but eveiy time I stuck my head above the watei they attacked again. I was
in a dilemma. How would I get diessed without tiapping dozens of mosquitoes
undei my clothes? I pondeied the pioblem a while, and then swam to the side of
the ski, jumped in, staited the engine, and ioaied down the slough, naked as a
jaybiid! It may have looked iathei odd, but it suie felt good.
I steeied with one hand, batting and swatting mosquitoes with the othei, until
I lost most of the biting pests. About thiee hundied yaids ahead I spotted a boat
full of people coming up the slough, foitunately, the high aldei thickets along
the banks of the slough paitially obscuied theii vision. I saw a naiiow foik in
the iivei that allowed me to veei to the iight and disappeai behind an island. I
slowed down, quickly got diessed, and headed back to town.
Seveial days latei, iumois spiead aiound Wiangell that a ciazy naked guy was
seen boating on the Stikine Rivei. I smiled to myself but kept my mouth shut, and
my seciet was nevei ievealed.
Duiing one of my last goat expeiiences I neaily lost an eye. Eaily in summei I
again took my ski acioss Diy Stiaits to Hoin Clis, neai Peteisbuig, to photo-
giaph the animals. I woiked my way up thiough the spiuce foiest, neai timbei-
line I came to seveial stands of devils club that had not yet leafed out. Te spiny
stems piotiuded thiough the snow, which still pievailed on a few shady slopes. I
had climbed foi neaily two houis to ieach this high teiiain. My legs weie tiied,
and I became caieless as I picked my way thiough the thoiny devils club. My
foot slipped on the snow and I fell foiwaid, my head smacking into the top of
a spiny stem. A shaip pain shot thiough my iight eye. I quickly placed a hand
acioss the eyelid and felt foi a thoin, but I found none. I foiced my eyelid open
and gently biushed my handkeichief acioss the eyeball. Te pain continued, and
I was unable to nd the foieign object that was causing the exciuciating pain.
Aftei caiefully piobing aiound my eyelid, I nally concluded that I piobably had
a veiy ne thoin in my eyeball, but I was unable to locate and extiact it. I needed
medical assistance, but I was all alone on a steep mountain slope fai fiom any
medical help. No one would look foi me foi at least a day.
I was unable to see cleaily to follow the tiail back to the ski. My injuied eye
was the dominant one, and opening my left caused seveie pain because it exed
the muscles of both eyes. I was in tiouble and I knew it. In uttei fiustiation I
stood up and scieamed, Help! Te sound of my voice echoed o the mountain-
tops as if to mock my eoits.
Sweat soaked my shiit as I pondeied my piedicament. I sat down to compose
my mind and spoke imly to myself, Tioyei, get a hold on youiself. No one is
going to look foi you. Te only way youie going to get o this mountain is by
youi own willpowei.
Aftei a few moments, calm and deteimination owed thiough me. I clamped
my hand ovei my iight eye, squinted out of my left, and staited slowly down the
mountain. Eveiy step I took was one closei to the skimy immediate goal. In
seveial piecaiious places I had to ciawl on my hands and knees, but I was mak-
ing piogiess. I iested often and kept iepeating to myself, Come on, Tioyei, you
can do it.
Resting, slowly walking, and ciawling, I giadually woiked my way down the
mountain. At least foui houis passed befoie I ieached the beach and spotted
52 BEAR WRANGLER
the ski. I was now condent I would make it, though I still had to iun back to
Wiangell by boat. I knew the ioute well, but I had diculty seeing the geogiaphi-
cal featuies that guided me acioss the tieacheious stiaits. It took me almost two
houis to get to Wiangell. I tied the ski to the FWS dock that contained my small
wanigan home and found the telephone. I called some fiiends, and they iushed
me to the hospital.
Te local doctoi diagnosed the pioblem as I lay on my back on the examining
table. He spotted a tiny thoin stuck in my eyeball, and with a paii of ne tweezeis
he extiacted it. I ieceived immediate ielief fiom the pain. Te doctoi was no eye
specialist, but he thought that if I iested and kept a patch ovei my eye, it would
heal in a few days. Tis I did, and on the fouith day, when the doctoi ieexamined
me, he found I had lost pait of the uid in my eye.
What does that mean? I asked in alaim.
I dont know, but Id bettei get you to an eye specialist, he ieplied.
His comment ieally scaied me. I was devastated just thinking about losing
pait of my vision. Te only eye doctoi in Southeast Alaska seived many com-
munities. By placing a few phone calls, my doctoi located him in the small village
of Klawock on the west side of Piince of Wales Island.
Te next day I ew to the small medical clinic. Aftei a thoiough examination,
the eye specialist concluded that the Wiangell physician had iemoved the thoin
successfully but had made a mistake by letting me move aiound too soon. He
infoimed me that I would have to stay on my back foi at least thiee days and weai
a patch ovei my eye foi seveial weeks. He assuied me, howevei, that my eye would
heal and I would eventually iegain my full vision. I was immensely ielieved!
He iequested that I iemain in Klawock in the meantime so he could check the
healing piocess. He told me that if the thoin had penetiated one layei deepei, I
would have lost the sight in that eye. Aftei a week the doctoi ieleased me fiom
the clinic. I continued to weai the patch ovei my eye foi seveial weeks and
leained to judge distance with a single eye while diiving. It took piactice. My eye
eventually healed, and the injuiy left no scai.
I admiie mountain goats, I enjoyed the exhilaiating highs I expeiienced when
on theii tuif. Tese eaily episodes, howevei, taught me that iecklessly puisuing
them was dangeious. In the futuie I became moie cautious when following these
nimble cieatuies of the high clis.
53
Chapter 7
Sourdough Characters
I
n the ,os many eccentiics led secluded lives in Southeast Alaska. Te abun-
dant foiest piovided a vaiiety of tiees and othei mateiials foi building log cab-
ins and iewood foi heating and cooking. Plentiful sh, shellsh, deei, and wild
beiiies along with a small gaiden plot supplied most of the food these individuals
iequiied. Tey could obtain the modest amount of cash they needed to buy othei
essential items by tiapping oi doing a little commeicial shing.
I met many of these old-timeis while on my iounds as a game waiden. I enjoyed
listening to them ielate inteiesting episodes fiom theii past. Tey weie also knowl-
edgeable about the wildlife in theii aiea and often piovided tips about any poach-
ing activities. I theiefoie cultivated theii fiiendship and visited them whenevei I
was in theii vicinity.
Five old souidoughs lived along the back channel between Wiangell and the
head of Biadeld Canal. Commeicial shing fiiends deliveied theii mail duiing
the summei, but few people tiaveled these wateis in the wintei. Te local post-
mastei iequested that we game waidens delivei theii mail in the wintei duiing
oui iegulai patiols.
Te ist chaiactei we would visit aftei leaving Wiangell was an ex-maishal, Eail
West. He lived in a small cabin neai the shoie on the noitheast side of Wiangell
Island, and he was always delighted to see us diop anchoi in fiont of his home.
He invaiiably came out, waved, and shouted foi us to come visit. Te old maishal
loved to talk. As soon as I handed him the mail, he would poui each of us a cup of
coee and stait chatteiing nonstop. Occasionally, Eail would ask a question, but
54 BEAR WRANGLER
befoie any of us could answei, he would launch into anothei episode fiom his
past, most of which I had heaid befoie.
Aftei the pieliminaiies weie ovei, Eail would seive us glasses of home biew.
It was teiiible-tasting stu, but we smacked oui lips and pietended to like it.
Te ex-maishal would quickly down two oi thiee glasses and then diag out
seveial books of poetiy he had wiitten. He would begin ieciting poems, and we
pietended to enjoy each one, some weie, in fact, quite clevei and humoious.
Once the eect of the home biew took ovei, the old souidough began singing the
poems. Tat was a bit too much, so we would nd excuses to leave and continue
oui patiol. Te paitially inebiiated maishal stood onshoie and continued sing-
ing poetiy as we pulled anchoi and depaited. Usually I would iemembei a few
lines of Eails poems and attempt to iecite them. Te otheis laughed at my pooi
impeisonation as we continued down the channel.
Te next old souidough to whom we would biing mail was Albeit in Beig Bay.
He was a laige man in his eaily seventies with a quiet demeanoi. He had no fiont
teeth, so he gummed his food and avoided anything too tough to chew. He lived
in a simple ten-by-twelve-foot canvas tent. He kept saying he was going to build
a cabin the next yeai, but he nevei did duiing my time in Wiangell. Albeit would
always invite us inside his ciowded abode foi coee. A small stove at one end of
the tent piovided waimth and heat foi cooking. A few cooking utensils and a lim-
ited supply of food weie visible inside seveial Blazo boxes stacked neai the stove.
A low, naiiow bed sat on one side of the tent, and the othei side contained a neat
stack of split wood. I am suie Albeit had a few clothes and othei items stashed
undei his bunk, but he seemed to have few peisonal belongings.
Albeit, unlike most souidoughs, was well infoimed on national and woild
aaiis, gleaning news fiom a small batteiy-opeiated iadio and fiom magazines
supplied by sheimen fiiends. He often engaged me in conveisations on these
subjects. I enjoyed his viewpoints, especially since he was so fai iemoved fiom
the outside woild.
Albeit tiapped a few fuis foi cash, but he nevei took an excess of wildlife
iesouices. He talked enthusiastically about the deei, beai, ottei, mink, and vaii-
ous biids that he had iecently seen. It was obvious that Albeit piefeiied watch-
ing wildlife to consuming them. In , I puichased a wolveiine skin fiom him
foi a few paltiy dollais. I insisted on paying moie, but he iefused, saying that it
was the piice he would ieceive fiom a fui buyei. It is a beautiful pelt that still
hangs on a wall in my house, ieminding me of the kind old gentleman.
Oui next mail stop was at the home of two Kentucky biotheis, who lived on
the noith side of Biadeld Canal. Tey came to Alaska duiing Woild Wai Isome
Sourdough Characters 55
said to avoid the diaftand built a two-stoiy cabin on the shoies of the canal. Like
the iest of the old-timeis, they had a gaiden, gatheied game and sh, and needed
little else. Jack was dominant, and I have foigotten the name of his biothei, but I
will call him Jim. Tey loved to talk and tell stoiies. Te longei we stayed, the moie
exaggeiated the tales became.
Yes sii, we have a big biown beai that comes aiound eveiy week. He loves
music, and when we tuin on the Victiola, he stands on his hind legs and looks in
oui second-stoiy window! Aint that iight, Jack?
Yep, thats iight, Jim.
Te moie fai-fetched the stoiies became, the moie they called on each othei
to veiify the exaggeiated tales.
Yeah, he sticks his head into oui second-stoiy window. Tis would have
made the beai about sixteen feet tall, tallei than any beai on iecoid. Ten he
sways to the music and staits to dance. Aint that iight, Jack?
Yep, thats iight, Jim. We also have a black beai and a wolveiine that aie
fiiends. Te othei day the black beai came walking down the beach with the
wolveiine iiding on his back! Aint that iight, Jim?
Yep, thats iight, Jack.
And we have this black wolf that can talk to us Te stoiies would continue
unabated, each biothei tiying to outdo the othei.
We would always pietend to believe the outlandish tales, but aftei depaiting
we would laugh upioaiiously. It was good enteitainment.
Not all the souidoughs I met weie pait of oui mail iuns. Ham Island Slim (so
named aftei an island that was once his home) lived a ieclusive life in a iemote
cabin above the Biadeld Canal tidal ats. He tiied to scaie away stiangeis who
came too close to him and fiightened seveial people who accidentally stumbled
onto his cabin while they weie hunting biown beai in the aiea. He pulled a gun
on Johnny Wendlei, a fiiend of mine fiom Ketchikan, and thieatened to shoot if
he did not leave immediately. Johnny complained to the local maishal, but the
maishal was ieluctant to confiont the eccentiic isolationist.
I met Ham Island Slim thiough my fiiend Lee Ellis. Lee guided a few beai
hunteis in the uppei Biadeld Canal diainage and always hiied Slim as an
assistant when hunting that aiea. Slim also tiapped fui animals and came into
Wiangell each spiing to sell his catch and pick up a few supplies. He nevei lin-
geied in town, immediately ietuining to his solitaiy life in the foiest. Lee intio-
duced me to Ham Island Slim the ist spiing I was in Wiangell. Slim had tiapped
a few beavei that wintei, and in those days beavei weie a majoi fui animal sought
by tiappeis. Te numbei of beavei taken by each tiappei was closely iegulated
56 BEAR WRANGLER
by the FWS. Each skin had to be sealed with a metal tag by FWS peisonnel
befoie it could be sold to a fui buyei. Lee biought Slim to my oce to seal his
beavei, aftei that Ham Island Slim consideied me a fiiend.
Slim once said to me, I dont want to be botheied by people. I just want to
live alone in peace. I could undeistand this attitude and sometimes envied the
souidoughs lifestyle.
I nevei knew much about the old iecluse until my last yeai in Wiangell, when
he got into a ght with a piospectoi who ioamed the iegion in seaich of minei-
als. Te exploiei spotted Slims cabin fiom a mountaintop and decided to pay
him a visit. Slim had some cash buiied behind his cabin and became suspicious
of the piospectoi, convinced the man was tiying to steal his money. Tey got into
a ght. Slim managed to get the best of the stiangei and tie him up in chains. He
came into Wiangell to tell the local maishal what had happened. Jack, the mai-
shal, was leeiy of the situation and asked me, as a fellow law enfoicement ocei,
to accompany him to the cabin. I agieed, but Ham Island Slim did not go with
us, he stayed with Lee Ellis to await oui iepoit.
Jack and I left the next day. We followed Slims diiections, boating up the
Biadeld Rivei, past the tidal ats, and then tuined left into a naiiow, unmaiked
channel. We followed the wateiway foi anothei two hundied yaids befoie spot-
ting the cabin paitially hidden in the dense foiest. Te cabin was built of laige
spiuce logs, the dooi consisted of heavy planking, biistling with six-inch-long
shaipened spikesa common piactice foi discouiaging beais. Te piospectoi
had gotten loose befoie we aiiived, but he had iemained at the cabin. He told us
a stoiy about the dispute that was completely dieient fiom Slims account.
Jack nished his investigation late in the day, and we decided to spend the
night. Te cabin was well equipped and had two bunks. Slim had lined the walls
with pictuies of women in biassieies he had toin fiom Seais Roebuck catalogs.
Appaiently this was Slims veision of pinups. But what attiacted my attention
was a poitiait of Ham Island Slims family. He came fiom a laige, well-diessed
Swedish family. As I studied the poitiait, I wondeied why he had left his family,
what biought him to such a iemote spot, and what had tuined him into such a
iecluse. I nevei found out, howevei, as he was veiy evasive about his past.
Eventually the maishal settled the dispute without aiiesting anyone, and Ham
Island Slim ietuined to his secluded lifestyle. I left Wiangell that fall and nevei
saw oi heaid fiom him again.
Noimally I did not woik with any of these old chaiacteis, but theie was one
exception. He was hiied by Elmei Copstead, who ieplaced Monte Clemmons
in , as the enfoicement agent at Wiangell. Elmei thought we should sub-
Sourdough Characters 57
stitute some of the college kids we had hiied as stieam guaids with as many
locals as possible.
Te Harlequin was tied up at the dock in the small village of Point Bakei, neai
the wateis we weie patiolling. When I ietuined to the vessel fiom visiting fiiends
and stepped aboaid, I was hit by an extiemely pungent odoi. As I walked into the
galley, Elmei iose fiom his chaii, gieeted me, and then said, I want you to meet
oui new stieam guaid, Diity Yantzee.
Sitting at the galley table was a small, lthy, unkempt man. His beady eyes
peeied out fiom behind a tangled mop of oily haii and a iats nest of a beaid.
Howdy, Will, he said, iising to shake my hand. Ten he eiupted into a high-
pitched scieech of a laugh that I would have expected fiom an insane peison.
Shiveis shot down my spine.
Te mysteiy of the pungent odoi was solved. Yantzees gieasy, diity clothes
had obviously nevei been washed. His hands and face looked daik and giimy
fiom an accumulation of weeks, months, and maybe even yeais of lth. I found
out latei he ielished being called Diity Yantzee and lived up to the name by nevei
bathing. Diity Yantzee and his fiiend Diity Geoige competed foi the ieputation
of being the diitiest man in Alaska. At that moment Yantzee led the contest
because Diity Geoige had fallen into the ocean foui yeais eailiei. Accoiding to
Diity Yantzee, that amounted to taking a bath even if Diity Geoiges body had
nevei been giazed by a cake of soap.
Latei I asked Elmei, Aie you suie you want to hiie this guy?
Yes. Hell be self-sucient and keep the sheimen honest! Elmei said. I
doubted his judgment but did not aigue the point.
About ten days latei Tuiston Oicutt and I made oui iounds in the Harlequin,
checking on the stieam guaids. Diity Yantzee was stationed neai the entiance to
Rocky Pass, adjacent to seveial good salmon stieams. I giabbed a few gioceiies,
jumped in the ski, and motoied thiough the shallow watei to wheie his small
ciaft was anchoied. Yantzee sat on a beach log with a iie in his lap. I pulled up
to the boat and gieeted him coidially. He did not ieply, his beady eyes staiing at
me thiough that mop of haii.
I could have stopped you way out theie! he nally said in his high-pitched
but mattei-of-fact voice.
I was suie he did not iecognize me, so I intioduced myself again and asked if
he needed any gioceiies. Yantzee then eiupted in scieechy laughtei befoie stat-
ing he could use a little coee and tea. He then invited me to his camp. He had
no tent oi cookstove, choosing to pitch his geai in a small cave just above the
high-tide line and to cook ovei an open ie. I had to stoop to entei his cave. Te
58 BEAR WRANGLER
camp was lthy. His smelly sleeping bag lay on the giavel, a few cooking utensils
weie stiewn about on the giound, and an aiiay of gaibage litteied the camp. I
declined the coee he oeied in a diity cup and soon depaited.
Latei someone told me that Diity Yantzee had been a beavei poachei in Mon-
tana and had left foi Alaska one step ahead of the law. Yantzee had the local sh-
eimen bualoed. He not only kept them fiom poaching sh, but he iefused to let
them anchoi neai his camp. As Elmei had piedicted, he piotected the salmon.
I nevei met the souidough who had the biggest impact on my life. As a teen-
agei on a faim in Indiana, I had iead Te Wild Grizzlies of Alaska by John M.
Holzwoith. Te authoi desciibed the life of Allen Hasselboig, a iecluse who
lived in Mole Haiboi on Admiialty Island. Hasselboig inhabited this iemote
spot, populated by biown beais, foi many yeais. He watched the huge beais pass
by his cabin and followed theii well-woin tiails as he hiked thiough the foiest. I
was fascinated with the book, its desciiption of the huge beais, and the life of the
old souidough. I vowed that someday I would go to Admiialty Island.
In eaily , we anchoied oui patiol boat in Mole Haiboi. I stood on the bow
and gazed at Hasselboigs homestead, tucked into the edge of the iain foiest.
Te beais weie in hibeination, and I knew Hasselboig was no longei theie, he
had left a few yeais befoie, due to old age. I went ashoie that evening to take a
closei look at the old cabin. Some of his cooking utensils hung on the wall, and
the stove was still piesent. I looked out the window, just as the old souidough
had done to watch biown beais pass by on his beach. I wondeied if I would be
standing in this iemote spot in Alaska if I had not iead the book. I walked about
the homestead in awe, iecalling Hasselboigs adventuies. How I wished I could
have met him!
Latei in my Alaska tiavels I met othei old souidoughs, but these ist acquain-
tances aie still fiesh in my mind. Tey weie my intioduction to a gioup of inde-
pendent individuals whose dieient paths led to Alaska. In these iemote foiests
they could live a life fiee fiom the iesponsibilities and social iestiaints of a moie
civilized life. I had to admiie many of them. Tey weie and aie a bieed of men
that is giadually disappeaiing fiom Alaska.
59
Chapter 8
Romance in Juneau
M
y life changed diamatically in ,. In eaily Januaiy the enfoicement agent
foi the Juneau distiict, Sandy Matson, decided to ietiie. Dan Ralston, head
of the FWS enfoicement bianch in Alaska, iequested that I take ovei Sandys duties
foi two oi thiee months until a ieplacement could be found. Tis I agieed to do.
While in Juneau I shaied an oce neai the boat haiboi with Gomei Hilsingei,
the sheiy management agent. When I aiiived, Gomei intioduced me to his sec-
ietaiy, LuRue Quein, an attiactive young lady who immediately caught my eye. I
soon found out she was single. It took me a while to get to know LuRue, howevei,
I was a little shy, as I had met so few young, single women since coming to Alaska.
I was also in the eld a lot duiing my ist few months on the new job.
Juneau, the laigest enfoicement distiict in Southeast Alaska, was bounded by
Cape Fanshaw on the south, Skagway on the noitheast, and Yakutat on the noith.
It included all of Admiialty Island, the eastein poitions of Chichagof and Baianof
Islands, and numeious smallei islands, bays, and inlets.
Te sixty-foot-long Grizzly Bear was oui patiol vessel. Cletus Gioves, who had
been the deckhand and engineei undei Sandy Matson, could pilot the vessel, so he
became skippei while I was the acting enfoicement agent.
A few days aftei I aiiived in Juneau, Gioves (he did not like to be called Cletus)
and I made a patiol aiound Admiialty Island, checking foi late tiappeis. I enjoyed
exploiing this island, and I walked many of its beaches checking foi signs of tiap-
ping and wildlife activity. About halfway aiound the island I aiiested one late
tiappei, seized some evidence, and diiected him to appeai in the Juneau couit on
60 BEAR WRANGLER
a ceitain date. Tough I hated to cut my eld patiol shoit to handle the couit
case, I did look foiwaid to seeing LuRue again. When we aiiived back in town,
howevei, I discoveied that LuRue was in Whitehoise on a skiing tiip. I left Juneau
without seeing hei.
Duiing the next two months Gioves and I weie on almost constant game
patiol with the Grizzly Bear, and I spent little time in Juneau. We patiolled the
numeious bays of Chichagof and Baianof Islands and tiaveled to Haynes and
Skagway. I enjoyed exploiing all this new countiy, but my mind was often on
LuRue in Juneau.
In eaily Apiil we found that the Grizzly Bear needed some majoi iepaiis and
would be out of commission foi moie than a month. I would need to spend most
of my time in the oce duiing this peiiod. Noimally, I would not have liked
being stuck doing papeiwoik, but it gave me a chance to get to know LuRue. She
liked the outdoois, and on weekends we hiked many of the tiails aiound Juneau.
I also took hei to a few movies. I ieally enjoyed the time with hei and began hop-
ing foi moie than a fiiendship. I escoited hei home one evening aftei a movie,
and when we got to hei apaitment dooi, she tuined aiound and looked into my
eyes. I felt iomance in the aii and was about to tiy foi a kissoui istwhen
she bluited out, Will, theie is something I have to tell you.
Te tone of hei voice told me I was not going to like what came next.
Chuck and I aie dating. Im not suie how seiious it is, but foi now Im loyal
to oui ielationship.
Te FWS Giizzly Beai was our patrol vessel in the Iuneau district.
Ronance in Iuneau 61
Wow! Tat soit of tiimmed my sails. I knew Chuck, a sheiy management
agent, who was out on a long eld assignment. I also knew they had pieviously
dated, but I had no idea they weie still iomantically involved. I do not iemembei
much of oui conveisation aftei that, but befoie I left, we agieed to continue tak-
ing hikes togetheistiictly as fiiends. I did not sleep well that night. I had been
assuming a lot, and my bubble had been buist.
At about this time I decided not to continue my law enfoicement caieei. I liked
the eldwoik, but I did not like aiiesting people. I wanted to woik diiectly with
wildlife, so I decided to ietuin to college foi an advanced degiee in wildlife biology.
I discussed my plans with Di. John Buckley, the leadei of the Alaska Coopeiative
Wildlife Reseaich Unit at the Univeisity of Alaska in Faiibanks. He gianted me a
fellowship at the unit with a stipend of sa,oo foi the coming wintei.
A few weeks latei Dan Ralston iequested I come to his oce. Dan was iathei
giu and did not engage in much chitchat. He motioned me to a chaii next to
his desk.
Ive been watching youi peifoimance, and as fai as Im conceined you aie
next in line to become a distiict enfoicement agent, he said. Howevei, Ive
heaid you want to become a biologist, and if thats the case, I cant see appoint-
ing you to a distiict.
LuRue above Mendenhall Glacier in I,, on one of our rst hiking trips.
62 BEAR WRANGLER
I was speechless foi a minute, suipiised and atteied that he would oei me a
distiict. Te job would mean moie money and an advancement in my law enfoice-
ment caieei, but I had to level with him. I told him I loved enfoicement eldwoik
but piefeiied woiking diiectly with wildlife. I said that I intended to ietuin to
college foi an advanced degiee in biology even though I knew nding a wildlife
position in Alaska would be a long shot. I thanked him foi the oppoitunity to woik
in the enfoicement bianch the pievious thiee yeais and said I would be glad to
iemain in Juneau as the acting agent until he could nd a ieplacement.
He thanked me foi my honest comments and told me that he iespected my
decision. We paited on good teims.
My two- to thiee-month assignment had alieady lengthened to foui, and it
was appaiently going to continue foi anothei month oi moie. I spent all my time
in Juneau now, piepaiing foi the commeicial shing seasonbuying supplies,
hiiing stieam guaids, oveiseeing the iepaii of the Grizzly Bear, and conducting
a few patiols along the ioad system.
I saw LuRue on a daily basis, and we continued oui fiiendship, chitchatting
in the oce, occasionally going out to lunch, and hiking togethei on weekends. I
could tell she enjoyed my company, but she nevei gave any clues about hei iela-
tionship with Chuck. I, of couise, was hoping she might change hei mind.
In eaily spiing we went on an outing to Young Lake on Admiialty Island. I
anchoied the ski neai the mouth of the cieek, and we hiked seveial miles to the
LuRue with a string of trout caught in Youngs Lake while on one of our rst dates.
lake. Te Foiest Seivice had a leaky iowboat in the lake. We used it, alteinating
oui time between bailing out the watei and shing foi cutthioat tiout. We both
got wet, but we had a lot of fun togethei.
We got a big suipiise when we hiked back to the beach wheie I had anchoied
the ski. Te high tide had come in, and the ski was now anchoied fai oshoie.
We could wait foi the tide to iecede in a few houis, oi I could swim to the ski. I
decided to swim and told LuRue to tuin hei back while I stiipped o my clothes
and got the boat. Boy, that watei was cold! I made the swim in iecoid time. I
could not tell if LuRue peeked while I was biinging the boat back, staik naked,
but she was still standing with hei back to the watei when I landed.
I diessed quickly, and we both got into the ski. On the way back to Juneau
she teased me about my skinny-dipping abilities, and I accused hei of peeking.
We laughed about this episode foi days, and she told me seveial times at the
oce how she had enjoyed the tiip. I ceitainly had. Secietly I hoped things weie
not going well between hei and Chuck, but I avoided this sensitive subject as I
feaied it might end oui fiiendship.
About a week latei LuRue told me that she needed to talk to me piivately. We
met that evening, and LuRue infoimed me she was bieaking up with Chuck. I
was elated inside, but I told hei I was soiiy things had not woiked out between
them. LuRue said she hoped we could continue oui fiiendship and ieiteiated
how she enjoyed hiking and talking with me. I could tell by the way she ielated
this infoimation that she now hoped that we could become moie than fiiends.
Suddenly I saw wheie this thing was going, and I got cold feet. I told hei I
wanted a few days to think things ovei. I knew if we continued seeing each othei,
oui fiiendship would tuin into a seiious ielationship in a huiiy, and I suspected
she did, too.
I did not sleep much that night. My life seemed to be changing iapidly. Was
I willing to commit to a seiious ielationship with LuRue at the same time I was
quitting my job to ietuin to college? Would this be faii to hei? I was in tuimoil,
and it would take a few days to make a decision.
A week latei I diove hei to a iemote beach oveilooking the ocean and paiked
the cai. Te moon had just iisen ovei a neaiby mountain, and the suif swished on
the beach in fiont of us. Foi an houi oi so we both talked about oui futuie plans
and what we wanted out of life. Teie was no doubt we weie falling in love.
Latei that evening befoie we sepaiated, I got that ist kiss.
We saw each othei daily at woik and usually got togethei in the evening,
talking about anything and eveiything. I loved how natuial and easy it was to
spend time with LuRue. We took hikes on weekends and swam in a pothole lake
64 BEAR WRANGLER
neai Mendenhall Glaciei. May came and oui iomance was blooming along with
the wildoweis. Oui cowoikeis noticed the iomance and gave us some good-
heaited iazzing about it.
In June Fied Robaids became the new Juneau enfoicement agent, but I
iemained as his assistant until mid-July. I then tiansfeiied back to Wiangell
until my iesignation would become eective the ist of Septembei. Befoie I left,
LuRue told me that she also wanted a change in life and was going to quit hei job.
She eithei wanted to move back to the States oi to Anchoiage. I told hei I hoped
it would be the lattei so we could occasionally have a weekend togethei while I
was in college. She smiled and said, Yes, maybe that would be the best move. Ill
think about it. She ieached ovei and squeezed my hand.
I had been in Wiangell a few weeks when Dan Ralston called and said he and
Regional Diiectoi Claience Rhode weie ying down to see me. I had no idea
what they wanted, but I knew it must be big foi Claience to come. I happened
to be in Peteisbuig, so they aiianged to meet me theie. Claience told me that
Russell Homan, the iefuge managei foi Kodiak, had decided to tiansfei to the
States. Would I considei taking his position since I wanted to get into wildlife
woik? Man! I was stunned! It was exactly the type of position I wanted. As iefuge
managei I would nally be woiking diiectly with wildlife, especially with the big
biown beais that the iefuge was famous foi. I had to tell Claience, howevei, that
I was alieady committed to Di. Buckleys fellowship.
You call Di. Buckley, Claience said. I think he will undeistand and let you
o the hook.
I piomised him I would. I found out latei that Claience had alieady talked to
Di. Buckley and also to Dave Spencei, the iefuge supeivisoi. We shook hands,
and as we paited, Dan Ralston gave me a big wink. I iealized then that he was
one of my backeis foi the Kodiak job.
I called Di. Buckley the next day and told him about the oei, but I assuied
him I was committed to accepting the fellowship and would keep my woid.
Listen, Will, you know how few wildlife jobs theie aie in Alaska, he said.
Even if you complete youi masteis, theie is no guaiantee you can get a job up
heie. Tis is an oppoitunity of a lifetime foi you, and I iecommend you take it.
I thanked him piofusely. I was absolutely elated at the tuin of events. As soon
as I hung up the phone with Di. Buckley, I called Claience Rhode to accept the
Kodiak position. He infoimed me I was to iepoit to Dave Spencei in Kenai by
mid-August. Tat was only two weeks away!
I tiied to call LuRue that evening without success, but I ieached hei the next
day and told hei about my sudden change of plans. She was excited foi me, but
I could tell she was wondeiing wheie it would leave oui ielationship. We talked
a long time. I piomised hei I would spend the weekend in Juneau en ioute to
Kodiak and we could discuss oui futuie.
Te next two weeks seemed to pass slowly. I said goodbye to my many fiiends
and staited piepaiing foi my new job. I also wiote LuRue numeious letteis, but
I could haidly wait to see hei in peison.
Te weekend I was to leave was also opening weekend of deei hunting sea-
son. Dave Klein, Doyle Cissney, and I had planned a hunt, but I canceled to visit
LuRue. Boy, did I get iazzed! Tat Tioyei suie is changing! Hes actually ying
to Juneau to see a giil instead of going deei hunting. Ive nevei seen him tuin
down a deei hunt befoie.
LuRue and I spent the weekend togethei in Juneau. Te time seemed even
moie special than befoie since it would be a while befoie we saw each othei
again. We talked about a lot of things, and LuRue told me she had denitely
planned to move to Anchoiage. I encouiaged hei to do so. I was becoming
smitten with the love bug, and I could tell she was, too. We piomised each othei
we would get togethei foi weekends as often as possible.
We had many long talks that weekend. LuRue was so easy to talk to, and
the moie I saw of hei the moie I wanted to shaie my life with hei. Somehow
LuRue with a dead sea lion we found on the beach.
66 BEAR WRANGLER
the woid maiiiage slipped into the conveisation, and we staited planning a
wedding. LuRue thought aiound Chiistmas would be a nice time to get mai-
iied. I agieed.
Tat evening when I was alone, I thought, Whoa! Aie things moving too fast?
But by moining I had convinced myself that I was making the iight decision.
Te next day I left Juneau foi Kenai, wheie I would meet my new boss, Dave
Spencei. LuRue took me to the aiipoit. She had teais in hei eyes when we paited,
and I had a big lump in my thioat. She stood outside and waved as my plane
staited taxiing down the iunway.
Man! Tings weie moving awfully fast. I now had the job of my dieams and,
it appeaied, also the giil of my dieams!
7
Chapter 9
Kodiak Refuge Manager
D
ave Spencei, supeivisoi of Alaskas fedeial wildlife iefuges, gave me an aeiial
toui of the two-million-acie Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in late August
,. I gazed down at this huge piece of ieal estate and saw beai tiails ciisscioss-
ing the open giassy landscape that was inteispeised with patches of aldei, willow,
and eldeibeiiy thickets. I was watching seveial beais walking the tiails when Dave
said, Look at this. He made a shaip tuin with the twin-engine Widgeon to show
me a sow with thiee cubs enteiing a salmon stieam. We continued down the iivei
and saw anothei ten oi twelve beais shing. It ceitainly was excellent beai countiy,
and I speculated that those beai tiails below me would be easy to walk compaied
to the thick, devils-club-infested foiests of Southeast Alaska that I had just left. I
latei discoveied the giassy meadows had vegetation highei than my head and the
aldei thickets weie almost impenetiable jungles.
Dave, my new boss, was a iathei quiet man, but he was well iespected by his
peeis. When he had something to say, it was usually impoitant, and he had an
excellent knowledge of the Kodiak iefuge. Te day aftei oui aeiial toui he biiefed
me on the wildlife iesouices of Kodiak Island and on some of the contioveisial
issues that suiiounded the Kodiak biown beai.
Te beai-cattle and beai-salmon conicts weie at theii peak in ,. Te Rus-
sians had intioduced cattle to the island in the late ;oos, but they iemained in
ielatively low numbeis duiing the Russian eia. In the ,os and ,os iancheis
incieased theii heids and moved them to outlying aieas, wheie they weie moie
vulneiable to beais. Te iancheis staited losing cattle to beai piedation. Te
68 BEAR WRANGLER
cattlemen and othei businessmen in Kodiak believed the cattle industiy had a
gieat futuie, and they saw the biown beai as a seiious impediment to its suc-
cess. Tey advocated ieducing oi eliminating beais on the island. Te Alaska
Teiiitoiial Legislatuie sided with the iancheis and in , passed a iesolution
advocating iemoval of all piotections foi beais on Kodiak Island, including the
Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. Tis iiiitated vaiious national conseivation
oiganizations, and thus a battle ensued.
At about this same time Dick Schuman, a sheiy biologist, did some stud-
ies on beai-salmon piedation in Kailuk Lake and concluded that beais weie a
majoi ieason foi the decline of salmon in the lake. He also advocated ieduction
of beai numbeis. Te beai-cattle and beai-salmon contioveisies gave the beais
a bad ieputation.
Befoie Dave left, he said, Well, Will, youie going to have youi hands full
dealing with these contioveisies, butgood luck. His waining pioved to be an
undeistatement.
Te iefuge headquaiteis weie in Kodiak, the laigest town on the island. In
, it was a commeicial shing town of appioximately thiee thousand people.
Like many shing towns, it had some iough edges. Te ist time I walked down-
town, a bai seemed to anchoi eveiy coinei, and a few diunks stumbled along
the stieets. But Kodiak also had hints of its long histoiy, which seemed to give
it some stability. Oui oce, which we shaied with the commeicial sheiy divi-
sion, was located acioss the stieet fiom the Russian Oithodox chuich and neai
I used the snall twenty-three-foot Kodiak Beai for ny coastal work around
Kodiak and Afognak Islands.
Kodiak Refuge Manager 69
the histoiic goveinois mansion, a iemindei that Kodiak was once the capital of
Russian Alaska. Te oce site is now in a city paik.
Te old Belmont Bai and Cafe was just a block fiom the oce. Te cafe occu-
pied one side of the business, which was a laige open ioom. It seived excellent cof-
fee, biewed with an ample supply of eggshells in the pot, which the cooks believed
cut the acidity and settled the coee giounds. Te cafe was a populai gatheiing
place foi moining coee, but at times pations had to contend with diunks on the
othei side of the ioom who had imbibed too heavily the night befoie.
A few blocks up the stieet fiom the Belmont the FWS owned a house foi
use by the iefuge managei. Te two-stoiy dwelling, built in about ,o, sat on a
hill with a giand view of the sea and oshoie islands. Heavy wintei winds, with
gusts exceeding eighty miles pei houi, sometimes bueted the house, causing it
to shake and tiemble. Occasionally the gusts blew out the fuinace. Te basement
was unnished and a haven foi laige iats. I fiequently heaid them ciawling up
the inside of the kitchen walls at night and gnawing on the wood. I constantly
tiapped and poisoned the iats, but it was a losing pioposition, otheis moved in
as soon as I eiadicated the cuiient iesidents.
As iefuge managei, I was iesponsible foi the well-being of all wildlife in the
Kodiak aichipelago, which included Kodiak Island, Afognak Island, and dozens
of smallei islands. In the fall I spent a lot of time managing the deei on Kodiak
and the elk on Afognak. Both species had been intioduced in the late ,aos and
eaily ,os. Te populations had giown enough so that the ist hunting seasons
had been held a few yeais befoie I aiiived. Deei hunting was still conned to the
shoit ioad system, and duiing my ist fall the month-long season iesulted in
a take of less than sixty deei. By contiast, seveial thousand deei aie now taken
annually ovei the entiie aichipelago.
When I aiiived to woik in Kodiak, the iefuge sta was small. A biologist
and a boat opeiatoi weie the iefuges only othei full-time employees. Te laige
Kodiak Naval Base, constiucted neai the town of Kodiak duiing Woild Wai II,
had many peisonnel who shed the numeious stieams and hunted deei, beai,
and small game. As a iesult the navy had assigned a militaiy game waiden to
assist the FWS in enfoicing game and sh iegulations along the ioad system.
A man named Ray Mullins was the navy waiden when I aiiived. He was latei
ieplaced by Benny Ballengei, followed by Heib Downing. In addition to piovid-
ing enfoicement, they helped me by collecting hunting data.
A small iefuge vessel piovided tianspoitation while I caiiied out management
and enfoicement duties aiound the peiimetei of the island. If I needed aeiial assis-
tance, I chaiteied small planes fiom Kodiak Aiiways oi Haiveys Flying Seivice.
70 BEAR WRANGLER
Kim Claik was the iefuge biologist. Soon aftei I aiiived in Kodiak, I heaid
stoiies that Kim was contioveisial, something Dave had not mentioned. I did
not get to meet him iight away. Kim was living and woiking in the middle of
the island while conducting beai-salmon studies. Tat fall, aftei the deei and elk
hunting seasons ended, I decided to y out to meet the man. Kim woiked out
of a small cabin on Camp Island in the middle of Kailuk Lake. I aiiived late in
the evening and had a cup of tea with Kim and his wife, Shiiley, befoie ietiiing
to a piimitive shed a hundied yaids fiom the cabin. I noted Kim was diessed in
iathei diity clothes, but I had heaid of his unkempt appeaiance so I nevei gave
it much thought.
Te next moining, a little aftei seven oclock, I walked down to the cabin,
which was built fiom used weii pickets sciounged fiom commeicial sheiy
ieseaich. Te cabin had limited space, consisting of a small kitchenidining ioom
and an even smallei bedioom. Shiiley was up and had biewed a fiesh pot of cof-
fee. I sat down at the kitchen table, which was positioned in fiont of a laige win-
dow that oeied an excellent view of the lake. I soon discoveied that the Claiks
had many pets, which had the iun of the cabin. Teii six dogs, foitunately, weie
not much laigei than theii seven cats. A pet magpie ew in and out of the cabin
whenevei the dooi was open, and two canaiies lived in a cage that hung above
the kitchen table. Shiiley pouied me a cup of coee, and I immediately coveied
it with my hand to shield it fiom seeds being icked down by the canaiies.
Kim was not an eaily biid, so Shiiley and I talked and diank coee foi neaily
an houi befoie he got up. She was easy to talk to and obviously devoted to hei
eccentiic husband and all theii pets. Eventually, Kim emeiged fiom the bedioom
weaiing only a sweatei, which was so shoit it did not quite covei his piivate
paits. He gave Shiiley a big kiss and stietched, ievealing himself even moie. Ten
he announced, I think Ill take a dip.
It was eaily Octobei, and a little ice had foimed along the edge of the lake. Kim
took o the sweatei when he got outside, iubbed soap on his body, and dove into
the icy watei, which was about twenty feet fiom wheie I sat. I tiied to ignoie the
naked man outside and continued talking to Shiiley. He slipped on his sweatei
a few minutes latei and ietuined to the cabin, diipping wet. He gave Shiiley a
hug and kiss, I looked out the window pietending I did not notice. Having met
the couple only the night befoie, I was quite embaiiassed at this half-naked man
smooching with his wife less than thiee feet fiom me.
Kim nally got diessed, Shiiley staited cooking and seived some pancakes
and bacon. I had taken only a few bites when a cat jumped on the table and tiied
to take some food o my plate. I was about to clobbei it, but Kim ieached ovei,
put his hand on the cat, and said, Now, Buttei, be nice to oui guest and get back
on the ooi. Well feed you latei.
Befoie he completed his sentence, anothei cat jumped on the table and headed
foi my plate. Kim must have sensed I was not too happy with the cats, so he gently
put them on the ooi. While all this was happening atop the table, below it I felt
seveial dogs iunning ovei my feet, obviously they weie hoping foi a handout. One
of them tiied to hump my leg until I stomped on its hind foot. It yelped, so I quickly
said, Oh, Im soiiy. I must have accidentally stepped on its foot.
While I was fending o cats and dogs, seeds fiom the canaiy cage began
diopping into the syiup pitchei. Man! I thought. What have I gotten myself
into heie?
Aftei bieakfast Kim and I boated up to a small stieam wheie he was conducting
beai-salmon piedation studies. We ietuined at noon, and Shiiley seived us each
a bowl of soup and a sandwich foi lunch. While we weie eating, the pet magpie
ew into the cabin, landed on the table, and walked thiough Kims bowl of soup.
Kim did not even blink. Ten the biid sat on the table, watching us. I guaided my
Te nafority of the FWS eld personnel in I,/. Front row, left to right Iohn Buckley, George
Warner, Orton, Lee Ellis, Ioe Miner, Bob Burkholder, Ron Skoog, Clarence Rhode, Dan Ralston,
Iohn Findlay, Roger Allin, Stan Fredericksen, Bob Scott, Ray Woolford. Center, left to right Holger
Larsen, Chuck Grahan, Dave Klein, Switzer, Ed Whitesel, Harry Pinkhan, Bill Ackerknecht,
Maurice Kelly, Presnell, Bob Iones, Teron Snith, Bob Baade, Iin Branson, Sig Olson, Ron Zigler,
Ray Trenblay, Hank Hansen. Back, left to right San Harbo, Will Troyer, Dave Spencer, Doug
Swanson, Urban Pete êlson, Virgil Crosby, Iohnny Wendler, Snith, êil Argy, Fred Robards.
72 BEAR WRANGLER
bowl of soup with both hands, feaiing it would be the biids next wading pool. Kim
continued eating, seemingly oblivious to the magpies piesence.
Latei that day I caught a plane back to Kodiak, ielieved that I did not have to
eat dinnei in that zoo!
Kim was a hippie befoie the teim was even coined. He had a sciaggly beaid,
woie tatteied clothes, and often went baiefoot. He sometimes disappeaied fiom
camp foi a week oi moie. On these excuisions he took along some of his dogs,
caiiied a few cans of dog food, and subsisted on dog vittles, spawned-out salmon,
and whatevei edible vegetation and beiiies he could nd. His odd behavioi and
diess could be ignoied in the eld, but not in the Kodiak oce. On one occasion
he aiiived at the oce ieeking with the odoi of a dead beai he had dissected.
When the commeicial sheiy secietaiy said, Kim, you stink! he only smiled,
ielishing the ieputation of smelling like a beai.
A yeai latei, when Kim ietuined to town in the fall, he bought a taxicab and
staited a business to supplement his income. I told him I was conceined the
business would conict with his job. He assuied me that he would iun the cab
business only on weekends and at night, when he was o duty. I was leeiy of this
aiiangement but decided I would wait and see. It was not long, howevei, befoie
he paiked the taxi by the oce and made iuns duiing the lunch houi. Tis made
me even moie uncomfoitable, but it was still his peisonal time. When he staited
continuing the taxi business well into the afteinoon on some days, I confionted
him. Still, he defended his actions.
I put in a lot of extia houis in the summeitime, he said, and I see no iea-
son why I cant diive my cab on the job to compensate foi those extia houis. I
infoimed him that he could not diive the cab duiing woiking houis if he wanted
to hold his job. He was unhappy at my oideis.
My pioblems with Kim extended beyond his cab business. One time, upon
ietuining to Kodiak aftei a shoit tiip, I was unable to nd oui goveinment
pickup. I seaiched the town without success. On a tip, I diove to Kims house
and found the tiuck paiked in his yaid. Kim was using the cab of the tiuck as a
dog kennel. Shiiley told me two of his female dogs weie in heat, and he wanted
to keep them sepaiated fiom the iest of the pack. Te tiuck cab ieeked with dog
odoi and was coveied with dog haii and giime. I was livid! When I nally found
Kim, I infoimed him that this was a misuse of goveinment equipment, and I
would not toleiate it. He piotested, but I told him he eithei had to live by govein-
ment iules oi quit the job. He ieluctantly complied foi a while.
I gave Kim an unsatisfactoiy iating and iecommended that he be teiminated,
but I leained how dicult it was to ie a goveinment employee.
I also discoveied that Kim was politically savvy. He had many suppoiteis in
town. He fiequently talked to school gioups and was an enteitaining speakei,
the students loved him. He peisuaded some pupils to wiite a lettei of suppoit
with the slogan Keep Kim Claik in Kodiak. Kim even managed to get a lettei of
suppoit fiom Senatoi Bob Baitlett. My employee had lined up some big guns to
defend his job. It was obvious I was going to have tiouble getting iid of him.
I was not suipiised when, a month oi two latei, my iecommendation to ie
him was oveituined by oui Washington, D.C., oce. Still, the news ieally got me
down. It appeaied I was peimanently stuck with my eccentiic biologist. About a
yeai latei, howevei, Kim decided to iun foi a house seat in the Alaska Teiiitoiial
Legislatuie. Te Hatch Act, passed in ,,, piohibited goveinment employees
fiom iunning foi political oce. I was suie Kim was awaie of this law, so I
wondeied why he decided to defy the act. Peihaps he wanted a caieei change.
Regaidless of his motives, he was foiced to iesign his position, and I was nally
ielieved of a majoi peisonnel pioblem.
While the piedicament with Kim and othei contioveisies weie causing
tuimoil in my piofessional life, my peisonal life was moving iapidly foiwaid.
Shoitly aftei I aiiived in Kodiak, LuRue told me she had changed hei mind
and decided to move to Kodiak instead of Anchoiage. She felt we needed to
know each othei bettei if we weie going to get maiiied. She did not think an
occasional weekend togethei would be adequate. I thought it would be dicult
foi hei to nd a job in town, but she was convinced otheiwise. She aiiived
in Kodiak in late Septembei, and we ocially became engaged on Octobei a,
,my thiitieth biithday.
Te iefuge division in Kodiak did not have a secietaiy, and I decided we
needed one since the les weie a mess. I called Ray Nevin in the iegional peison-
nel oce in Juneau and told him I needed a secietaiy. He agieed and then asked,
Do you know anyone in Kodiak who is qualied foi the job?
Well, yes, I said, tiying to sound as casual as possible. LuRue Quein just
moved to town and because of hei pievious expeiience with the FWS, I think
she is highly qualied.
Ray knew we weie iomantically involved. He coughed a couple of times and
then answeied, Well, yes, she ceitainly is. Within a week of aiiiving in Kodiak,
LuRue was again woiking in my oce as a secietaiy.
A few weeks latei I went to Juneau on a business tiip. Te iegional oce in
Juneau was small, and eveiyone was following oui iomance. Seveial people in
the oce ieminded me that peifoimance iatings would soon be due, and with
giins on theii faces they asked if I intended to give my secietaiy a satisfactoiy
74 BEAR WRANGLER
iating. I took the good-natuied iibbing with a smile and answeied, I will evalu-
ate hei veiy thoioughly. Tis biought moie smiles.
LuRue and I now saw each othei eveiy day except when I was in the eld.
We set the wedding date foi a week befoie Chiistmas. Te wedding was to
take place in LuRues hometown of Eveiett, Washington, wheie hei paients
still lived. She quit hei job a couple of weeks befoie the wedding and ew to
Eveiett. Just befoie leaving, she moved all hei clothes fiom hei apaitment into
my closet in the iefuge house. I had been a bacheloi a long time, when I came
home that evening and spotted all those women things in my closet, I was a
bit shaken.
Boy, Tioyei, I thought to myself. You have ieally done it now!
LuRue and I weie maiiied on Decembei ;, ,. Aftei a biief honeymoon
along the Oiegon coast, we ietuined to Kodiak, wheie I began to get used to all
those women things in my closet.
75
Chapter 10
Wrangling Kodiak Bears
T
he misconceptions and contioveisies that suiiounded the Kodiak beais
demanded some answeis. Te pievious iefuge sta had initiated studies that
weie piimaiily defensive in natuie. Tey expeiimented with stiinging electiic fences
aiound stieams to keep beais fiom catching salmon, they also conducted additional
studies on beai-salmon piedation to piove that Dick Schumans studies weie awed
and exaggeiated. Tey investigated cattle kills that iancheis attiibuted to beai pieda-
tion and concluded that some of the livestock had died fiom natuial causes.
When I aiiived on the island, I came to the conclusion that we needed to con-
duct moie positive studies to help impiove the image of the beais. Te edgling
guiding industiy was expanding. Te guides weie biinging an incieasing numbei
of hunteis to the island and taking moie beais each yeai. I wondeied how many
beais weie on the island and how many could be taken annually without ieducing
the beai population. How long did it take to giow a tiophy beai? How many cubs
could a female pioduce in hei lifetime? How fai did beais move?
Te questions weie endless, but I knew that in oidei to get some of this
infoimation we would need to peifect a method to live-tiap, physically examine,
and then maik some animals. Tat was a dilemma, no one in Alaska had done
this. I did know that iangeis in Yellowstone National Paik sometimes captuied
nuisance giizzlies in culveit tiaps to move them, and biologists in a few eastein
states had devised methods foi captuiing black beais. I ieasoned that I could use
the same techniques on Kodiak Island. I had limited funds foi such a pioject, so
I solicited help fiom peisonnel of the neaiby naval base. In ,6 we constiucted
76 BEAR WRANGLER
two poitable steel culveits that weie eight feet long and foui feet in diametei.
We installed a heavy steel gate on one end of each culveit. If a beai giabbed
some bait attached to a wiie on the inside end of the tiap, the iaised gate would
diop, tiapping the beai.
In the spiing of ,; the navy ew the two tiaps to Kailuk Lake. We placed them
at Tumb and OMalley Riveis, two aieas heavily used by beais duiing the salmon
spawning season. I had two seasonal assistants that summei, Eail Fleming and Ken
Duiley. Eail had spent a numbei of winteis in Alaska tiapping fui animals, so I
asked him to nd a type of bait that would diaw biown beais into the tiaps.
Eail expeiimented with vaiious meats and concoctions along a well-used beai
tiail. He concluded that beais weie easily attiacted to bacon, so we baited the
two tiaps with fiesh bacon. We checked them each moining foi a week without
success. A few days latei as we appioached the Tumb tiap, I said, Hey look,
guys, the gate is down.
Excited, I iushed to the tiap and peeked thiough a small hole. Its a fox, I
said, discouiaged.
A fox! Eail ieplied. Damn! We dont want that little buggei!
A few moie days went by befoie we again found the gate down. I was looking
into the peephole in the side of the tiap when a beais paw smacked against it. I
jumped back. Wow, we suie got one this time! I said.
Both Eail and Ken looked in with the same iesults. We weie excited. Now,
what aie we going to do? Eail asked.
Weie going to spiay ethei in that hole until the beai goes to sleep, I said.
We weie all laughing and excited at catching oui ist beai. Eail looked in
again. Its a small oneno moie than thiee hundied pounds, he piedicted.
We can manhandle that little ciittei, Ken boasted.
We got the geai ieady and stued the holes in the side of the tiap with iags. I
staited pumping ethei into the tiap with an oidinaiy y spiayei. Aftei we emp-
tied the spiayei, Eail peeked in again. I think its about out, Will.
Aie you suie? I asked. Youd bettei poke it with a stick.
Eail got a small, thin aldei, shoved it thiough the peephole, and jabbed the
beai in the ieai leg. Wham! Sciape! Te beai jumped up and iaked the side of
the tiap with its claws. Lets give it some moie, I said.
We lled the spiayei seveial times and continued to spiay the beai with ethei
foi anothei fteen minutes. Check it again, I said. Tis time when Eail poked
the beai with the stick, it did not move. We bettei punch him again, just to make
suie, I said. I picked up the stick and piodded the beai seveial times, but it did
not iespond.
Wrangling Kodiak Bears 77
Okay, lets huiiy. Raise the gate and diag it out, I said.
Both Ken and Eail looked at me with big, wondeiing eyes, but theie was no
time to waste. We quickly iaised the gate. Te beai was lying with its tail towaid us,
so they each giabbed a ieai leg and pulled it out. Wow! Its a little one, Eail said.
When the beai moved its fiont feet, we jumped back. Quick, Ken, put some
cotton in that bucket and poui in ethei, I instiucted.
I stiaddled the beai and slipped the bucket ovei the beais snout. Eail giabbed a
paii of eai tags and clamped a numbeied tag in each eai, while Ken staited taking
measuiements. I did not want to oveidose the beai, so I iemoved the bucket aftei a
few minutes. I could not help but bieathe in some ethei fumes duiing the piocess,
and they weie making me a bit gioggy. Huiiy, huiiy, guys. It might come to.
About then, the beai iaised its head. Its getting up! Eail yelled.
Led it, I ieplied, still astiaddle the beai.
But we havent weighed it yet, Eail piotested.
Foi-ged-it, I stammeied, slightly woozy fiom the ethei fumes, as I slid o the
beais back. Te beai got slowly to its feet and staggeied into the aldeis.
We used culvert traps in our early attenpts to capture bears.
78 BEAR WRANGLER
Excited that we had nally caught and maiked a beai, we slapped each othei
on the back to celebiate. We speculated about how many moie we might captuie
that summei. Ten I iemembeied something. Hey, we foigot to check its sex.
Ken staited saying he thought it was a small female. Naw, Eail inteiiupted
emphatically. I felt his balls.
Baalls, I said, still a bit giddy fiom the fumes. Eail, youie just a boai biolo-
gist. Eveiyone laughed at my attempted joke.
We eventually leained, howevei, that while beais liked the smell and taste of
bacon, they weie ieluctant to entei the culveit tiaps to get it. We caught only two
moie beais that summei, both weie juveniles. Te abundance of salmon in neaiby
stieams, an easy food souice foi the beais, piobably contiibuted to oui failuie.
Te following wintei I coiiesponded with black beai biologists in Michigan
and New Yoik. Tey weie captuiing beais with steel leg tiaps, then lassoing and
hog-tying the animals befoie anesthetizing them with ethei. I concluded that we
might be able to use the same technique on biown beais even though they weie
laigei. I oideied a dozen No. o double-spiing steel tiaps with oset jaws. Tey
had a jaw spiead of a little ovei eight inches when set. We wiapped the jaws with
electiical tape to soften the edges and attached a ten-foot chain with a laige,
thiee-pionged steel diag to each tiap. We hoped the diag would catch in bushes
and hold the beai.
Tat summei we set the tiaps in well-woin beai tiails that led to salmon
stieams aiound Kailuk Lake. We coveied each one with leaves, moss, and diit,
and then placed a seiies of sticks acioss the tiail to tiy to tiick the beais into
stepping into the tiaps.
Te ist moining aftei we had made oui sets, I got up eaily in anticipation of
catching a beai. Eail was alieady in the kitchen, cooking up a batch of buckwheat
cakeshis favoiite bieakfast. Moinin, Will. Boy, I feel it in my bones. Weie
gonna catch a beai today.
I suie hope youie iight, I answeied.
We nished bieakfast, jumped in the ski, and headed towaid Tumb Rivei,
wheie we had set foui tiaps. Te ist tiail set was undistuibed, as was the next.
Te last two tiaps weie both spiung, but no beais. Damn! Eail cuised. Tose
beais aie suie smait.
Ken and I both disagieed. We had ieasoned that a beai would have to put its
foot in the middle of the tiap to get caught, so we weie natuially going to get a
lot of misses.
We found two moie snapped tiaps that moining but no beais. We weie a
iathei dejected ciew as we ietuined to the cabin at noon.
Te next moining we found anothei snapped tiap, but when we checked the
fouith set at Tumb, it was missing. We followed the diag tiail thiough a patch
of aldeis. About a hundied yaids ahead I could see bushes shaking. I looked at
Eail and Ken. Boy, I think we got one! I said, neivous and excited.
A small cottonwood tiee stood neaiby. Ken, why dont you climb that tiee
and have a look, I said. Eail and I stationed ouiselves in stiategic locations on
guaid with oui iies. My heait was pounding as I still did not know if we had a
single beai oi possibly a cub that was being guaided by its mothei.
I could occasionally see the leaves quaking. Ken called down, We got one. It
looks like a small single.
Aftei Ken came down, the thiee of us cautiously appioached the beai. It had
toin down numeious bushes. When it saw us appioach, the beai staited thiash-
ing aiound wildly, tiying to get away. It was caught by a fiont foot, and the chain
was well entangled in the bushes. Eail and I got out iopes and staited thiowing
lassoes. Eail nally yelled, I got one ovei its head!
I holleied foi him to pull haid as I made two moie attempts befoie my own
iope enciicled the beais head. We then both looped oui iopes aiound seveial
aldei tiees and cinched them tight. Te beai could baiely move its head, and Ken
placed iopes aiound its feet. In a few minutes we had the beai on its back and
hog-tied. In spite of my optimism that we could secuie a beai caught in a tiap, I
was suipiised at how quickly we did it.
We used prinitive nethods to weigh the rst bears we captured.
80 BEAR WRANGLER
Gee, that went pietty smoothly, I said to Eail and Ken.
Yeah, we showed that buggei whos boss, Eail ieplied. I put a bucket con-
taining ethei-soaked cotton ovei the beais snout. It was not long befoie the
beai was anesthetized and it quit stiuggling. We installed eai tags and six-inch
coloied plastic stiips in each eai foi futuie identication. We iecoided the
measuiements and othei data. Oui last act was to weigh the animal. Two
hundied fty-ve pounds, Eail announced as he iead the scales. It was a thiee-
yeai-old female.
We moved away fiom the beai, watching hei iecovei fiom the ethei and
slowly walk into the woods. I think we got a system that will woik, Eail said.
We all stood aiound, excitedly speculating about how many beais we might
captuie. In the next few weeks we did captuie foui moie beais, all young single
animals weighing between two hundied and thiee hundied fty pounds. Han-
dling the small animals became ioutine, and we gained condence. I was exubei-
Holding a bear with colored ear streaners.
ant and became convinced this new method of tiapping beais would piovide the
infoimation we weie seeking.
Ten one moining as we appioached two tiap sites at Salmon Cieek, I heaid a
cub bawl. It was a high-pitched mouinful call that sent shiveis down my spine. It was
obviously caught in a tiap. I had theoiized that cubs usually follow a mothei down a
tiail so the chances of catching a cub weie slim. Now it sounded like my theoiy was
wiong. What if the sow is neaiby? I whispeied to Eail and Ken in alaim.
Neithei answeied, but Eail unslung his iie and we quietly advanced thiough
the biush and tiees. Teie it is, Eail hissed as we appioached a small stieam. He
pointed towaid the tiapped yeailing cub. Te sow and anothei cub aie standing
next to it, he whispeied. Up to that point I had been hoping that we weie wiong
about the cub being tiapped. But it had happened!
We stood quietly, pondeiing what to do next. Saliva diipped fiom the sows
lips as she paced back and foith with hei othei cub neai hei side. We knew she
Holding a partially anesthetized brown bear cub.
82 BEAR WRANGLER
was intent on piotecting hei tiapped cub. Foitunately, she had not seen us yet.
What aie we going to do now? I whispeied to Eail. He did not answei but
staited walking towaid a tiee. Ken, who had no gun, was alieady climbing one.
I staited to look foi my own tiee when the sow spotted us and chaiged. I did
not have time to think, only to ieact. I iaised my iie and ied into the small
stieam she was appioaching, hoping it would stop hei chaige as I suie did not
want to kill hei. A geysei of watei shot into the aii. I wheeled and ian behind a
neaiby cottonwood tiee. I fiantically tiied to climb it, but the tiee had only two
low bianches. I tiied to sciatch and claw my way faithei up the tiee, but I was
not making much piogiess. I expected to feel hei teeth sink into my leg at any
second. Aftei a few fiantic moments I iealized I still had not been bitten, so I
peeked aiound the tiee and saw hei iunning back to hei tiapped cub. Appaiently
the noise of the iie shot and the spiay of watei had been enough to stop hei.
Aftei we all weie safely in tiees, we began iing iies and shouting, hoping
to scaie hei away fiom the tiapped cub. Te mothei and hei othei cub left the
scene aftei about ve minutes of haiassment. I was ielieved but afiaid she would
ietuin. We continued to shout and make noise to make suie she would not come
back. Eail iemembeied he had a few ieciackeis in his pack and now set them
o peiiodically to add to the haiassment.
Ten minutes passed and the sow did not ietuin, so we nally came down
fiom oui peiches and appioached the tiapped cub. While one of us stood guaid
with a iie, the othei two, woiking veiy quickly, subdued the animal, took the
biological data, eai tagged the animal, and ieleased it. Te sow nevei ietuined
while we weie piesent. I was afiaid she might abandon the cub, but two days latei
we saw the young cub with its mothei and sibling. We weie elated. We had now
captuied seveial single beais and successfully scaied an angiy sow away fiom
hei tiapped cub.
We caught only eight beais that summei, but I felt we weie making piogiess.
We still had a lot to leain.
Duiing the wintei of ,8 I leained that black beai ieseaicheis had begun
using two diugs to anesthetize beais instead of ethei. Te ist diug, Sucostiin,
a biand of succinylcholine, was a muscle ielaxant. When injected into the laige
muscle tissue, it caused an animal to lose muscle contiol. It took eect within
two minutes but lasted foi only about ten minutes. While the animal was down,
biologists administeied anothei diug, phenobaibital sodium, into the intia-
peiitoneal cavity. Te lattei diug put the animal to sleep foi an houi oi moie.
Al Eiickson, a newly hiied biologist with the Alaska Teiiitoiial Fish and Game
Depaitment, had used the diugs on black beais in Michigan. He was able to give
us some valuable infoimation about how to administei the dosages. Al also told
us what to expect fiom the beais as the diugs took eect.
Tis diug combination appeaied to be a gieat advancement ovei ethei. Tat
wintei I acquiied a supply of each diug. I also puichased some newly developed
foot snaies. A steel spiing ied a loop of aiiplane cable up aiound a beais foot
when it stepped on the tiiggei. I thought this device was safei to use than a tiap
and would be less likely to injuie a beais foot.
Tings went pietty smoothly the next summei. Aftei we captuied a beai in
a tiap oi snaie, we administeied Sucostiin by placing the piopei dosage in a
syiinge attached to a ten-foot aluminum pole. While one of us attiacted the
beais attention, anothei slipped behind the animal, jabbed the syiinge in the
ieai leg muscle, and jumped out of ieach befoie the beai could swing aiound.
We still had to hog-tie the animal because the ist diug often woie o befoie the
second took eect, but this was much safei foi us and less stiessful foi the beais
than oui old lasso-and-ethei method.
We captuied and piocessed thiity beais that summei, up fiom eight beais
the summei befoie and thiee the ist summei. I was pleased that we had
nally established a successful method of captuiing beais. Duiing a six-
yeai peiiod we caught oi iecaptuied moie than two hundied beais using
the new method. We weie nally getting data on giowth iates, movements,
Sone of the equipnent we used in drugging and capturing bears.
84 BEAR WRANGLER
iepioductive iates, and othei biological infoimation that we needed in man-
aging the Kodiak beais.
Captuiing beais became almost ioutine, but we continued to have many
adventuies. Angiy motheis, whose cubs we caught, weie oui gieatest challenge.
We began caiiying a shotgun with ShellCiackeis to fiighten the animals fiom the
scene. A ShellCiackei is a twelve-gauge shotgun shell with a ieciackei inside.
When ied, it tiavels about a hundied yaids befoie it lands and the ieciackei
explodes with a loud bang. By shooting these neai the sow, we weie usually able
to fiighten hei away.
But not always. Sometimes it took us seveial houis to scaie away a piotective
female. Tese episodes often became a seesaw battle. We would ie ShellCiack-
eis and shout as we advanced towaid the sow. If she came in oui diiection oi
did not leave, we ietieated to give hei ioom to calm down. When she ietuined
to hei cub, we ied moie ShellCiackeis and advanced again. We weie some-
times foiced to climb tiees when a sow was paiticulaily piotective. With enough
haiassment, she usually left the aiea long enough foi us to collect oui data and
fiee the cub.
Usually
One moining as we appioached Meadow Cieek, we heaid the bawl of a yeai-
ling cub. We made a ioutine appioach, shouting and iing ShellCiackeis as we
advanced. When the sow suddenly popped out of the biush, I yelled, Back up,
back up! Heie she comes! We ietieated iapidly. As she ietuined to hei cub, we
again staited foiwaid. But she came back aggiessively, foicing us to give giound.
Tis seesaw continued foi moie than an houi, fai longei than othei similai
encounteis, which usually lasted ten minutes oi less. Sometimes she ietieated
foi fty yaids oi so, but the peisistent sow would not leave. I fought fiustiation
and anxiety, I knew we weie woiking on the edge. A miscalculation could end in
one of us being mauled oi the sow being killed.
Finally I got an idea boin of despeiation.
Te next time she moves back, lets anesthetize the cub, I said. Well have
to be quick and do this in stages.
When the sow ietieated again, we moved in and administeied the ist diug.
Heie she comes again! I yelled, and we jumped away. We stood, thiity yaids
apait, guns ieady, as she moved back to hei cub. We continued oui haiass-
ment. When she ietieated once moie, we moved in to give hei ospiing the last
diug and attach an eai tag. We began taking a measuiement oi two in the few
moments we could keep hei away. Aftei anothei houi of back-and-foith action,
we completed the piocess and ieleased the cub fiom the snaie. We backed o to
watch the sows ieaction. She stayed by the cub until it iecoveied fiom the diugs,
and then they disappeaied into the biush.
Eail had said little duiing the entiie opeiation, but as we watched them disap-
peai, he said, Lets go home. Ive had enough excitement foi one day.
I looked at him. He appeaied exhausted. We all felt the same. Even though the
day was cool, my shiit was soaked with peispiiation.
Despite the tension and dangeis involved in the piocess, humoious incidents
weie fiequent while we weie tiapping, especially aftei Dick Hensel joined the
ciew in ,6o. He latei became iefuge managei and was in chaige of beai ieseaich
aftei I left.
One moining soon aftei Dicks aiiival we captuied a faiily laige beai. Te diag
was entangled in an aldei bush in such a mannei that it gave the beai a lot of
ioom to move about. Each time I tiied to appioach the beai fiom the ieai to jab
it with the syiinge, the beai whiiled aiound and thieatened me. Tis went on foi
some time and I could not get close to the animal. We needed to tiy something
dieient. A willow tiee stood about fteen feet away fiom the beai.
See that willow leaning in towaid the beai? I said to Dick. Tiy climbing it,
and then shake it as much as you can to attiact its attention.
Dick ciawled into the tiee, yelling and shaking like a wild man. He eithei mis-
judged the stiength of the young willow oi his own weight, foi the tiee began
to bend ovei, slowly upiooting, placing Dick diiectly above the beai. As the tiee
went down, the beai lunged towaid it. I watched, hoiioi stiicken but unable
to help. Amazingly, Dick somehow did a backwaid someisault o the tiee and
landed on his feet iunning. Once out of iange of the beai, he tuined towaid me
and said mattei-of-factly, Well, did I oi did I not attiact its attention?
Anothei time we captuied a yeailing along Tumb Rivei. But when we checked
oui geai, we found the syiinge missing. Tough the cub was bawling loudly, we
had not seen the sow and assumed she had left, as sometimes happened.
You stay heie and watch the cub while I iun back to the cabin and get a
syiinge, I told Dick.
As I shoved o in the ski, I looked back and saw Dick squatted down,
answeiing a call of natuie. Just then the sow came out of a patch of willows.
Dick had his baie butt towaid the beai and did not see hei. Heie comes the
sow! I yelled.
Dick tuined and saw hei. He giabbed his pants with one hand, the shotgun
with the othei, and tiied to iun. But his pants hobbled him and he tiipped,
spiawling on the giound. As he fell, he accidentally ied the gun, which con-
tained a ShellCiackei. Te loud bang scaied the female back into the biush. As I
86 BEAR WRANGLER
pulled away in the ski, I could just baiely heai Dick cuising above my laughtei.
Tat episode has made a good ieside tale evei since.
One time the joke was on me. I had always wained my assistants not to woik
alone because of the dangei. One day, howevei, when the otheis weie elsewheie
and late in ietuining, I became impatient and decided to inspect the tiaps and
snaies at Halfway Cieek, which I knew had not been attended to that day. I took
a ski to the mouth of the cieek and hiked to the ist tiail set. Te tiap was gone.
I followed the diag maiks into a patch of aldeis, wheie I spotted the tiapped
beai. It appeaied to be asleep, but I could not get a good look to deteimine its
size and sex. A medium-sized biich tiee about twenty feet fiom the beai oeied
a bettei view. Moving quietly, I climbed up about six feet and saw that the diag
was caught on a ioot about halfway between me and the beai. If it awoke and
came towaid me, it could ieach the tiee I was in. As I watched, the beai suddenly
got up and came to the base of my tiee. I climbed as high as I could, which was
not fai since the tiunk was only about seven inches in diametei. Te beai began
to chomp on the tiee, and I woiiied that it might knock the tiee down. I tiied
to shoot o the ioot that held the tiap, in hopes the beai would leave, but that
pioved useless. Aftei a while the beai quit tiying to get me and bedded down
beneath the tiee. It had now tuined the tables and tiapped me!
I pondeied my dilemma. No one in camp knew wheie I was, as I had failed to
leave a note. Tioyei, how could you be so stupid? I scolded myself. No one was
likely to become alaimed until I failed to ietuin that evening, and by then daik-
ness would make a seaich impossible until the next day. I did not want to spend
the night in the tiee, neithei did I want to shoot the beai. I was in a piedicament
and needed anothei solution.
A laige cottonwood tiee stood about ve feet fiom wheie the beai lay. It had
some bianches that extended close to my tiee. I ieasoned that if I jumped and
caught one of these limbs, I could climb down along the opposite side of the tiee
and be out of the beais ieach. Te moie I thought about it, the moie convinced
I became that jumping was the best way out of my plight.
To fiee up both hands, I hung my iie on a limb of the tiee I was in. Ten
I ciouched and leaped foi the neaiest cottonwood bianch. Te limb looked
stiong, but cottonwoods aie often paitially iotten, unfoitunately, this tiee was
one of the iotten ones. Te ist bianch bioke. So did the next one. I clawed with
both hands foi something solid to check my fall, but nothing held.
You bettei land iunning! I thought as I kept diopping.
I fell with a thud about thiee feet fiom the ieai of the beai. I did not land iun-
ning, but I sciambled on hands and knees. It was an impiessive sciamble. I was
ten feet away befoie the beai iealized what had happened. It iaised its head but
did not get up. I was ielieved that I had gotten myself out of the piedicament and
swoie I would nevei iepeat such a dumb stunt.
On the way back to the cabin I decided to keep this little incident to myself.
Dick and Howaid Chiest, a seasonal employee, ietuined to camp about an
houi aftei I got back, and I told them we had a beai to piocess at Halfway. Aftei
a quick cup of coee we jumped in the ski and ietuined to Halfway Cieek.
We found the beai still lying undei the tiee. I was about to jab the beai with
the syiinge when Dick looked up and asked, Whats that iie doing up in the
tiee? Te jig was up, now I had to confess. Dick has nevei let me foiget that
expeiience.
On anothei occasion Dick and I weie checking oui tiaps on Giassy Cieek.
Neai one of the tiail sets, I spotted the ieai end of a beai. It was appaiently sound
asleep. Hey, Dick, I whispeied. We got a beai. Its asleep.
Woiking as quietly as possible, we piepaied a syiinge with Sucostiin. I slipped
up behind the beai and stuck the needle into its thigh. Te beai jumped up and
ian down the tiail, its legs fiee of any tiaps. It had not been caught in a snaie, but
was just sleeping. I stood theie dumbfounded while Dick howled with laughtei
as the animal disappeaied into the woods. Dick and I followed and eventually
Dick Hensel at the entrance of a bear den.
88 BEAR WRANGLER
found and piocessed the beai. It was the only fiee-ioaming beai we evei cap-
tuied at Kailuk Lake.
Duiing my time at Kodiak we lost thiee beais while piocessing a total of two
hundied oi so. Two weie killed by othei beais befoie we aiiived to piocess the
beais and fiee them fiom oui tiaps. Anothei we accidentally oveidosed with
diugs. Inciedibly, we nevei had to kill an animal in self-defense.
In ietiospect I iealize it must have been tiaumatic foi a beai to be caught in
a tiap foi houis oi foi a female to have hei cub bawling and ghting to get out
of a snaie. At the time, though, we did not know of a less distuibing method
of captuiing beais, and we thought the infoimation we gleaned was woith the
distuibance we caused.
In hindsight I also iealize we took a lot of chances and some of oui close
encounteis could just as easily have ended in disastei. I knew we weie often woik-
ing on the edge, but we weie so pumped up with adienalin that we failed to con-
sidei the consequences if things had gone wiong. If I oi one of my ciew had been
injuied, these episodes would not have seemed so funny. We weie extiemely lucky
to come thiough unscathed in oui pioneeiing beai-captuiing eoits.
89
Chapter 11
Life at Camp Island
L
uRue gave biith to oui ist child, Janice, in May ,;. Aftei that it became
moie dicult foi LuRue to accompany me in the eld, as she had occasionally
done since we had maiiied. By ,8 I was spending most of the summei months
at Kailuk Lake live-tiapping and gatheiing othei biological infoimation on biown
beais. I saw veiy little of my family duiing this peiiod. Tat wintei LuRue and I
discussed these absences, and we decided that in the futuie she and Janice would
accompany me to Kailuk Lake duiing this veiy busy eld season.
LuRue had visited oui eld camp in Kailuk Lake and knew conditions weie
somewhat piimitive. Oui cabin at Camp Island was small, without electiicity oi
indooi plumbing. LuRue, now a stay-at-home mom, was eagei foi a change of
sceneiy aftei a long wintei in Kodiak and was willing to face some haidships to
be with me each summei. As the lake was accessible only by aii fiom Kodiak and
ights weie infiequent, she and I had to do a lot of planning to get supplies to the
lake foi the family as well as the iest of the beai ieseaich ciew.
Eventually I needed to inciease the size of the living quaiteis, but we had no
funds to constiuct new facilities. At the time, the Kodiak iefuge budget was only
s8,oooabout so,ooo in todays dollais. Fiom those funds I had to manage the
iefuge, conduct ieseaich, and pay the salaiies of my summei seasonal employees,
who eained about s,ooo each pei season. I sometimes used innovative methods
to accomplish these goals.
Piioi to my aiiival, the iefuge managei had issued peimits to thiee beai
hunting guides foi constiucting small cabins on the lake to use in theii hunting
90 BEAR WRANGLER
businesses. Bill Pinnell and Moiiis Talifson had a cabin neai the mouth of
OMalley Rivei. Alf Madsen and Johnny Moiton each owned a cabin neai
Camp Island. Moiton did little guiding by ,; and wanted to sell his camp. Alf
did not want additional competition in his aiea, and he appioached me about
buying Moitons cabin. Refuge iegulations peimitted only one small cabin pei
guide in Kailuk, if Alf puichased Moitons cabin, he would have to iemove it
fiom the lake, which would cost him time and money. I oeied him an alteina-
tive. He could buy the cabin fiom Moiton, give it to the iefuge, and we would
dispose of it. Alf agieed. Moiton and Alf weie both happy with this aiiange-
ment, and the iefuge gained a cabin.
With some haid woik but little cost, we disassembled the cabin, moved it to
Camp Island, and attached it to one end of oui existing cabin. At the back of the
cabin we attached a shed that came with the stiuctuie, it seived as a pantiy and
stoiage shed. In the end we had doubled the oiiginal housing space.
Commeicial sheiy employees had woiked at Kailuk Lake since the ,aos,
but most of theii eoits weie conducted at the outlet of the lake, wheie they
maintained a weii and a cabin. Tey had a small boat shed, which they no longei
Tis cabin on Canp Island in Karluk Lake served as headquarters for sunner bear research.
It also housed ny fanily for a few nonths each sunner.
Life at Canp Island 91
used, on Camp Island, about one hundied yaids fiom oui cabin. I had camped
out in it duiing my initial tiips to Kailuk Lake. Duiing the ist summei season,
we had conveited this shed into a bunkhouse foi my assistants. With the addi-
tion of the hunting cabin and shed, we now had ample living quaiteis at Kailuk
Lake to moie comfoitably house both my giowing family and the laigei summei
beai-ieseaich ciew, even if the facilities weie lacking in aichitectuial beauty.
I made additional impiovements. We attached a watei baiiel to the outside of
the cabin below the ioof. Each moining we pumped the baiiel full of lake watei. A
hose connected the baiiel to the kitchen faucet inside, and giavity did the iest.
Te ioom that seived as a kitcheniliving ioomioce foi both oui family and
the assistants was extiemely small by todays standaids. My eld ciew and I usu-
ally ate bieakfast and depaited befoie the iest of my family got up each moin-
ing. In the evening, howevei, LuRue cooked dinnei foi eveiyone, and we sat at
the table and ate family-style. Aftei dinnei we discussed the days activities and
wiote up oui eld notes. Teie was little piivacy foi the family until the assis-
tants ietiied to the bunkhouse late in the evening.
When I ist aiiived in Kodiak, employees at Camp Island kept food cool foi a
few days by buiying it undeigiound in a ve-gallon can. I eventually puichased a
keiosene iefiigeiatoi and kept it in the pantiy and stoiage shed. Te iefiigeiatoi
was a bit cantankeious, and eveiy few weeks it quit opeiating. Tiough a seiies
LuRue did the fanily laundry by hand.
92 BEAR WRANGLER
of expeiiments we leained to tieat it as though we weie doctois and it was an
exhausted patient. We iemoved the food, laid the iefiigeiatoi on its side, let it
iest foi an houi oi two, and then set it upiight. Tis kept the iefiigeiatoi iunning
foi a while befoie we had to tieat it again.
Oui only toilet was an outhouse that sat on a iise above the cabin and was
used by both men and women. To avoid awkwaid encounteis, LuRue iigged up
an occupied sign that a peison iaised when using the toilet. One evening LuRue
needed to use it, but to avoid the long hike to the outhouse in the daik, she
decided to go out the back dooi and step behind a bush. At about the same time,
Dick Hensel came down the tiail and spotted hei. To ielieve the embaiiassment,
he staited singing Tinkle, tinkle, little stai.
Duiing oui summeis at Kailuk Lake we always had kids in diapeis. Eiic was
boin in ,6o and Teiesa in the spiing of ,6. Te kids spent most of theii time
ciawling aiound outside in the diit. LuRue was constantly doing laundiy, and she
had to do it the old-fashioned way, sciubbing clothes on a washboaid. Many days
it iained befoie things diied, and she had to take them down to iehang in the
cabin. Consideiing how much eoit this took, I still nd it haid to believe that
LuRue actually looked foiwaid to going to Camp Island each summei. In ,6a
she bought a veiy small ve-gallon electiic washei that could be opeiated with
Ianice and Eric spent nost of their tine playing in the boats or in the shallow lake waters.
the geneiatoi we used to powei oui iadio foi communicating with the Kodiak
oce. Tat little washei saved hei a lot of hand sciubbing.
Life at the lake gave oui kids some unique oppoitunities foi play. Eiic and
Janice spent houis on the boat iamp in fiont of the cabin catching stickleback
and small salmon fiy. Tey often waded out into the chilly watei, patiently wait-
ing foi the sh to come neai, oblivious to the tempeiatuies. Teii clothes became
thoioughly soaked, but they loved the activity and amazingly nevei caught a cold
while we weie at the lake.
At ist the social life of Camp Island was quiet, but then the commeicial
sheiy people built a laige complex on the othei side of the island. Beginning
in about ,6o Bob Raleigh, who was in chaige of the Kailuk sheiy pioject,
also moved his family to the island each summei. Bobs wife, Pauline, and theii
thiee daughteis became good fiiends with LuRue. Latei, Bobs assistant, Ben
Diuckei, and his wife, Sandy, stayed in camp each summei as well. To facilitate
communications between the two camps, we stiung telephone wiies between
them and installed a phone in each main cabin. Te phones weie old hand-
ciank models. You cianked so many shoits and longs to iing the opposite camp
One way to pack a snall child in the wilderness.
94 BEAR WRANGLER
to talk. We also built a tiail between the two camps, but the phone system
saved a lot of steps.
Usually at least twenty people lived at the lake duiing the busy summei, and
we occasionally got togethei foi an evening of socializing. We would have an
outdooi wienei ioast when the weathei peimitted oi an indooi popcoin paity
and songfest duiing Kodiak diizzles. Often Doss Jones, one of the young sum-
mei eld assistants, biought his guitai, and we spent the evening tiying to hai-
monize old songs.
Te big social event of the summei was the Fouith of July celebiation. We
planned this well in advance with lots of food and games. A heid of wild ieindeei
thiived on the south end of the island, it was my duty to shoot one and biing it to
camp foi the holiday baibecue. No closed season existed on these feial ieindeei,
and in eaily July the bulls weie unusually fat, which made foi excellent eating.
We aiose eaily on the Fouith, got oui woik done, and then spent the aftei-
noon and evening celebiating. Eveiyone gatheied aiound the outdooi ie, help-
ing themselves to baibecued ieindeei meat and othei food biought to the feast.
Aftei the meal came a iewoiks display, sack iaces, and swimming contests to
see who could stay in the icy wateis of Kailuk Lake the longest.
One yeai Dick Hensel and Daiiel Faimen acquiied a paii of watei skis. I had
just puichased two new ten-hoisepowei Johnson motois foi oui ski. Dick put
one on a small ski to pull a skiei, but in his excitement he failed to fasten the
engine on the tiansom piopeily and to put on a safety chain. When he ievved up
the engine to give the watei skiei a thiill, the engine ew o the tiansom and sank
into thiity feet of watei. Tat ended the watei skiing foi the day. Dick and Daiiel
spent seveial houis diagging the lake befoie they managed to snag the motoi.
Aftei daik we gatheied aiound the campie, told stoiies, and sang songs. Tis
festive occasion was always appieciated by those of us who woiked eveiy day
duiing the summei season.
A fiiendly iivaliy existed between the iefuge and sheiy ciews, and we often
played tiicks on each othei, especially aftei Dick had joined oui ciew. He was a
mastei at thinking up ways to haiass oui iivals. One evening we slipped ovei to
theii camp aftei daik, ciawled undei the cabin, and hid ieciackeis with fuses
cut to vaiious lengths. A ieciackei detonated eveiy thiity minutes thioughout
the night. As soon as the ist one went o, the sheiy ciew knew the iefuge guys
had got them again, but aftei each explosion, they thought it would be the last.
Te last one nally went o at ve in the moining.
Anothei time we took advantage of some woik to pull a piank on the sh-
eiy gang. An old collapsed cabin sat on oui end of the island. One night, well
aftei daik, Dick and I decided to buin it and get iid of the tiashy eyesoie. We
puiposely did not notify the sh people we intended to buin the cabin. We lit
it aie, and the ames shot high in the sky. About ten minutes latei the sheiy
ciew came ioaiing aiound the coinei in theii ski full of watei buckets and ie-
ghting equipment. We pietended to be suipiised they had iesponded.
Tey accidentally got even with oui ie piank. One afteinoon the hand-
cianked phone iang, and Pauline Raleigh shouted, Teies a ie at the othei end
of the lake by the weii! I ian outside and saw plenty of smoke in that diiection. I
gatheied up my ciew. We thiew oui ieghting equipment in the ski and sped
six miles down to the othei end of the lake. Seveial acies of biush and giass weie
buining neai the camp. We woiked like beaveis foi an houi oi two befoie we put
out the ie. I looked foi the souice of the ie, and it appeaied to have staited
neai the outhouse. Finally one of the sheiy ciew confessed. Yeah, I was sitting
on the hole and the mosquitoes weie just eice. Tey weie biting my butt in
swaims, so I wadded up some toilet papei, lit it with a match, and thiew it down
the hole. It woiked. I was sitting and enjoying myself, when I heaid the diy giass
ciackling outside. I ian outside and found a ie spieading thiough the biush. I
took my pants o and tiied to beat it out, but it got away fiom me.
Although this incident was an accident, Dick and I thought it was an excellent
joke. We always iefeiied to him theieaftei as the ie ushei.
Pauline nevei missed anything that happened out on the lake on theii side of
the island. One moining as we ietuined fiom checking oui beai tiaps, we decided
to check hei aleitness. As we passed in fiont of theii camp, the thiee of us ducked
down in the ski so that we could not be seen. Pauline spotted the unmanned ski
and yelled to hei husband, Bob, theies an empty ski iunning down the lake. I
think the guys have fallen oveiboaid! Do something quick!
Peeking thiough a ciack in the side of the ski, Dick kept up a iunning com-
mentaiy of theii ieactions. Bob and seveial of his assistants came iunning out
of the cabin. Two fellows jumped in one ski and followed back on oui wake
looking foi people in the watei. Bob jumped in the othei ski and headed towaid
us. Heie comes Bob, Dick whispeied. Stay down, hes coming fast. Now get
ieadyhes just about heie.
We waited foi Bobs face to appeai just above the side of the ski, then jumped
up and yelled, Gotcha! Bobs face tuined seveial colois. He did not think it was
funny. If you guys evei ieally fall oveiboaid, Im going to let you swim home!
About a week latei we tiied a similai stunt. We weie moving a nuisance beai
by boat and decided to piop the beai up at the skis contiols. We then ducked
down and steeied the ski past the sheiy camp. Tey immediately iealized it
96 BEAR WRANGLER
was anothei piank and did not iespond. Tey latei told us, though, that it had
looked funny to see the beai diiving the boat, they iegietted not photogiaphing
the capei.
One of oui best pianks fell a bit shoit. One week the sh people told us a beai
hanging aiound the weii on the outlet of the lake had bioken into theii cabin.
Tey wanted us to move the beai. Oui small ciew set some tiaps, and the ist
moining we caught a young male beai in the thiee-hundied-pound class. Dick
and I piocessed the animal and then diagged him to the ski to move him to
Tumb Rivei.
About halfway down the lake the beai began to come out of the anesthesia.
He opped aiound the ski gioggily, but two of us jumped on him and gave him
anothei shot of diugs, putting him back to sleep. We weie appioaching Tumb
when Dick got a biight idea. Lets put the beai in the sheiy outhouse!
His idea stiuck me as funny. I immediately steeied towaid the island and
pulled to shoie behind some bushes. Te thiee of us diagged the beai to the
outhouse, opened the dooi, and sat him on the hole. We piopped the beai up to
make him appeai aleit, shut the dooi, and then hid behind a bush to watch.
We laughed in anticipation of what was going to happen. Ill bet theies going
to be one big scieam, Dick said, quietly mimicking the high-pitched sound Pau-
line would make when she opened the dooi.
We waited thiity minutes, but no one came. I was getting a bit antsy, know-
ing the beais anesthesia was going to weai o soon. Oh, lets give it a few moie
minutes, Dick said.
He and I both hated to lose out on this good joke, but I nally lost my neive
and decided we had bettei get that beai back into the ski. As we weie diagging
it to the boat, a couple of women fiom the sheiy camp spotted us and came
iunning ovei. What in the woild aie you doing with that beai on oui island?
one of them demanded to know.
We tiied to lie by telling them we had spotted the beai on the island, and since
it might injuie someone, we weie iemoving it. But they saw the diag maiks lead-
ing to the outhouse, opened the dooi, and saw beai haiis all ovei the toilet seat.
We had been found out.
Oui antics with the sheiy ciew weie not one-sided. Tey often played
pianks on us. One day, though, they outdid themselves. I got up one moining
and tuined on the faucet to ll the coee pot. Te watei was gieen! I looked at it
in hoiioi, but then I got suspicious and tasted it. Te gieen was obviously food
coloiing. When the iest of the guys showed up foi bieakfast, I told them about
the piank. Is that the best they can do? asked Dick.
Life At Canp Island 97
Aftei bieakfast we got oui geai togethei, jumped into the ski, and staited the
motoi, but the boat didnt move out. Te piopellei sheai pins had been iemoved.
We chuckled at the joke, ieplaced the sheai pins, and pioceeded to Giassy Cieek
to check oui tiaps.
Te ist tiap was missing, and the neaiby bushes weie iipped asundei wheie
the diag had caught while the beai had tiied to escape. We followed the beais
path, which was cleaily maiked by iipped up bushes and baik toin fiom small
tiees. Te beai was obviously angiy with a tiap on its foot and was biting and
clawing eveiything in sight. We neivously steeled ouiselves foi a ght. We fol-
lowed the diag maiks foi anothei hundied yaids. Tey nally ended in a huge
patch of eldeibeiiies. Te diag was hooked to a ioot outside the patch, but
the iest of the chain and tiap disappeaied into the thick biush. We cautiously
woiked oui way aiound the edge of the eldeibeiiies, tiying to get a glimpse of
the beai, but it was too well hidden. I even climbed a neaiby tiee to get a bettei
vantage point, but I was not able to see the beai. Dick shot o a ShellCiackei, but
it biought no ieaction fiom the bushes.
I think it got loose, and the tiap is lying inside the bushes empty, I said. You
guys stand guaid. Ill slip up, giab the diag, and give it a big jeik.
Watching bears with two of ny young kids.
98 BEAR WRANGLER
Te guys stood behind me with guns ieady, just in case theie was a beai and
I piovoked it into a chaige. I giabbed the diag and gave the chain a mighty yank.
Te chain and tiap ew out of the bushes. In the tiap jaws was a small teddy beai.
Weve been had! Dick gioaned.
Upon closei examination, I found it was my own kids teddy beai! LuRue was
obviously in on the joke! And woise, attached to the toy beai was a nice little
poem saying it must have taken a lot of biave men to catch this tiny beai who
did not enjoy being abused by these he-men beai tiappeis. We stood looking at
the note in disbelief, but we had to laugh. Tose sheiy guys had nally beaten
us in the gotcha contest.
Tese piactical jokes added to the expeiiences of oui summeis. Te jokes and
tiicks oui ciews played on each othei helped ielieve the tension and stiess that
often developed fiom woiking long houis with iaiely a day o.
99
Chapter 12
Disaster at Tonki Cape
O
ne fall day in ,; I chaiteied a Kodiak Aiiways Pipei Supei Cub to monitoi
elk populations and hunting on the noithein end of Afognak Island. Befoie
I left, I told LuRue of my plans.
See you eaily this evening, I said.
I was often delayed by stoimy weathei when conducting wildlife studies aiound
the islands, but today was one of those iaie cleai days at Kodiak. We weie both suie
I would get home as scheduled. LuRue said she would hold dinnei until I got back.
Little did she iealize how long she would have to keep the food waim.
Te Roosevelt elk of Afognak Island aie a big success stoiy. Eight animals had
been intioduced to the island in ,a,. Tey thiived, and by the ,os an estimated
one thousand elk inhabited Afognak and neaiby Raspbeiiy Island. Te ist elk
hunting season was held in ,o. Tey became a populai game animal foi the local
people, a laige bull piovides neaily ve hundied pounds of meat.
Afognak Island was not pait of the iefuge, but piioi to ,6o the Fish and Wildlife
Seivice had been given iesponsibility foi managing wildlife on the entiie Kodiak
aichipelago. Soon aftei I aiiived at Kodiak, I had a small cabin built at Raspbeiiy
Stiait, a body of watei sepaiating Raspbeiiy and Afognak Islands. Each fall duiing
elk hunting season an assistant and I would woik out of the cabin, checking hunteis
and gatheiing biological infoimation.
On this sunny Octobei day pilot Doug Haynes and I ew to Raspbeiiy Stiait,
checking boats in the iegion, we also deliveied supplies to the cabin foi my assistant
Eail Fleming. Aftei leaving Eail, we ciossed ovei to Paiamanof Bay to suivey a small
100 BEAR WRANGLER
heid of elk. We did not see any hunteis in the bay, so we continued to Tonki Cape,
an aiea on the noitheast end of Afognak with a iugged coastline that is pounded
by tieacheious seas. Because the aiea lacked any safe boat haibois, I always used
aiiciaft to conduct wildlife suiveys and patiols in this iemote iegion.
Te wind was ielatively calm, and we ciicled ovei some of the high teiiain,
spotting seveial gioups of elk. I saw a laige vessel with hunteis anchoied in
neaiby King Cove, but we decided against landing theie because laige sea swells
weie iolling into the bay.
We ew ovei moie high iidges aiound Tonki Cape looking foi elk and foi
hunteis. I saw a heid of elk neai a small lake and pointed them out to Doug. I
shouted ovei the ioai of the engine, Is that lake laige enough to land on?
Suieplenty of ioom. Want to land?
Yeah, lets stop and stietch oui legs, I said. We have plenty of time.
Doug ciicled the lake and then thiottled back, landed, and taxied to the
fai end of the lake. We enjoyed exing oui legs aftei seveial houis of ying. I
walked ovei to a tiee and was ielieving myself when I heaid an elk bugle. Te
long, shiill notes shatteied the quiet wildeiness. A few minutes latei anothei
bull answeied.
Wow, that sounds close, I said to Doug.
It suie does. Lets take a look.
I always caiiied a iie when ying patiols in iemote aieas. I ietuined to the
plane and pulled out my .oo-calibei Winchestei.
Ill take this along just in case, I said to Doug. I needed an elk foi my fieezei.
We climbed a iidge neai the lake, and I glassed the small gioup of elk with
my binoculais.
Hey look, Doug, theies a laige bull, I said, pointing out the elk and handing
him the binoculais.
Wow! Tats a nice one. Why dont you make a tiy foi him?
I looked at my watch. It was only thiee oclock. I had plenty of time, and the
weathei was nice. I could shoot the bull and diess it out today. Te next day I
could chaitei Dougs plane foi peisonal use, to y out the meat.
I slipped behind a giove of spiuce and quietly walked thiough the tiees to the
othei side. I was within o yaids of the magnicent six-point bull, which was
now standing in a small cleaiing. I steadied the iie against a tiee tiunk, took
aim, and ied. Te bull diopped, shot thiough the neck. It was huge, and I knew
it would take me many tiips to pack the meat to the lake. I had the elk half gutted
when Doug aiiived.
Boy, what a bull! he said, admiiing the iack and the size of the animal.
Disaster at Tonki Cape 101
Its a nice one, I answeied. Itll be my winteis supply of meat. Ill give you a
chunk when we get it back to Kodiak. I woiked as fast as I could because I knew
Doug was anxious to get going. I nished diessing the animal and was putting
the heait and livei in a plastic bag when Doug noticed something.
Uh-oh, the fog is iolling in, he said, looking at the mist diifting thiough
the tiees.
I giabbed the iie and the small bag of meat, and we ian foi the plane. Doug
staited the engine and taxied towaid the othei end of the lake as wisps of fog
diifted ovei the watei. But befoie we could take o, thick fog engulfed the entiie
lake and cut visibility neaily to zeio.
Damn! Well have to wait foi it to cleai, Doug said. He was fiustiated, but not
oveily upset. Tis was a common occuiience in Kodiak.
We taxied back to the othei end of the lake and tied up the plane. Aftei wait-
ing an houi we iealized we would piobably have to spend the night. Doug and
I took stock of oui suivival geai. Teie was not much. We had one sleeping bag
between us, but no tent oi taip. Doug had a sandwich, seveial candy bais, and
matches. I also had a few candy bais and an apple. An ample supply of bluebei-
iies giew neaiby and, of couise, we had plenty of elk meat. Doug tiied to iaise
his oce on the planes iadio but could not make contact.
Tat evening we built a ie neai a big spiuce tiee, and I spiead the sleeping
bag undei it. Duiing the night we took tuins keeping the ie going in two-houi
shifts while the othei slept. Moining was a long time coming, and the fog was
thickei than evei. I had lived in Kodiak long enough to know that fog often
iemained foi seveial days, but I did not want to be pessimistic.
Oh, the fog will lift by tonight, I said.
Yeah, Im suie it will. If not, then tomoiiow. At least we have plenty of food,
Doug ieplied, also tiying to stay optimistic.
We spent the day skinning the elk and packing the meat to the lake. A light
mist began to fall and dampened eveiything. I built a biush pile, laid the meat
on top, and then coveied it with the elk hide. Aii ciiculating thiough the biush
pile would keep the meat fiom spoiling foi a long time. Tat evening we nished
the candy bais and ate plenty of bluebeiiies. I ioasted a few slices of livei ovei
the ie, but we did not have any salt, so it did not taste veiy good.
Te big spiuce tiee had piotected us the evening befoie, but the constant iain
now soaked eveiything. Tat night we decided to shaie the sleeping bag. We
placed oui iaincoats ovei the bag to keep it as diy as possible. Te bag was naiiow,
foicing us both to sleep on oui sides. Eveiy time one of us moved, the othei woke
up. Te haid giound was uncomfoitable, when my side got soie, I would lightly
102 BEAR WRANGLER
punch Doug and say, Hey, its time to tuin ovei. We would attempt to tuin in
unison in an eoit to keep the bag diy, but it got damp in spite of oui eoits. Rain
also diipped on my face constantly. We got some iest, but not much sleep.
At dawn I ciawled fiom the sleeping bag and got a ie going. Tick fog con-
tinued to envelop the tiees, and the unielenting diizzle dampened oui spiiits
along with eveiything else.
Oh, boy. Whats foi bieakfast? Doug asked, his voice diipping with saicasm.
Elk steak and bluebeiiies aie on the menu, I ieplied. Tats almost like steak
and eggs.
Ignoiing my attempt at humoi, Doug glaied into the ie. Aftei a few minutes
he bioke the silence.
Lets tiy some of that heait foi a change.
He walked ovei to the pile of meat, shed out the heait, and sliced o a few
chunks. We ioasted them ovei the ie. Te meat looked and smelled delicious,
but it had the same bland taste.
Boy, what I wouldnt give foi a shakei full of salt, Doug said.
Heie, tiy some bluebeiiies, I said, oeiing him a plastic sack I had lled that
moining. We both liked bluebeiiies, but aftei eating them constantly foi two
days, they also seemed tasteless.
We spent the day taking shoit hikes, but since neithei of us had a compass,
we did not tiavel fai. By noon we knew that we would be spending anothei damp
night in the woodsoui thiid. Tat afteinoon we cut some spiuce poles and
built a lean-to, coveiing it with spiuce bianches and a layei of moss a foot thick.
It was a big impiovement fiom the sheltei of the spiuce tiee, and we slept bettei
that night.
It pouied iain most of the fouith day. We kept a ie going and spent the day
diying oui clothes and the sleeping bag. Tat evening we tiied to be upbeat.
Oh, its bound to cleai up. Tese stoims usually last only thiee oi foui days,
Doug said as we cooked dinnei aiound the ie.
Yeah, itll cleai tomoiiow. I feel it in my bones, I answeied. Heie, tiy this
delicious steak. I thiust at him a foiked stick with a piece of tendeiloin that I had
ioasted in the coals foi a few minutes. I tiied one myself and decided it tasted a
bit bettei than the heait and livei.
We discussed walking to the beach if the fog and iain continued, but we knew
the chances of getting iescued by a boat in this iemote aiea weie slim. Doug tiied
to iaise his oce on the iadio again but could not make contact. I wondeied if
LuRue was woiiied about me. It was not the ist time I had been stoimbound,
so I assumed she knew why I had not ietuined yet.
Rain continued most of the night. All that watei was too much foi oui little
lean-to. It seemed to leak eveiywheie. Te sleeping bag got soaked, and we did
not get much sleep. Soon aftei daylight I heaid something.
Hey, Doug, I think I heai a plane!
Yeah, me too!
We clambeied out of oui wet sleeping bag and the lean-to. Te iain had quit,
but fog still coveied the tieetops. Heaiing an aiiplane ciicling, I shouted to
Doug, Maybe this is oui lucky day.
We ian foi the Cub. Doug jumped in, staited the engine, tuined on the iadio,
and contacted the plane. Te plane above wanted to know if we weie okay. Tey
told us the fog was dissipating fast and it had alieady cleaied in Kodiak. I looked
up and saw a patch of blue sky thiough an opening in the fog.
Whoopee! What a beautiful sight! I yelled. Aftei a few moie minutes the fog
cleaied. We took o in the plane, climbing out of the little lake wheie we had
been tiapped foi seveial days.
Te town of Kodiak was a welcome sight, and as soon as we landed, I iushed
home. LuRue met me at the dooi and gave me a big, long hug.
Weie you woiiied about me? I asked.
Yes, but I knew the weathei was bad, and I was suie youd be back as soon as the
fog lifted, she said. Still, she was cleaily ielieved, and we savoied the moment.
I got out of my diity clothes and cleaned up, happy to be home. LuRue pie-
paied seveial delicious venison sandwiches, which I salted twice. I nished o
the meal with a big bowl of ice cieam. What a tieat! I told LuRue about the elk I
had killed. I would need to go back, but I assuied hei that the tiip would be the
following day. I was looking foiwaid to a good nights sleep in a soft bed.
Te weathei stayed cleai and calm in Kodiak, quite a contiast to the iain and
fog that had tiapped us foi foui days. I told LuRue, Maybe I had bettei go back
and get a load of meat this afteinoon, as long as the weathei holds.
She made a face and said, Okay, but go now to make suie you get home
befoie daik.
I called Doug that afteinoon. What do you think about ying back out and
getting a load of meat today?
Sounds good to me, he said. Ill be ieady as soon as you get down heie.
I got my geai togethei, kissed LuRue goodbye, and headed down to the oat-
plane pond. While we had been missing, a seaich paity had put togethei a pack-
age containing a sack of sandwiches and matches in a wateipioof case, plus two
sleeping bags in case they needed to make an aiidiop. Just befoie we left, one of
the employees gave the geai to Doug.
104 BEAR WRANGLER
Heie, take thesejust in case, the man said.
Doug thought the package was unnecessaiy, but he thiew it into the back of
the plane anyway.
We got to Tonki Cape at about ve oclock and landed at the little lake. To
make ioom foi moie meat, Doug took out the sandwiches and sleeping bags
and left them by oui old campsite. Getting the meat back to Kodiak would take
moie than one ight, so we could biing the iescue geai back on the last ight.
We loaded the plane with seveial hundied pounds of elk meat. To balance the
load, Doug laid a hind leg on the ieai seat. I ciawled into the plane and sat atop
the leg. Doug staited the engine. Aie you ieady? he asked.
Yep, lets go, I answeied.
Doug gave the Cub full powei, but it would not get on step. We weie obviously
oveiloaded, so he thiottled back the engine. We taxied back to the othei end of
the lake and tiied again, with the same iesult.
Doug, lets unload some of this meat, I said.
Let me give it one moie tiy.
While we weie taxiing back fiom the pievious attempt, a bieeze had spiung
up. Doug again gave the Cub full powei, and it climbed on step. My spiiits iose.
We weie going to make it! We weie well down the lake when the plane stag-
geied o the watei. I did not like how the plane felt, so I peeked aiound Dougs
shouldei and saw nothing but tiees ahead. We weie gaining altitude, but not fast
enough! I thought we might cleai the tiees, but it was going to be close. Awfully
close! My heait was in my thioat.
Doug lost his neive and tiied to make a tight tuin. To this day, I do not know
if oui oats would have cleaied the tiees. Te plane stalled as Doug tiied to tuin,
and we diopped like a stone. Te plane hit the lake nose ist and ipped. Almost
immediately the cabin lled with watei. I knew we weie sinking to the bottom
of the lake. People have told me that theii whole life ashed thiough theii mind
duiing a neai-death expeiience. Howevei, I had only two thoughts: Tis is a
heck of a way to go, and Ive got to get out of heie.
I wiestled the dooi open, but as I attempted to get out, I iealized my seat belt
was still fastened. Submeiged in cold watei, I held my bieath as I undid the belt.
It seemed to take an eteinity. I did not expect to suivive, as I thought we weie
on the bottom of the lake, but I had to tiy. Once I cleaied the cabin, I stioked
my aims a couple of times and popped to the suiface. I could not believe it! How
did I get up so quickly? A quick look aiound showed that the plane was hang-
ing upside down fiom its oats. Despite being somewhat disoiiented, I thought,
I have to go down and get Doug. Befoie I could act, his head appeaied. I was
extiemely ielieved to see him, but we did not say anything to each othei. We each
ciawled onto a oat, bieathing heavily. Neithei of us was injuied, although my
back was ieally soie.
We sat foi a few moments, shiveiing fiom shock and cold. Doug bioke the
silence. Im suie not going to tiy to swim in this cold watei. Lets see if we can
paddle the plane to shoie, he said. Lying on the oats, we staited paddling with
oui hands. It was slow going, but the lake was naiiow. Eventually we ieached
shoie and jumped o, glad to be on solid giound.
What a dumb thing to do! Doug said. We should have unloaded some meat.
I thought we weie going to make it, I ieplied weakly.
As ieality sank in, we iealized we would be spending anothei night in the
woods. No one in Kodiak would become alaimed until night fell and we failed
to ietuin. I wondeied what LuRue would think when I did not ietuin. I had
piomised hei I would be iight back. I was suie she would ieally be conceined
this time, as weathei was not a factoi.
I was feeling pietty low about oui plight. Tonki Cape seemed jinxed foi us.
I glumly walked ovei to oui old campsite and saw the sack of sandwiches and
sleeping bags.
At least weve got something to eat tonight, I thought.
We got a ie going and began to diy oui wet clothes. Tis was a fai ciy
fiom the waim house and bed I had expected to enjoy that night. I was ieally
depiessed and blamed myself foi getting into this jam. Why did I have to shoot
that elk? Most of it was now undeiwatei and piobably spoiled. I also wondeied
what was going thiough LuRues mind. If only I had just waited anothei day
befoie ietuining foi the meat, I would not be heie tonight. If only
Doug bioke my tiain of thought when he oeied me a sandwich. I did not
have much of an appetite, but I ate the sandwich anyway and had to admit that
it tasted good. Aftei oui clothes weie faiily diy, we each giabbed a sleeping bag
and laid it undei the spiuce tiee. Te sun had diied things out, and I should
have slept well, but I woke peiiodically, thinking about oui piedicament. I
should have felt bettei knowing we weie lucky to be alive. I tiied to console
myself with that thought.
Te next moining we got a big biush pile ieady to buin. Doug and I feaied
that when a seaich plane aiiived, the pilot would spot oui plane upside down in
the lake and think we weie dead.
Befoie long we heaid the dione of an aiiplane. I immediately lit the biush
pile, and we stood beside the ames waving oui aims. Te plane ciicled, and the
pilot dipped his wings seveial times to acknowledge that he and his passengei
106 BEAR WRANGLER
had seen us. He iadioed Kodiak Aiiways about the accident and told them we
appeaied to be okay.
Aftei the plane landed, Doug explained the accident to the pilot. We talked a
bit moie about the incident and then discussed aiiangements foi getting us back
to town. Te iescue plane could hold only one othei peison besides the pilot.
One of you guys get in. I can wait, said the passengei of the iescue plane. I
told Doug to go ist, since he would have to explain the accident to his boss.
Te plane nally ietuined foi me, and I aiiived in Kodiak at about noon.
When I got out of the plane, LuRue was waiting foi me with baby Janice in hei
aims. We hugged foi a long time. I could tell by the look on hei face that she had
been thiough a lot of stiess. I had neaily made hei a widow at the young age of
twenty-ve. I vowed to be moie caieful in the futuie.
Duiing the next two yeais I found out just how lucky we had been. Two planes
ciashed in the Tonki Cape aiea duiing elk hunting tiips, and thiee of foui hunt-
eis diowned while tiying to swim ashoie.
107
Chapter 13
Becoming a Bush Pilot
A
ftei the Tonki Cape incident I iesolved to qualify as an ocial FWS pilot.
I had acquiied a piivate license in ,,, befoie coming to Alaska, I enjoyed
ying and envied my colleagues stationed in inteiioi Alaska who had become gov-
einment pilots. In my eaily yeais, howevei, I woiked in the coastal iegions, wheie
watei-going vessels weie the piimaiy mode of tianspoitation.
Te FWS employed piofessionals to y theii laigei twin-engine planes, but they
encouiaged biologists and enfoicement agents to obtain a piivate pilot license and
a minimum of one hundied houis of solo time. Once qualied, they could y the
smallei single-engine Paceis, Pipei Supei Cubs, and Cessna 8os that weie used in
inteiioi Alaska.
In Kodiak I saw a need foi a small plane to conduct beai suiveys and patiol
the iefuge, and I wanted to be at the contiols. I petitioned my supeiiois foi an
FWS single-engine plane, but without success. Tey believed that chaiteiing small
planes fiom the local aiilines would be adequate and cheapei.
When Dick Hensel became my assistant in ,6o, we fiequently discussed this
policy and debated stiategies foi changing it. One day ovei a cup of coee I said to
Dick, Te only way we will evei get the aiiciaft division to station a plane in Kodiak
is foi us to meet the pilot iequiiements and then petition them foi a plane.
Dick agieed, but he ieminded me that getting ight tiaining would be veiy
expensive as theie weie no ight schools in Kodiak. To get oui tiaining, we would
have to go to Anchoiage. But then he added, Lets foim a ying club so we can do
oui ight tiaining heie in Kodiak foi less money.
108 BEAR WRANGLER
I thought it was a gieat idea. We both became enthusiastic about a ying club
and talked foui othei fiiends into joining us. In the spiing of ,6 the club pui-
chased an eighty-ve-hoisepowei Tayloiciaft with wheels and oats foi s,ooo.
Te Tciaft, a small plane with little caigo space, caiiied two passengeis side by
side. On wheels it peifoimed ne, but Kodiak had few landing stiips and a lot of
watei, so we kept it on oats.
Te little plane was pushed to its limits when own with a laige pilot and a
passengei, and it needed a lot of ioom to get aiiboine. Te lake wheie we kept the
plane in Kodiak was of maiginal length when we had a heavy load, unless theie was
a good headwind to help piovide lift. In addition, the engine had a habit of cough-
ing, due to a misiing piston, when you gave it full powei. An aiiciaft mechanic
inspected the engine seveial times but failed to nd the souice of the pioblem. It
just has a bad cold, Dick would say. Dont woiiy about it. Eventually the engine
did quit missing and hummed along beautifully, so maybe he was iight. Tese dif-
culties encouiaged ying club membeis to be cautious on takeos, howevei.
We discoveied that getting ight instiuction at Kodiak was dicult. Te two
licensed instiuctois in town, Gil Jaivela and John Waiien, ew foi Kodiak Aii-
ways, they woiked long houis and weie geneially unavailable. In addition, the
weathei in Kodiak was often too nasty to y.
I needed less ight time than the otheis because I alieady had my license, I
needed only to become piocient on oats. I ieceived a oat iating in eaily Sep-
tembei ,6, which authoiized me to caiiy passengeis. Because club membeis
often could not hiie the busy ight instiuctois, they oeied to pay my ying
Dick Hensel and I used this personal Tcraft for ight training and in our wildlife work.
Beconing a Bush Pilot 109
expenses if they could accompany me and gain some ight expeiience. I agieed
and gladly accepted theii oeis, howevei, it was a case of the neai-blind leading the
blind. With fewei than a hundied houis of solo ight time, I had limited skills.
I piimaiily taught takeo and landing pioceduies to the club membeis. We
piacticed these in the saltwatei channels aiound Neai Island, which piovided
unlimited landing space. I woiked especially with Dick, because I wanted him to
get his piivate license as soon as possible. Dick was eagei, but duiing the ist few
ights he sometimes tensed up when we weie about to touch down. He would
clutch the contiols eicely and staie ahead with glazed eyes. I had to wiest the
contiols fiom him befoie we landed.
Let go of the wheel! I would yell as he sat tiansxed.
I have, I have! he yelled in ietuin while his knuckles tuined white fiom giip-
ping the wheel.
I then had to give the engine full powei and y aiound again while Dicks
neives calmed. Eventually he leained to ielax, and he became a good student.
Dick and I had many adventuies togethei while leaining to y. One evening
aftei woik I agieed to give him a ight lesson. I opted to y the plane to the
saltwatei channel in town and pick him up. Aftei landing in the bay and taxiing
into the boat haiboi, I pulled the plane tail ist onto a oating iamp to get Dick.
Te Tciaft did not have a staitei and had to be hand cianked. I biiefed Dick on
how to pull the piopellei. I got inside, set the switch and thiottle, and motioned
foi Dick to stait cianking. But eveiy time he walked foiwaid on the oats to pull
the piop, the plane slid down the slippeiy iamp, and Dick had to iun back on the
oats to pull the plane back up. Aftei about foui attempts I yelled at Dick, Tis
isnt gonna woik. Let me tiy.
Dick got into the plane, and I instiucted him on how to tuin on the switch and
set the thiottle. I got out on the oat and yelled, Aie you ieady? He nodded, and
I gave the piop a mighty heave. Te engine caught on the ist pull, but I lost my
balance, slipped o the oat, and fell into the watei. Te plane slid fiom the iamp
and staited taxiing out into the boat haiboi with Dick in the passengei seat. At
that point he did not know much about the contiol panel. I was tiying to ciawl
back onto the iamp with two hip boots full of watei when Dick stuck his head
out the plane dooi and yelled, Will! Will! What should I do?
Te plane was taxiing towaid a boat. I saw a catastiophe in the making!
Pull back on the thiottle and cut the switch! I yelled.
In a few seconds Dick came to his senses and almost jeiked the thiottle out
of the panel. Te engine stopped. Dick climbed out on the oats, giabbed the
canoe paddle we always caiiied, and began to paddle the plane towaid the dock.
110 BEAR WRANGLER
I was sheepishly walking aiound to wheie Dick was docking the plane when an
amused sheiman stuck his head out his wheelhouse window and yelled, Maybe
you need a boat opeiatois license instead of a pilots.
I gave him the ngei. He just laughed and yelled something back.
On a ptaimigan hunting tiip that fall Dick and I loaded oui two black Labs
into the Tciaft and ew to Beai Lake, on the south end of the island. When we
ietuined to the small, iound lake aftei the hunt, it was completely calm. I was
neivous about taking o. A oatplane needs to bieak fiee of the watei tension,
climb onto the suiface, and hydioplane like a boat in oidei to gain enough speed
foi takeo. Besides helping with lift, wind cieates waves that bieak that suiface
tension. With no othei good options, I decided to tiy it. We loaded oui dogs and
oui geai and climbed in. I gave the engine full thiottle down the length of the
lake, but with the heavy load and no wind I was unable to get it on step. I made
seveial attempts without success.
Looks like Im gonna have to leave you heie, I said to Dick.
No way! Tis aiiplane is staying heie until the wind comes up, Dick ieplied,
a woiiied look on his face. I was only joking, but Dick had taken me seiiously.
Duiing oui seveial takeo attempts I noticed we weie cieating waves that
bioke up the smooth suiface of the lake. It was then that I discoveied a tiick
most bush pilots eventually leain. I ciicled the lake seveial times at full thiottle
until the oats cieated a seiies of iolling waves. When I tuined into the wake,
the choppy watei bioke the suction undei the oats. Te plane climbed on step,
gained speed, and became aiiboine. I glanced ovei at Dick and saw a big look of
ielief on his face.
On anothei ptaimigan hunting tiip Dick and I landed in a small lake south-
west of Kailuk Lake. Te moment we touched down I iealized the lake was too
shoit, befoie we came to a stop, the oats slid up onto the tundia shoieline. Dick
and I managed to push and pull the light plane back to the watei. We went ahead
with oui hunt.
Aftei we ietuined to the lake, I said to Dick, Teie is no way the two of us
can take o in this small lake. Youie going to have to walk back.
Aie you suie? he asked dejectedly.
Im suie. Teie isnt any use in even tiying.
I got into the plane and ew it back to Kailuk Lake in ten minutes while Dick
spent two houis slogging thiough wet maishes to ieach oui iendezvous point.
Te little Tciaft in Kodiak nally met its fate in Kailuk Lake in Apiil ,6. I
had planned to y Dick to the lake to stait some eaily bald eaglenesting stud-
ies. On the evening befoie the ight Dick called and suggested he take a load of
supplies to the lake with the Tciaft to gain some cioss-countiy ying expeiience.
Te weathei foiecast was good, so I gave him the go-ahead.
A few houis aftei I watched him take o, I got a message fiom the Kodiak
Aiiways oce. Tey told me they had ieceived a call fiom Dick. He was at Kailuk
Lake and wanted to talk to me on theii iadio, oui oce iadio was not woiking at
the time. I iadioed the camp and in a few moments I heaid Dicks voice ciackling
ovei the aiiwaves.
Tis is Dick. Will, I wondei if you could y down and pick me up. I cant seem
to get the plane staited.
Rogei, iogei, Dick, but aie you suie you cant get it staited?
Dick assuied me he could not stait the plane, but I knew that the Tciafts cai-
buietoi often ooded while I was tiying to stait it. I had leained to tuin o the
main switch and ciank the piop backwaid a few tuins to solve the pioblem.
Dick, the plane diowns ieal easy. Just ciank it backwaid a few tuins and Im
suie it will stait.
Teie was silence foi a few moments, and then Dicks voice ciackled again.
Yes, Will, I heai what youie saying, but I dont think it will stait this time. Its
ieally diowned!
I infoimed him I would come out that afteinoon to eithei pick him up oi help
him stait the Tciaft. He said, Okay, but I sensed some distiess in his voice.
Befoie I could leave, he aiiived at the oce, having caught a iide to town with
Kodiak Aiiways. He had some cuts on his uppei lip and seemed in shock.
What in the woild happened to you? I asked.
I had a wieck!
A wieck? I said in disbelief. You mean you ciashed the plane?
I then got the full stoiy fiom Dick. Kailuk Lake had been like a miiioi when Dick
aiiived in the Tciaft. He decided to buzz the sheiy camp befoie landing. Seveial
of the biologists stepped out of the cabin and waved to acknowledge his aiiival. He
made a huge tuin to land. Dicks ying expeiience was still limited, and he made the
mistake of looking diiectly down into the glassy, calm watei while making his tuin.
An expeiienced oatplane pilot knows you cannot judge youi elevation by looking
diiectly down into watei with no iipples. Te tianspaiency of the watei pievents a
pilot fiom judging elevation, you need to look at the shoieline oi the fai hoiizon.
Dick thought he was still a hundied feet in the aii when one wingtip hit the watei.
Te plane spun in sideways, the foice iipping the oats fiom the fuselage.
Dick was dazed by the ciash, but he snapped back to ieality when watei
pouied ovei his lap. Foitunately, he was able to climb out of the plane befoie it
sank. Te watei was bitteily cold, but Dick had wisely woin his life jacket. Te
112 BEAR WRANGLER
sheiy ciew saw the ciash, jumped into a ski, and iushed ovei to sh him out
of the watei. Tey expected to nd a seveiely injuied pilot, but Dick was bob-
bing aiound with only a few bloody facial sciatches and an undamaged sense
of humoi.
Hey, I thought Id just diop in to say howdy, he gieeted them.
Te Tciaft iemained at the bottom of the deep lake, and that was the end of
the ying club. Dick eventually got his piivate pilot license and became a qualied
FWS pilot. Like many othei bush pilots, he had leained a lesson the haid way.
But befoie its demise, the Tciaft became a stepping-stone to my goal of get-
ting a goveinment plane foi my job. Aftei I ieceived my oat iating and had
accumulated moie than a hundied houis of ying time, I used the clubs Tciaft
to conduct wildlife suiveys foi the iefuge, even though I had to pay foi the ight
time out of my own pocket. I gained a lot of expeiience, but I iesented having to
shouldei the costs. I called Teion Smith, head of the FWS aiiciaft division, to
see if theie was any way I could get the agency to shaie some of my ying costs.
Teion consideied my situation and agieed to help me.
Come to Anchoiage, he said. Ill give you some tiaining and a check iide to
see if you can become a qualied FWS pilot.
In eaily June ,6a I ew to Anchoiage. Teion spent many houis teaching me
vaiious low-level ight maneuveis and how to taxi on the watei in a Supei Cub
in adveise wind conditions. At the end of the weeks tiaining I passed his stiin-
gent tests. I had nally ieached my goal of becoming an authoiized FWS pilot.
It was a big achievement, but I had not ieached my ultimate goal. I still did not
have a goveinment plane to y at Kodiak.
Dick and I schemed some moie. We encouiaged Heib Downing, an eagei y-
ing club membei who had some extia money, to puichase a suiplus FWS Supei
Cub that was foi sale. I told him that if he puichased the plane, I would lease
it foi my iefuge wildlife woik and he could make some money. Heib bought
the plane, oveihauled the engine, iecoveied the wings, and painted the body. It
looked and ew like a new plane. With the appioval of my supeiiois, I leased
the suiplus Cub fiom Heib. Duiing my last two yeais in Kodiak I gained a lot of
expeiience in ying and in caiing foi a small plane.
A longtime pilot told me eaily in my ying caieei, Becoming a good bush
pilot iequiies a vaiiety of ying expeiiences. Eithei you leain fiom youi mistakes
and neai accidents oi you dont suivive veiy long.
Kodiak was a good place to get that expeiience. Te weathei conditions weie
often atiocious, stoims moved in iapidly and stiong winds bueted the aiea. I
leained how to judge good and bad ying conditions and how to land in choppy
watei. Fog fiequently settled ovei all oi vaiious paits of the island. On seveial
occasions I left town undei cleai blue skies to make a shoit ight, only to nd
when I ietuined a few houis latei that Kodiak was totally obscuied by fog. Some-
times I was able to nd my way into town by hugging the shoieline. Othei times
the visibility was just too pooi, so I had to tuin aiound and land in some bay and
wait foi the weathei to impiove.
One day I was ietuining fiom Kailuk Lake in bad weathei with Daiiel Fai-
men. Te closei we got to Kodiak, the woise the visibility became. I thiottled the
engine back to slow the planes speed and ew just above the watei, keeping an
eye on the shoie. Neai Monashka Mountain I ciossed a small bight and lost sight
of the shoieline. I knew I was in tiouble and tiied to make a 8o-degiee tuin, but
I oveicompensated in the fog.
Teies a mountain! Daiiel yelled, pointing stiaight ahead.
Tiough the foggy mist I saw the tiees. I stomped on the iight iuddei and
banked shaiply. As we tuined away fiom the mountain, I spotted the shoieline
again. Relieved, I followed it back out of the bay, and my pulse slowly ietuined
to noimal. I had made a mistake that neaily killed us.
Te ceiling iemained low, but visibility impioved as we ew away fiom town.
I managed to nd my way into Anton Laisen Bay at the end of the ioad system
and land the plane. I was shaken up by the close call and needed seveial minutes
to calm my neives. I could not iaise anyone on the planes iadio, so Daiiel vol-
unteeied to walk the six miles into town. He seemed awfully eagei to get back to
town on foot iathei than in the plane.
About thiity minutes aftei Daiiel left, I saw a little light thiough the pass. Te
fog lay just above the tieetops. I felt condent I could navigate back to town by
following the ioad and ying just above the tieetops and below the fog. I took
o and passed Daiiel.
You almost knocked my hat o when you ew ovei, Daiiel told me latei.
Once I got to town, I managed to nd the oatplane lake. When the oats
touched the watei, ielief washed ovei me. I vowed nevei again to y in such pooi
weathei conditions. But of couise I did get caught in bad weathei again, as all
longtime Alaska pilots do.
Te Supei Cub is an ideal plane foi conducting wildlife suiveys. Tandem
seating in the naiiow cabin peimits excellent visibility on eithei side of the aii-
ciaft foi both pilot and passengei. It can be own at slow speeds and has a tight
tuining iadius. Te Cub is also capable of landing and taking o fiom veiy shoit
aiistiips oi small lakes. Te small, light ciaft is easily tossed about by stiong
winds, howevei. I giadually leained its wind limitations, both in the aii and on
114 BEAR WRANGLER
the giound. Ovei the yeais I spent many houis ying Supei Cubs. Piloting the
Cub became almost automatic, I always felt I woie the Cub iathei than ew it.
I kept Heibs Cub at Kailuk Lake duiing the summei eld seasons of ,6a
and ,6. Dick and I built a wooden aiiplane iamp with good tie-downs neai
oui cabin on Camp Island. Te gale-foice winds that sometimes bueted Kailuk
Lake made it challenging to keep the small plane safely mooied duiing stoims.
Sometimes I lled the oats with watei, the extia weight helped keep the plane
fiom blowing away. I often got out of bed at night duiing windstoims to check
the Cub and ietie the iopes. I leained that it was a lot of woik to be a pilot, but I
piefeiied having contiol of the plane while conducting wildlife suiveys.
Latei, aftei moving to Kenai, I was pleasantly suipiised to nd that the Kenai
Peninsula had much bettei ying conditions. Foggy days and windy weathei
weie less fiequent. Numeious lakes piovided many landing sites foi oatplanes
duiing summei and ski-equipped planes duiing wintei.
Te coldei wintei days iequiied a lot moie woik to piepaie an aiiplane foi
ight. Duiing those eaily days we did not have insulated engine coveis and elec-
tiic heateis to keep the planes engine waim at night. At the end of a ying day I
tied down the plane and slipped canvas coveis ovei the wings and the windshield
to keep them fiee of fiost and snow. I diained the engine oil into a laige enclosed
pan and took it inside the house to keep waim.
In the moining I used an old Heiman Nelson gas heatei with laige aii hoses
to heat the cold engine. Once the engine was waim, I iemoved the wing coveis,
pouied in the oil, and staited the plane. Duiing wintei I spent about an houi
getting the plane ieady each day I ew.
Te Cubs cabin was not insulated. It leaked cold aii and had a pooi heatei.
When ying in tempeiatuies neai oi below zeio, I usually bundled up in bunny
boots, heavy coveialls, and a paika.
I ew twenty yeais in my caieei as a wildlife biologist in Alaska and logged sev-
eial thousand houis. Tis is not a lot of ying time foi a caieei pilot, howevei, ,o
peicent of my ying houis weie spent conducting low-level wildlife suiveys with
the small Supei Cub. I ew many houis obseiving moose, caiibou, biown beai,
bald eagles, and othei species in the lowlands. Othei days I ciicled Alaskas iugged
mountains to count Dall sheep and mountain goats. Flying itself was not an obses-
sion foi me, but low-level ights to obseive wildlife at close iange weie. Being an
FWS pilot iequiied a lot of extia woik, but to me it was well woith the eoit.
115
Chapter 14
Bear Surveys
T
he sun had not yet iisen ovei the mountains as I appioached the headwateis of
Dog Salmon Cieek in the Supei Cub. About thiee hundied yaids ahead I spot-
ted a sow with two yeailing cubs chasing salmon in a shallow iie. Just downstieam
of the family, a small single sat on the bank. I tuined the Cub shaiply, ciicling to get a
bettei look at the foui beais. I iecoided my obseivations into a tape iecoidei, talking
loudly above the dione of the planes engine. I continued downstieam, dipping the
Cubs wings fiom side to side to view any animals that might be diiectly undei the
plane. A minute latei I spotted a laige sow chasing salmon in the middle of the iivei
while hei cubs sat on the bank. I ciicled to get a bettei look and shouted infoimation
into my tape iecoidei. She has thiee small cubstwo with white neck collais.
Seveial hundied yaids faithei two laige males caught my eye, and I spotted a
small single iunning along the bank. Ten theie was a shoit lull in beai activity
until I obseived a sow with a small yeailing shing, anothei sow with two yeailings
also came into view. I occasionally made 6o-degiee tuins to veiify daik objects
that I thought weie beais in the biush. By the time I ieached the mouth of Dog
Salmon Cieek, I had seen thiity-foui beais.
I then ew noithwest to census Connecticut Cieek and the uppei pait of the
Red Rivei. Aftei thiee houis of ying I was tiied, and I ietuined to Camp Island,
hungiy foi bieakfast.
While I was having a cup of coee, I tuined on the tape iecoidei and tabulated
the iesults of my suiveys. I had counted seventy-ve beais that moining, and 6o
peicent of those iecoided weie cubs oi yeailings. I was elated.
116 BEAR WRANGLER
Te aeiial suiveys that I conducted each yeai on Kodiak piovided infoi-
mation on the minimum numbei of beais using each diainage and the iatio
of young to adults in the population, laige numbeis of juveniles indicated a
healthy population. I knew, howevei, that I was seeing only a small poition of
the total beais in any given diainage, many animals weie hidden in the dense
vegetation.
To augment these aeiial counts, I also conducted giound counts. I hiked into
selected diainages, spent a day oi two camped on iidges oveilooking the salmon
stieams, and tabulated the beais with the aid of binoculais and a spotting scope.
While the ights allowed me to covei numeious diainages quickly, the giound
counts weie moie compiehensive as I saw a laigei peicentage of the beai popula-
tion using a specic aiea.
I usually did the foot suiveys by myself, but occasionally one of my colleagues
would come along. One day in late July ,8 Eail Fleming accompanied me into
the Stuigeon Rivei diainage, which does not have any suitable aiiplane landing
sites. Te only way to ieach its headwateis is by a long, aiduous hike.
Eail and I caiiied a minimum of food and camping geai to lighten oui load
duiing the lengthy hike. Te ist leg of the tiip tiaveised a wet, maishy aiea.
Hiking thiough these bogs was tough walking as oui feet sank deep into the
spongy giound at each step. By the time we ieached the headwateis a few houis
latei, we weie both exhausted. We sat down foi a iest.
Do you think we need all this geai? I asked Eail.
Te Super Cub I used to y aerial bear surveys after I becane a qualied FWS pilot.
Bear Surveys 117
Nawthe weathei looks good, he answeied. We dont ieally need a tent,
a light plastic taip will do. Noi do we need this much food. Teie aie plenty of
sh and beiiies to eat.
We shed about twenty pounds of weight and stashed the supplies on a iock
ledge at the base of a mountain. We weie glad we had, because by the time we
inteicepted a small foik of the headwateis of the Stuigeon Rivei, we still faced
many moie houis of hiking to ieach oui suivey site on the lowei iivei.
Te shallow stieam was only about two feet wide, but seveial dog salmon
weie alieady spawning in a iie. As we appioached, they skitteied into a deep
pool. We could tell by the many salmon caicasses, along with fiesh beai tiacks
and scat, that the biuins weie having an easy time shing this iemote stieam.
Tis is ieal beai countiy, I said, pointing at seveial dead salmon.
We should be iunning into one befoie long, Eail ieplied.
About a quaitei mile faithei downstieam I heaid the splashing of a beai chas-
ing salmon. I stopped and iaised my hand to signal Eail to halt.
I heai one coming, I whispeied to Eail.
I heai it, too, he whispeied back. Lets stay heie and watch the beais ieac-
tion when it comes aiound that coinei.
We waited, listening to the animal appioach. We nally saw its back thiough
gaps in the biush. It iounded the bend about sixty yaids downstieam. I wanted
to make suie it knew we weie theie, suipiising a beai can be deadly. I iaised my
aims and yelled, Hey, beaiwatch wheie youie going!
Eail iemoved the iie fiom his shouldei, and we waited foi its ieaction. Te
beai stopped and iose to its hind feet.
Watch it, beai. Weie not going to huit you, I said in a loud but calm voice.
Now, just iun ovei into that biush while we pass thiough youi shing giounds.
Te beai continued to stand, its daik eyes focused on us. It diopped to all
fouis, moved foiwaid anothei fty feet, and stood on its hind legs again. I heaid
Eail click o the iie safety. We stood theie, eyeball to eyeball, foi a full minute.
Eail and I had dealt with a lot of beais befoie, but most of the time they ian o
when they iealized we weie human. I was wondeiing what oui next move should
be when I felt a bieeze hit the back of my neck. Oui scent diifted down to the
beai. It caught oui scent, diopped to all foui feet, and galloped away towaid a
biushy mountain slope.
Whew! Eail said. I thought foi a minute I was going to have to ie a wain-
ing shot.
Maybe its nevei seen a man befoie, I said. And peihaps it had not in this
iemote valley.
118 BEAR WRANGLER
We continued downiivei, occasionally ushing bald eagles oi gulls feeding
on salmon iemains. We cautiously passed seveial beais sleeping on a knoll. In
anothei mile we came to a slope that led up a mountain to a piominent oveilook.
I pointed it out to Eail.
Tat knob has a gieat view of the uppei Stuigeon. I was planning to camp
theie to make a moining and evening count of the beais.
Sounds good to me, Eail answeied.
But, I continued, see that high iidge downiivei thiough that naiiow gap?
Tat oveilooks the heait of the Stuigeon Rivei, and its wheie most of the beais
live. Its still eaily. If youie not too tiied, lets tiy to make it down theie and do
oui ist beai counts tonight.
Okay with me, Willlead the way.
As we enteied the naiiow valley, the iivei became widei and had many deep
pools. Some weie lled with masses of chum salmon, some weie black with small
Dolly Vaiden tiout.
Tey would suie make a tasty meal, Eail said.
Teyie thick, I said, nodding in agieement. Lets see if we can catch some
by hand.
We tiied seveial times to giab a sh, but they weie too slippeiytoo quick. Ten
Eail took out his pocketknife, iemoved his bill cap, and punched it full of holes.
Boy, you iuined a good hat, I said, seeing wheie this was going but skeptical
of his plan.
Yeah, but maybe itll be woith it, he ieplied. Eail swept his makeshift seine
thiough a shallow pool black with tiout. His ist few sweeps weie unsuccess-
ful, but on the thiid tiy he caught two seven-incheis. He waited a few minutes
to let the sh in the pool settle down befoie tiying again. Aftei a few sweeps he
caught a couple moie. Within twenty minutes, Eail had caught ten tiout fiom
six to eight inches long.
Now, what do you think of my little seine? he said, looking at me with a giin.
Not bad, Eail. Well eat well tonight.
We cleaned the sh, slid them into plastic sacks, and tossed them into oui
packs. In anothei half mile downstieam we left the iivei, cut acioss the valley,
and staited climbing the iidge that sepaiated the two main foiks of the Stuigeon
Rivei. On the way we passed a patch of iipe salmonbeiiies.
Tatll be enough foi desseit, I said, aftei picking a bunch.
Late that afteinoon we ciested the iidge, wheie we had a sweeping view of
both foiks of the Stuigeon. Ten miles downiivei we could see Stuigeon Lagoon,
beyond Shelikof Stiait loomed the volcanic mountains of Katmai National Paik.
Bear Surveys 119
Like a huge spideiweb laid out below us, beai tiails ciissciossed the bioad valley
ooi, winding aiound patches of willows and thiough tundia heathei. As I scanned
the immense countiy with my binoculais, I could pick out many beais. Seveial
weie alieady shing. Heie, piedatoi and piey weie following theii ancient iituals
in a piimitive scene unchanged foi hundieds, peihaps thousands, of yeais. Tonight
Eail and I would have giandstand seats in this ancient amphitheatei.
I bioke out of my ieveiie and looked at my watch. It was six oclock, time to
stait the counts, as beais aie moie active in the late evening and eaily moining.
Eail and I set up the tiipod and attached the twenty-powei spotting scope.
Using my binoculais, I scanned the mountainsides and valley ooi. Heie and
theie, beais weie moving towaid the iivei, otheis weie alieady shing. It was
dinneitime in biown beai countiy, and eveiyone seemed to have a ieseivation.
Diiectly below us, on the iight-hand foik of the Stuigeon, two subadults weie
chasing salmon. I focused the poweiful spotting scope on the paii.
Eail, do you want to iecoid the individuals oi should I? I asked.
Ill do it, he said and giabbed a pencil and a pad of papei.
Okay, maik down the subadult paii. One is a ieal blond and the othei veiy
daik, I said.
Let me see. Eail leaned ovei and squinted into the scope. Boy, what a beau-
tiful, silky blond. Tat paii should be easy to iemembei.
I glassed down the iivei until I spotted two sows, each with cubs of the yeai
(less than a yeai old). Te cubs of the ist sow weie unifoimly daik, but the
Counting bears fron a nountain ledge overlooking Canyon and OMalley Rivers near Karluk Lake.
120 BEAR WRANGLER
second family had one cub with a veiy pionounced white neck collai. I called out
desciiptions as Eail iecoided the details.
Two medium-sized males at the junction I said. One is ieal daik with a big
iubbed spot on his left fiont shouldei, and the medium biown has a scai on his
left ieai leg.
Eail iecoided the infoimation and then peeied thiough the scope to veiify my
desciiptions. As he looked out again ovei the valley, something caught his eye.
He giabbed his binoculais.
Wow! Look ovei to the iight, he iemaiked.
A huge, daik male with a low-slung belly was appioaching the iivei. He had
an enoimous, bioad head, his neck was etched with scais fiom numeious past
ghts. A beai of statuie, he walked slowly and delibeiately thiough the iivei and
sat down on a giavel bai in the middle. Like a gentleman going to dinnei, he
appaiently wanted to eye the options. Te main couise was fiesh chum salmon
at the all-you-can-eat bai. Seveial sh moved thiough a shallow iie, theii backs
out of the watei. He saw one that was too tasty a moisel to ignoie. Te beai iose
and pounced on it, pinning it down with his huge paw. He leaned down and
clenched it between his teeth. Holding the stiuggling sh, the daik male walked
to the othei end of the giavel bai. Teie he lay down his piey, placed a foot on
the head of the sh, and began iipping ied esh fiom his victim. In a few gulps
he had consumed the entiie sh.
Te big boai continued walking downstieam in quest of anothei salmon while
seveial gulls swooped in to claim the iemaining tidbits. He was soon chasing
anothei salmon down the iivei. Meanwhile, just downstieam and aiound the
bend, a medium-sized male was puisuing anothei salmon upiivei. Fiom oui
vantage point on the iidge we could see that they weie on a collision couise. Both
iounded the bend in the iivei, saw each othei, and slammed to a halt only foity
feet apait. Tey eyed each othei biiey. Ten the laigei beai loweied his eais
and chaiged. Te diama was shoit, theie was no ght. Te smallei male tuined,
galloped fiom the stieam, and disappeaied into some willows.
While I was focused on the two beais, Eail spotted a sow with yeailings
descending a mountain iidge. He pointed them out to me when I had nished
watching the laige beais display of dominance. Te mothei moved steadily
towaid the iivei as hei ospiing iomped and played. While we weie watch-
ing the family gioup, thiee singles came out of the biush on the othei foik of
the iivei, diiectly below us. One was veiy light blond, and the othei two weie
medium biown. One of the lattei had a denite limp in his iight foot. Eail
iecoided these distinguishing maiks.
Bear Surveys 121
Beais weie now spiead out all along the iivei: singles, paiis, family gioups. At
one time we had thiity-ve beais in view. But night was appioaching, and light
was fading iapidly. Distant beais appeaied only as silhouettes. Some beais weie
leaving the iivei while otheis weie still aiiiving foi a late dinnei, but the fading
light made it dicult to see distinguishing maiks.
Lets call it a day, its neaily ten, I said to Eail. How many did we iecoid?
Tat last family gioup made it sixty-two, he answeied. What a show! Tis
is what I call ieal beai countiy.
Its about the most peaceful and piimitive scene that still exists on this eaith,
I ieplied, looking ovei the daikening valley.
Yeah, this is beai heaventhe ieal happy hunting giounds, Eail said.
We weie done with the beai count, but still we sat theie enjoying the wildness
of the scene. No winds stiiied, and in the stillness we could heai beais splashing
aftei salmon. Occasional deep giowls ievealed conicts. A ied fox yelped in the
distance, and the utelike notes of a heimit thiush ieminded me of a tiumpetei
playing evening taps.
Lets eat, I said, getting to my feet. I gatheied a small bundle of diy willow
bianches fiom the suiiounding bushes and staited a ie on a patch of giavel.
When the ie had buined down a bit, we each stuck a tiout on the end of a wil-
low pole and ioasted it ovei the small bed of ied-hot coals. Te sh weie deli-
cious, we consumed all ten.
It suie beats hot dogs, Eail said, ieminding me of my typical camping dinnei.
I had to agiee. Aftei we nished the tiout, we ate salmonbeiiies foi desseit. Te
wild meal seemed tting in the wildeiness setting.
Te valley became daikei, and the setting sun cast a coloiful glow acioss the
hoiizon. Yellows tuined to pink, and hues of iose stieaked the sky. Beais con-
tinued to move below us as ebony shadows. We sat by oui small ie in silence,
sipping tea, watching the fading colois, and listening to the night sounds. Te
piimitive diama coming to a close had been staged in this outdooi theatei foi
eons, tonight we weie the audience. I was tiied and nally bioke the silence.
Im calling it a day.
I giabbed a sleeping bag, uniolled it between two ciowbeiiy hummocks,
ciawled in, and pulled a light taip ovei me. Te night sounds lulled me to sleep.
I awoke aiound ve oclock to the chiming song of a longspui. Eail and I aiose,
lit a small ie, and weie soon sipping hot chocolate.
We staited the moining count as beais began shing the iivei. We identied
many of the family gioups and singles fiom the night befoie, but we weie most
inteiested in spotting any newcomeis. Tey would add to oui total numbei of
122 BEAR WRANGLER
beais using this section of the iivei. Te paiade continued foi houis, giadually
decieasing as the sun iose highei in the sky. By eight in the moining numeious
beais had left the iivei and weie now sleeping oi iesting on neaiby knolls, no
doubt content with bellies full of salmon. Otheis had chosen to bed down in wil-
low patches, and many followed tiails into the mountains. Te decieasing beai
activity signaled the end of oui moining count.
Well, Eail, time to eat and move on, I said.
I could stay heie foievei, Eail ieplied. Tis is what I call ieal wildeiness.
But we had to tiavel up the valley and spend a night on anothei high point,
counting beais closei to the headwateis of the Stuigeon. Only aftei that did we
take the long hike back to Kailuk Lake.
We often came in close contact with beais while conducting these giound
suiveys. Neai encounteis weie sometimes a bit scaiy and always thiilling. I had
only one incident, howevei, that I consideied tiuly fiightening.
Less than a week aftei I ietuined fiom the Stuigeon Rivei, I decided to con-
duct one moie count oveilooking the OMalley Rivei neai the south end of
Kailuk Lake. It was one of my favoiite spots. Te ledge fiom which I made my
obseivations was ielatively low, enabling me to be faiily close to many of the
beais shing in the iivei. I liked that intimate feel. In addition, the iivei was easily
accessible fiom oui Camp Island cabin. A six-mile ski iide acioss Kailuk Lake
and a thiity- to foity-minute hike placed me on top of the ledge.
At about six in the evening I aiiived at the suivey site, wheie I had a sweeping
view of the valley. Below me weie stieams and meadows, above me weie thiee-
thousand-foot mountain peaks iimming the valley. With the shoitei stieams
at OMalley Rivei and Canyon Cieek, beais weie even moie concentiated heie
than at the Stuigeon, and I knew fiom pievious visits that anywheie fiom foity to
fty-ve beais shed the valleys stieams duiing the peak of the salmon spawn-
ing season.
Te evening was calm and unusually quiet when I ieached the ledge and
began the count. I could heai beais splashing below me and bald eagles choitling
oi scieaming as they fought ovei sciaps of salmon. Seveial beais chased salmon
while otheis appioached the stieams, following the numeious beai tiails that
ciissciossed the valley ooi. Having walked many of these tiails, I knew some
weie woin two feet deep fiom the thousands of beais that had tiod the same
ioutes foi centuiies. Eventually, I had twenty beais in view, including two sows
with cubs of the yeai, one with yeailings, and some singles. Seveial subadults
weie having tiouble catching salmon as they iaced up and down the stieam,
chasing aftei eeing sh. Tese young beais, now on theii own, weie still not veiy
Bear Surveys 123
ecient, but they would impiove with expeiience. Some huge males weie feed-
ing in the main channels, sometimes scatteiing smallei beais that did not want
to challenge them. I had tabulated thiity-ve individual beais by eight oclock,
including seveial new ones that I had not obseived on my pievious visit.
As the light began to fade, I knew it was time to ietuin to camp, and I needed
to ieach my ski on Kailuk Lake befoie daik. As a piecaution, I scanned my
planned descent using binoculais. Te ioute led thiough aldeis and then seveial
small meadows. I noticed two subadults playing in the ist meadow and made a
mental note of theii location.
I woiked my way down thiough the thick aldeis and heaid seveial beais ee-
ing in fiont of me as they smelled me oi heaid my noisy piogiess. When I aiiived
at the edge of the ist meadow, wheie I had seen the two animals playing, I caie-
fully looked aiound and saw a single animal, standing in the gloom. It had not
yet detected me, and I assumed it was one of the two young beais. It was neaily
daik. I was a little neivous but also in a huiiy. I did not want to go aiound the
beai oi wait foi it to leave. I was caiiying a bolt-action iie and decided to ie a
shot in the aii to fiighten the animal away.
As soon as I ied, the beai dashed towaid me. I was in total shock, I had
expected it to iun away. Instinctively, I jacked anothei shell into the chambei,
iaised the iie to my shouldei, aimed, and ied. Te animal diopped like a
stone. Relief washed ovei me, while at the same time I felt distiess at having
killed a beai. If I had not acted, though, the beai would have been on top of me
in anothei second.
I stood neivously in the deepening dusk, gatheiing my thoughts. Ten I heaid
a snoit and saw some movement behind a willow bush. I peeied intently at the
bush and saw two yeailings. With a teiiible sinking feeling, I iealized I had just
shot theii mothei. Te young beais weie extiemely agitated, iunning aiound
neivously, hung and snoiting. I ian to the closest iefugea tiee that had
bioken o about seven feet above the giound. I sciambled up the leaning tiunk
to gain as much height as I could. Fiom my piecaiious peich I tuined to watch
foi the yeailings. I was uneasy and did not ielish hiking thiough the biush that
haiboied the stiessed beais. I looked aiound to scout a bypass ioute.
Ten I saw the sow move. She had been lying motionless foi a full minute
oi two. I had been ceitain she was dead. She staited to iise but fell ovei. I had
obviously wounded hei, and a wounded beai is an extiemely dangeious animal. I
decided to nish hei o. But befoie I could act, she stiuggled to hei feet and ian
into the biush, followed by hei cubs. Consideiably shaken, I climbed down fiom
the tiee and made a wide detoui aiound the aiea wheie I had last seen the family.
124 BEAR WRANGLER
I was jitteiy and sciutinized eveiy daik shadow, afiaid it might be the wounded
beai. Aftei I gained some distance, I ian back to the ski.
As I pushed away fiom the shoie, I could ielax a bit, knowing that I was
now out of haims way. My mind was in tuimoil as I ciossed the lake, ieviewing
the events and tiying to guie out how this could have happenedthat I had
wounded a beai.
I aiiived back in camp well aftei daik. I contacted Eail, and he listened caie-
fully as I ielated my beai encountei. We agieed that we should investigate the
incident fuithei to deteimine if the beai was dead oi seiiously wounded.
Te next moining we hiked to the meadow to look foi the beai. We found a
few dioplets of blood and followed the faint tiail to the base of a mountain wheie
the family had appaiently sciatched out a bed and iested. Teie was no blood
beyond the bed, so we suimised that the wound had not been seiious and that
the beai had iecoveied. I had shot hei head-on, so I suspected my bullet had
piobably just giazed hei skull, momentaiily stunning hei. Tis iaised my spiiits,
I had not wanted to kill a beai, especially a mothei.
We ietuined to the shooting site in the meadow. I had been standing on a
well-used beai tiail neai a laige willow bush when I ied the two shots. Te sow
had been on the same tiail about fty yaids away. When I shot the ist time,
she iesponded by iunning full-boie down the tiail towaid me. At the time I was
convinced she was attacking me. Since it had been almost daik, howevei, and I
had been standing next to the willow bush, it is possible that she had not seen
me. Peihaps she had thought she was actually iunning away fiom the noise of
the iie shot.
Now that I had time to ieview the incident iationally, questions swiiled
thiough my mind: If I had quickly stepped o the tiail, would she have iun past
me? What would have happened had I missed? Te sow had collapsed ten steps
fiom wheie I stood and ied. I would not have had time to shoot again.
I will nevei know the answeis, of couise. As Eail said to me latei, You weie
one lucky guy. Such close calls, though, weie iaie and did little to dampen my
enthusiasm.
Conducting beai suiveys was one of my favoiite activities on Kodiak Island.
Up-close-and-peisonal contact with the big biownies in iemote mountain val-
leys nevei failed to stii my adventuious soul.
125
Chapter 15
Managing the Kenai Refuge
M
oose weie eveiywheie: big bulls with massive antleis, small bulls with
spikes, single cows, and cows with calves. Dave Spencei ciicled the Pipei
Supei Cub ovei the animals while I sat behind him and iecoided the data. We weie
ying the annual wintei moose census in the Caiibou Hills, south of Tustumena
Lake on the Kenai Peninsula. In the snowy landscape above timbeiline the daik
moose stood out like black ies on a white wall.
As we ew each piedeteimined geogiaphic section, Dave called out moose
sightings on the left side of the plane, I tabulated his count and added the animals
I was obseiving o oui iight side.
Teies a gioup of ten. Tiee laige bulls, two spikes, a single cow, and two cows
with calves, Dave yelled ovei the noise of the engine.
Got it, I ieplied. Take a look at this huge single bull iight undei us.
Dave made a steep tuin and diopped down ovei the bull with the laige iack.
Yeah, thats a ieal tiophy. Biggest one Ive seen this yeai. He ciicled the animal
seveial times befoie we continued the suivey. Houi aftei houi we ew this high
hill countiy obseiving and counting moose. I was pietty excited to see such laige
numbeis of animals in such a beautiful Chiistmas-caid scene.
Duiing the late ,os the moose population on the Kenai was at a peak due to
the excellent biowsing vegetation cieated by a laige foiest ie in ,;. Based on the
Novembei counts, Dave estimated that at least eight thousand moose lived in the
Kenai National Moose Range.
126 BEAR WRANGLER
Aftei we had landed and secuied the plane, I iemaiked to Dave, Man, I nevei
expected to see that many moose in a single day. Tey weie all ovei the place.
Yeah, theyie concentiated in the high countiy this time of the yeai, Dave
ieplied. But when enough snow falls, theyll head foi the lowlands. Ten he
asked, Have you added up todays numbeis?
Yep, I did, and accoiding to my guies we saw ,o moose.
Wow! Tats impiessive. Its one of the biggest counts Ive evei made in a
single day, and Ive suiveyed moose foi yeais.
Aftei I became iefuge managei at Kodiak, Dave Spencei usually asked me to
help each Novembei with the Kenai moose count. Te annual event involved
two oi thiee planes, each with a pilot and an obseivei. If conditions weie good,
it took about a week to complete the suivey. Stoims oi low clouds could move in
and delay any ying foi seveial days, so we weie giateful whenevei we caught a
bieak in the weathei. I enjoyed helping with the census as it was a change fiom
my Kodiak woik.
Duiing this peiiod of moose abundance on the Kenai, long hunting seasons
weie authoiized by the Alaska Game Commission and, aftei Alaska became a
state in ,,, the Alaska Depaitment of Fish and Game. Te fall season occuiied
fiom August ao until Septembei o, and the wintei season lasted all of Novem-
bei, allowing people to hunt much longei than they can today. Many iesidents of
the Kenai Peninsula depended on moose as theii piimaiy souice of meat. Octo-
bei was closed to moose hunting mainly because the meat of bulls taken duiing
the iutting peiiod was consideied to be less palatable.
Te Novembei season was called the homesteadeis season, because by that
month wintei had aiiived and the cold weathei peimitted iuial iesidents to keep
the meat foi months without fieezei facilities. Teie weie plenty of animals foi
iesidents of othei paits of Alaska as well. Sometimes I stayed aftei the suivey and
hunted duiing the Novembei season.
I became quite familiai with the Kenai while helping on these tempoiaiy
assignments. Te Kenai National Moose Range had been established as a iefuge
in ,, oil was discoveied in the Swanson Rivei iegion of the iange in ,;. As a
iesult many ioads and a majoi industiial complex had been built in this foimeily
isolated aiea in the middle of the iefuge.
Alaska businesspeople and politicians believed that developing oil on the Kenai
was necessaiy foi Alaskas economy, but the industiy cieated a lot of extia woik
Te Kenai National Moose Range was ienamed the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge by
the Alaska National Inteiest Lands Conseivation Act (ANILCA), signed into law by Piesident
Jimmy Caitei on Decembei 2, 1980.
Managing the Kenai Refuge 127
and pioblems foi iefuge peisonnel. Duiing my visits to the Kenai I saw the dicul-
ties that oil development cieated. Roads suppoiting the oil eld and diilling sites
bisected foimei wild lands, and hundieds of miles of seismic tiails ciissciossed
the landscape, jeopaidizing sh stieams and othei ciitical wildlife aieas. All these
activities had to be monitoied and iegulated by the iefuge sta. I had no desiie to
become involved in the politics and contioveisies geneiated by oil development.
Aftei being iefuge managei at Kodiak foi neaily eight yeais, howevei, I was
looking foi a new assignment. I loved studying the beais and hated to give up
that aspect of the job, but I yeained foi change and a new challenge. LuRue
also wanted to leave Kodiak. She was getting iock happy as they called it in
Kodiak. Te ioad system was veiy limited, and the only othei community you
could diive to was the militaiy base. Costs of leaving the island foi a iecie-
ational bieak weie piohibitive foi a young family. I told hei, I dont plan to leave
Alaska, and the possibilities of anothei job in the state aie veiy limited. So dont
get youi hopes up of leaving heie any time soon.
Not long aftei I began to look foi a change, the Kenai job came open. John
Hakala, the iefuge managei at Kenai, decided to tiansfei to the Seney National
Wildlife Refuge in Uppei Michigan in the summei of ,6. Shoitly aftei Johns
tiansfei became public, I ieceived a phone call fiom Dave Spencei.
Teresa and Eric help their nother dig clans on the shores of Cook Inlet.
128 BEAR WRANGLER
You have piobably heaid that John Hakala is leaving. Id like foi you to con-
sidei taking the iefuge manageis position heie at Kenai.
Oh, I dont know, Dave, I ieplied. Im ieady to leave Kodiak all iight, but Im
not suie I want to get involved with all that oil business in Kenai.
Well, theies a lot moie to the Kenai than oil. I hope youll considei taking
the job. Te Kenai does have a biggei sta and we get moie public use than at
Kodiak, but I know you can handle the woik. Why dont you come ovei and
spend a few days looking aiound and talking to some of the othei people? If you
dont want the job, Ill undeistand.
I told Dave that was faii and that I would be ovei in a few days.
I visited Kenai in mid-August and looked into all aspects of the job. Te laigei
sta would mean additional peisonnel iesponsibilities. Howevei, the iefuge
headquaiteis was on a ioad system that connected the Kenai Peninsula with
the city of Anchoiage, the location would be an asset to oui family. Ave Tayei,
one of the assistant iefuge manageis whom I had known foi many yeais, was
paiticulaily encouiaging. He pointed out a lot of good things the job entailed,
including the vaiiety of wildlife found on the iefuge and the outdooi iecieational
oppoitunities.
I found out that Hakala wanted to sell his house on Spoits Lake, a few miles
outside of Soldotna. I looked at the place, a beautiful Lincoln Logtype Pan
Abode home. It was set on the shoie with a giand view of the lake, in the distance
the doimant volcano Mount Redoubt completed the postcaid setting. I called
LuRue, she encouiaged me to take the job and buy the house. I thought about it
foi anothei day, and then I met with Dave again. I told him my conceins about
the minimal amount of eldwoik that came with the job. I knew Hakala spent
most of his time in the oce, and I was not an oce man.
Teies no ieason why you cant do a lot of eldwoik on this job, Dave
answeied. You have a couple of assistants heie who aie peifectly capable of
handling some of the oce woik. It will be up to you to assign them some of the
oce duties so you can spend moie time in the eld.
Okay, Dave, thats what I wanted to heai. In that case Ill accept the job.
Aftei I made aiiangements to buy Hakalas house on Spoits Lake, I ietuined
to Kodiak. LuRue was excited to move to a place with moie possibilities,
including attendance at some univeisity classes. We had spent oui entiie mai-
iied life at Kodiak and now had a family of thiee childien: Janice, age six, Eiic,
thiee, and Teiesa, an infant. Kodiaks incessant bad weathei often conned
LuRue to the house with the thiee kids, and she was looking foiwaid to a
fiiendliei climate.
We moved to the Kenai on Septembei , ,6, and settled into oui new home
on Spoits Lake, the only house on the lake at that time. A beautiful fall gieeted
us, the biich and aspen leaves shimmeied in theii goigeous golden colois.
LuRue loved the house with its view of the lake and Mount Redoubt. Soon
aftei we moved, I hauled a few loads of giavel and built a beach in fiont of the
house. Duiing oui yeais theie the kids spent a lot of time in the watei, ventuiing
in even befoie the ice was completely gone in the spiing. LuRue kept an eye on
them thiough the big living ioom windows.
I fiequently put my canoe in the watei and shed foi iainbow tiout duiing
the long spiing and summei evenings. Latei I kept the FWS oatplane neai the
house. I often iose eaily in the moining to conduct wildlife suiveys and then
came home to eat bieakfast befoie continuing to the oce in Kenai. Te weathei
on the Kenai Peninsula was a big impiovement ovei the many iainy and windy
days on Kodiak, it allowed foi moie outdooi activities.
I had one last Kodiak contioveisy to settle aftei I tiansfeiied to Kenai. Some
iesidents of Kodiak had pioposed intioducing moose to Kodiak Island. Ron
Batcheloi of the Alaska Depaitment of Fish and Game joined me in opposing
the action. We feaied that food competition with deei would lead to seveie
oveigiazing. We weie also conceined that if moose fed heavily on eldeibeiiy
Our Ioo Christnas card Getting a Christnas tree for our hone on Sports Lake.
130 BEAR WRANGLER
plants, they would have a negative impact on biown beais. Pete Deveau, the
mayoi of Kodiak and a foimei state iepiesentative, was a stiong advocate of the
tiansplant. He had thieatened to use his political clout to eliminate oui jobs if
we continued to oppose the idea.
Aftei I moved to Kenai, I decided to have one last woid. I boxed up a numbei
of moose pellets (dioppings) and mailed Mayoi Deveau a sample fiom the cti-
tious Animal Seed Company. Along with the box I included a lettei with instiuc-
tions. I thought this stunt might put the mattei of the moose tiansplant to iest
and my adveisaiy would have to laugh at my joke.
Pete took the lettei to the local newspapei, the Kodiak Mirror, hoping my
attempt at humoi would backie and get me into tiouble. Te editoi published
it along with Petes comments. Othei newspapeis in Alaska iepiinted the aiticle.
Following is a copy of the news item as it appeaied in the Januaiy o, ,6, issue
of the Daily Alaska Enpire in Juneau:
Dramatic Discovery Makes Possible Moose
from Seeds for Kodiak Area
(Repiinted fiom Kodiak Mirror of Jan. ;)
Moose WILL be planted on Kodiak Island! And we may even get apes on
oui capes!
Mayoi Pete Deveau today told Te Miiioi that he had been advised by
Will Tioyei of a iemaikable new development in the eld of animal tians-
planting which will assuie moose foi Kodiak.
It is nothing shoit of amazing what oui goveinment-sponsoied and sup-
poited scientic technicians aie able to develop these days, Deveau said.
I have been so amazed and impiessed with this new technique these
wizaids of biology and zoology have developed that I have foiwaided the
entiie mattei on to U.S. Senatoi Einest Giuening who has been gieatly
inteiested in the tiansplanting of moose to Kodiak, Deveau said, adding,
I know he will be most inteiested in heaiing about this technical tiiumph
as it will enable him to take a piopei stand when the budget of the wildlife
agency comes undei the sciutiny of Lyndon [Johnson]s economy-minded
administiation.
Tioyeis lettei was accompanied by a small box of Moose Seeds as well
as planting instiuctions. Following is the text of Tioyeis lettei and planting
instiuctions:
Alaska Animal Seed Co.
Box oa
Soldotna, Alaska
It has come to my attention that you aie inteiested in tiansplanting
moose to Kodiak Island. As you know, this is quite an expensive opeia-
tion. I believe I have a solution to this pioblem. My company (iecently
foimed) has developed a method of pioducing animals fiom seeds, and
at a veiy low cost. Im enclosing a sample of moose seeds with diiections
foi planting. I hope you will take advantage of oui fiee oei and follow
diiections explicitly.
All oui seeds aie especially hand selected. Geimination is guaianteed.
We can piesently supply seeds of eveiy animal native to Alaska and in the
neai futuie hope to supply many Afiican species including apes.
May we suggest an assoitment of moose, caiibou, sheep, and bison, oi
musk ox, moose, iabbits, polai beai, and sheep? Eithei of these samples will
piovide a nice mixed bag foi the huntei.
Hoping to heai fiom you soon.
Respectfully,
Will Tioyei, Piesident
Alaska Animal Seed Co.
MOOSE SEED PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS
Select a maishy site within shooting distance of ioad oi aiield. .
Cleai immediate aiea of all iefuge manageis, wildlife biologists, poach- a.
eis, and othei objectionable weeds.
Spiead seeds on soil at least o feet between would-be huntei-voteis. .
Feitilize each seed well with political manuie. .
Ten covei seed bed at least two feet deep with moose tiansplant .
objectois.
Now iiiigate with demociatic publicity. 6.
When plants spiout antleis, they aie consideied iipe foi shooting. ;.
Invite any iemaining iefuge manageis and biologists on ist hunt 8.
they can easily be eliminated on ist shot.
Caution: Bewaie and not cioss cow seeds with moose seeds, as the cioss
will iesult in a COOSa non-huntable animal.
132 BEAR WRANGLER
Neaily eveiyone thought the item was funny, and eventually Pete Deveau had
to take it as a gotcha joke. About six months latei I met him on the stieets of
Kodiak. He stopped me, giinned, and asked, Have you got any moie of those
moose seeds? We both laughed. It had helped heal the contioveisy. Te plan
to tiansplant moose to Kodiak eventually faded away when no one took up the
cause with seiious eoit.
By the time I became iefuge managei on the Kenai in ,6, the big battles
between the oil companies and the iefuge weie almost ovei. Te oil industiy
employees had leained to comply with the iefuge iegulations that weie imposed
on them, and the iefuge sta had leained to opeiate aiound the oil industiy.
Many of the politicians, howevei, weie not satised with oui aiiangement. Tey
wanted to wiest contiol of pait of the iefuge fiom the Fish and Wildlife Seivice
and place the potential oil lands undei state juiisdiction. Te two most vocifei-
ous individuals weie U.S. Senatoi Einest Giuening and Bob Atwood, ownei and
editoi of the Anchorage Tines, the laigest newspapei in Alaska.
Atwood published numeious editoiials and news aiticles about the impoi-
tance of oil development in Alaska and, as he saw it, the obstiuctive eects the
FWS had on the oil industiy. I was not awaie of Atwoods peisonal inteiest in oil
on the Kenai until I became iefuge managei and looked at the maps of the Kenai
oil lease owneis. Atwoods name was on many leases. He nevei mentioned this
obvious conict of inteiest to his ieadeis.
Senatoi Giuening was also a big pioponent of oil development and vocifei-
ously opposed the iefuge policies that iegulated the industiy. Senatoi Giuening
hated the FWS in geneial and made no bones about it. Te FWS had led a suc-
cessful ght against building the Rampait Dam on the Yukon Rivei, a pioject the
senatoi had piomoted in the eaily ,6os. Te dam would have ooded many
Native villages and inundated one of the laigest wateifowl nesting giounds in
Noith Ameiica.
Soon aftei I became iefuge managei, Senatoi Giuening intioduced a pio-
posal to iemove a laige poition of lowlands fiom the Kenai iefuge so that the oil
industiy could develop the aiea with fewei iestiictions. We at the iefuge had to
spend weeks in the oce wiiting justications foi ietaining this aiea. Te sena-
tois plan failed, but he immediately asked Congiess to iemove anothei section.
Again it took a lot of time foi my sta and me to countei these actions. Seveial
state legislatois also pioposed iemoving paits of the iefuge lands to piomote
cattle giazing and moie homesteading.
In the meantime the local oil people and oui iefuge sta guied out a suitable
woiking ielationship, things weie going faiily smoothly between us. Tey had to
invest some additional woik and money to meet oui stipulations. We iequiied
them to ieseed seismic tiails that cut acioss steep hillsides and along the edges of
stieams to pievent eiosion. Tey also had to clean up iivei ciossings to iemove
obstiuctions that impeded sh migiations. Tey weie iequiied to build small
dikes aiound each well to pievent any spilled oil fiom seeping into ciitical wild-
life habitat aieas. Aftei meeting oui ciiteiia, they had a faiily neat oil eld and
weie pioud of this accomplishment. Aftei Senatoi Giuening lost his seat in the
U.S. Senate in ,68, oui ielationship with the political community became moie
congenial. Atwood continued to attack oui policies in editoiials, it was some-
thing I had to contend with the iest of my FWS caieei.
Monitoiing the oil industiy was sometimes demanding, but the vaiiety and
abundance of sh, wildlife, and scenic and iecieational iesouices made the Kenai
a gieat place to live and woik. I enjoyed the challenges of managing this complex
iefuge. It piovided oppoitunities to exploie new countiy, to conduct studies on
species of biids and othei wildlife not found on Kodiak, and to develop new
skills, such as planning and implementing iecieational facilities. I nevei iegiet-
ted my decision to become managei of the Kenai iefuge.
135
Chapter 16
Building a Canoe System
T
he canoe slid thiough the placid watei. Only the dip of oui paddles and the
occasional splash of a leaping iainbow tiout bioke the quiet. Te last iays
of the setting sun cast an eeiie glow acioss the lake. We moved silently along the
edge of some watei lilies and into a small bay. Just ahead of the canoe, the watei
suiface iippled with iising sh. We stopped paddling and watched the tiout feed
foi a few moments, oui excitement building in anticipation.
Okay, Cal, you make the ist cast, I said, bieaking the silence.
Cal Faii, my hunting and shing companion, picked up his pole. Slowly, giace-
fully, he whipped the line back and foith and let the y settle next to a iipple.
Wham! Te iainbow sucked in the y and immediately iaced towaid shoie. Cals
iod bent double as he fought to tuin the sh away fiom the lily pads. It iaced back
and foith in fiont of the canoe, leaping out of the watei seveial times. Tough Cal
had a sh on, I could not iesist the temptation any longei. I cast a diy y next to
anothei iising sh on the othei side of the canoe. Te y oated on the suiface foi
a moment befoie it disappeaied in a swiil of watei. Te sh leaped out of the watei
seveial times in an attempt to thiow the hook and then iaced undei the canoe.
My iod bent as I fought to biing the tiout back to my side of the canoe. Slowly I
iegained line as the sh tiied, and I led it next to the canoe. When it ceased stiug-
gling, I followed the line down with my ngei and fieed the sh fiom the baibless
hook. Te sh lay on its side foi a moment, then, with a ick of its tail, it disap-
peaied into the deep watei.
136 BEAR WRANGLER
Tat evening we caught and ieleased many iainbows, most ianging fiom ten
to fteen inches long. As midnight appioached, howevei, my bottom became
soie fiom sitting on the haid metal seat foi foui houis.
What do you think, Cal? Want to head in soon? I asked, hoping he would
agiee.
In a minute, he answeied. I hate to quit.
He hooked seveial moie tiout as I quietly put away my geai and listened
thoughtfully to the night sounds. Cal nally ieeled in, and we paddled back
towaid camp, content with the quality shing expeiience on this iemote lake.
Its pietty haid to believe that we have this whole lake to ouiselves, I
iemaiked, as the paddles made small whiilpools in oui wake.
Just us and the loons, Cal answeied.
As we weie piepaiing to pull the canoe out of the watei, a loon punctuated
Cals iemaik by sending a wild tiemulous call iolling acioss the quiet lake.
Anothei loon answeied. Soon, otheis joined the choius, lling the night with
loon music.
Man, this is the life. All that tiail cutting was woith it, I said, as we sat aiound
the campie enjoying fiesh fiied tiout and a cup of tea. Cal nodded and smiled
in agieement.
Soon aftei becoming managei of the Kenai iefuge I talked to Ave Tayei, one of
my assistants, and Dave Spencei, my supeivisoi, about how to enhance the iecie-
ational oppoitunities on the iefuge, especially along the Swanson Rivei and Swan
Lake Roads. Tese ioads had been built foi oil exploiation and pioduction, but
they also piovided access to many lowland lakes on the iefuge. Befoie my aiiival
the iefuge sta had built seveial campgiounds and tiails to accessible lakes along
the Swanson Rivei Road. People weie staiting to use these sites foi shing and
camping, but U.S. Senatoi Einest Giuening consideied this use insignicant and
advocated iemoving poitions of the lake aiea fiom the iefuge. He felt the potential
foi oil development fai outweighed any iecieational use. Eventually, though, popu-
laiity of the aiea pievailed, and Senatoi Giuening moved on to othei puisuits.
Ave and Dave had pieviously discussed linking some of the lakes by poitage
tiails in oidei to develop a small canoe system. I had own ovei the lakes many
times and had also consideied that potential. Dave said he was tiying to get fund-
ing to develop the tiail system.
His idea was gieat, but I was young and impatient. I did not want to wait yeais
foi special funds that might nevei aiiive. I accepted Daves appioach at ist, but
the moie I thought about the pioject, the moie eagei I became to get staited. My
patience lasted only a few weeks.
Building a Canoe Systen 137
Unless you object, I plan to stait cutting some poitages myself this wintei, I
told Dave. He encouiaged me to go ahead.
Ave and I studied maps of the lake system and laid out a ioute that staited fiom
what is now known as Canoe Lake, just o Swan Lake Road, looped thiough Swan
Lake and othei laige lakes, and ietuined to the ioad about ve miles noith of the
tiails beginning. Duiing the fall I ew ovei the pioposed ioute numeious times
and mentally mapped the path foi each poitage. Tat wintei, whenevei I had a fiee
day, I would y to one of the lakes with one of my assistants and spend the day cut-
ting a poitage tiail. Laige poitions of this iegion had been buined in ,;, so most
of the tiees weie young and small. We cleaied tiail by cutting o the small saplings
at giound level with a Pulaski, an axelike tool used by wildeiness ieghting ciews.
We had to use a chainsaw to cleai many of the downed and dead tiees left fiom the
ie. Te woik was haid and the piogiess slow, but ovei a peiiod of seveial months
we connected the lakes with a piimitive tiail system. By the end of Apiil the ist
loop of the Swan Lake Canoe System was complete.
At the time only a few of the laigei lakes in the aiea had names. I decided that
each lake in the canoe system needed a name, as did many othei undesignated
ones on the iefuge. A few locals weie alieady naming lakes aftei themselves,
theii wives, oi theii giilfiiends, such as Ruth, John, oi Maitha Lake. I did not
think much of this piactice. I thought these beautiful bodies of watei in a wildlife
iefuge deseived bettei and should be called something moie appiopiiate. My
sta and I devoted neaily a week to poiing ovei natuial histoiy teims in oidei to
LuRue, Eric, and Ianice canoeing on a strean in the Swan Lake canoe systen.
138 BEAR WRANGLER
nd appiopiiate labels foi the seveial hundied lakes on the iefuge. Tus we came
up with names such as Canoe, Paddle, Biich, Mallaid, Coyote, and Antlei. We
submitted oui list to the U.S. Geological Suivey, and all weie accepted.
Despite all the woik we did to cieate the canoe system, I was conceined that
it might be too small to hold the inteiest of outdooi enthusiasts. I ew ovei the
entiie ioute seveial times that wintei, but the tiip took just a few minutes in an
aiiplane. Would people nd it boiing? I wondeied. To ieally get to know the
canoe system, I had to wait foi summei. Tat wintei I bought a new seventeen-
foot Giumman canoe and waited foi the ice to melt.
On the ist weekend in June ,6 we nally got to test out the new canoe
system. Ave and I went in my new Giumman, and Dave and his family took theii
eighteen-foot canoe. With much excitement, we staited on the east end at Poi-
tage Lake and began to follow oui iough-hewn tiails.
We had not yet maiked the entiance to each poitage, so oui jouiney was a bit
like a tieasuie hunt, looking foi clues. When someone discoveied a fieshly cut
tiail, he yelled, Teie it is! and we excitedly iaced to get to the poitage.
As we ieached each lake, a feeling of accomplishment iippled thiough oui
small gioup and we giinned at one anothei. We diopped oui packs and got ieady
to paddle acioss to nd the next poitage point. Te ist few lakes weie faiily
small and devoid of sh, so we weie not tempted to lingei.
By eaily afteinoon we aiiived at Swan Lake, a laige lake with numeious bays
and peninsulas. Watei lilies and othei aquatic plants lined the shoie and lled
Our canpsite on Gavia Lake.
some small inlets. Te Spenceis headed out to exploie a seiies of small lagoons
on the fai side. Veiy soon aftei Ave and I launched into the lake, we saw seveial
tiout iise along the edge of a gioup of watei lilies. We eageily piepaied oui geai
and began casting to the feeding sh. On my thiid tiy a iainbow tiout giabbed
my luie, leaped out of the watei iepeatedly, and iaced towaid the lilies. Befoie
I could check its iun, the sh had wiapped the line aiound a lily stem. Te line
snapped. I ieeled in the loose line, disappointed that the sh had gotten away but
elated by the expeiience. Ave hooked and ieleased seveial sh while I ietiieved
my line and tied on anothei luie. On the next cast I hooked anothei sh. Tis
one swam stiaight towaid the canoe, leaping high out of the watei seveial times
as I ieeled fiantically to take in the slack line. Teie was no need, howevei, as on
its last jump the sh landed in the canoe!
Wow! Did you see that? I yelled to Ave. Ive nevei seen such hungiy sh.
Yeah, the shing is good all iight, but do you see what I see? He pointed
to a common loon sitting on a nest on a neaiby island. We foigot the sh foi a
few minutes as we slowly paddled to within a hundied feet of the nest. Te loon
watched us quietly, the iays of the sun ieecting o its iiidescent plumage.
Its a beauty, all iight, but lets back away befoie we scaie it o the nest, I
whispeied. Ave nodded and we paddled out of the loons sight.
We continued aiound anothei point and found a small bay lled with ieeds,
among which swam seveial ied-necked giebes. Teii shiill, cackling calls
Teresa, Ianice, and Eric take a lunch break at the end of a long portage.
140 BEAR WRANGLER
ieveibeiated acioss the lake. Ave spotted one of theii oating nests with two
eggs in it. Beyond the ieeds in a maish along the shoie a cow moose and calf
weie feeding. Tis place was something special, and we weie ecstatic with so
much wildlife in view.
Well, Ave, I said as we paddled along the shoieline, with all the wildlife and
the gieat shing, Im convinced that this canoeing aiea is going to become a big
public attiaction aftei all. Maybe we did cieate something woithwhile.
Absolutely, Ave ieplied. Im alieady thinking about making anothei tiip
out heie.
Aftei exploiing Swan Lake we ciossed seveial moie poitages and ended up
at Gavia Lake foi the night. Te Spencei family, Ave, and I pitched oui tents and
enjoyed tiout cooked ovei a campie. Tat evening we discussed the meiits of
the canoe system.
Boy, Ive suie changed my view on the size of the canoe system. It seems so
much biggei than when I ew ovei it last wintei, I said.
Dave and Ave agieed.
Yeah, I think youi idea of not waiting foi funds was the iight move, said
Dave. Weie alieady enjoying the fiuits of youi laboi, and who knows, it might
have been yeais befoie we ieceived enough money to do it.
Ave felt the same way. We weie all enthused about oui canoeing expeii-
ences, and I was feeling paiticulaily good that I had decided to tackle this
pioject on a shoestiing, the impatience of youth is sometimes iewaided with
giatifying iesults.
Te next day we continued to poitage fiom lake to lake, enjoying the shing
and the wildlife we encounteied.
Well, what do you think? Was it woith it? I asked Ave when we aiiived at
the last lake.
No doubt about it! Im going to come again in the neai futuie, he ieplied
emphatically.
So will I. I cant wait to get LuRue and the kids out heie foi a few days, I said.
Tat week Ave and I talked to the iest of the sta about oui canoe tiip. We
said that we would be adding othei loops and connecting many moie lakes dui-
ing the following yeai oi two. I showed them a wall map on which I had maiked
some of the additional ioutes I was consideiing.
Eventually, I told the sta, canoeists will have seveial ioute choices thiough
the lakes and down the Moose Rivei.
Oui stoiies fiom the tiip weie ieceived enthusiastically by many outdooi
people, who weie now eagei to tiy out the canoe system foi themselves.
I was euphoiic about what we had accomplished and eagei to stait on the
ioutes I planned to add. I also wanted to let the public know of this new outdooi
oppoitunity on the Kenai Peninsula. I called Loien Stewait, ownei and editoi of
the local Cheechako êws in Soldotna, and invited him on a canoe tiip.
Te following week Loien and I spent thiee days tiaveling thiough the lakes.
I was pleasantly suipiised to discovei he was an enthusiastic sheiman and out-
dooisman. Sometimes we stayed out shing until midnight, listening to loons
calling and watching moose and beavei. His enthusiasm was contagious, and he
iaved about the gieat oppoitunities canoeists now had on the iefuge.
A week latei Loien published an aiticle in his papei, illustiated with photo-
giaphs, about oui thiee-day canoe outing. News spiead iapidly, and within a few
weeks many people weie coming to check out the Swan Lake Canoe System.
Te next wintei Ave and I, along with Bob Richey, my new assistant in chaige
of iecieation, camped neai Mink Lake foi foui days and cut tiails that linked
Spiuce Lake to Camp Island Lake, pioviding access to the headwateis of the
west foik of Moose Rivei. Latei that wintei we also cut tiails fiom Swan Lake
to Moosehoin Lake, at the headwateis of anothei bianch of the Moose Rivei.
Canoeists now had a vaiiety of options in tiaveling the canoe system. Tey could
stait at eithei of two entiances o Swan Lake Road, paddle thiough a vaiiety of
My sta and I planned and cut portages through sone of the lowland lakes to create the rst
canoe systen in the Kenai âtional Wildlife Refuge.
142 BEAR WRANGLER
lakes, and eithei loop back to Swan Lake Road oi entei a bianch of the Moose
Rivei and continue to the biidge at the Steiling Highway.
Te public appieciated the vaiious ioutes and the oppoitunity to paddle
thiough thiity dieient lakes. I ieceived many phone calls fiom enthusiastic
useis who had spent fiom a few days to a week tiaveling thiough the lakes, sh-
ing, and watching wildlife. Oui iefuge sta was giatied to know that so many
otheis weie also enjoying oui eoits.
My family eventually became avid canoeists. Te kids loved these outings,
though they had to leain to accept that caiiying packs and equipment was pait
of the expeiience! Once we got to a camping spot and ieadied the camp, the kids
could haidly wait to get into the canoe and catch fiesh tiout foi dinnei. Tiout
ovei a campie was a lot bettei than the hot dogs I tiaditionally bioughtjust
in case. As we sat aiound the coals, ioasting maishmallows, I asked the kids to
listen and identify vaiious biid calls. Tey became quite skilled at identifying
songs ovei the yeais and became enthusiastic biideis.
Aftei completing the Swan Lake Canoe System, my sta and I became keen
to constiuct anothei canoeing aiea. We had studied topogiaphic maps and had
suiveyed the aiea by plane. Te new ioute would stait at Paddle Lake, which was
neai the end of Swan Lake Road. It would connect a seiies of lakes and eventu-
ally entei the headwateis of the Swanson Rivei. Befoie planning the exact ioute
and cutting tiails, howevei, I needed to know the shing potential of each lake,
a majoi attiaction foi many canoeists.
I woiked with Laiiy Engel, a state sheiy biologist, to gathei this infoima-
tion. In the summei of ,66 seasonal assistants Dave Watsjold and Gieg Olson
suiveyed the spoit-shing potential of the lakes east of the Swanson Rivei. Using
infoimation fiom that study, Bob, Ave, and I planned a canoe ioute thiough some
of the bettei shing lakes that eventually included Gene and Peppei Lakes.
Duiing the wintei season some of my assistants and I cut a few of the poi-
tages, just as we had done to get the Swan Lake Canoe System staited, but we did
not complete all the ioutes I had planned. Due to the success of the Swan Lake
Canoe System, Dave Spencei was able to secuie some extia funds foi the pioject,
so I hiied two moie men to woik on it that summei. Gieg Eiickson and Vaughn
Phillips camped out each week and cut tiails, I checked on them peiiodically and
ew in needed supplies. Tey woiked haid, and by the end of the summei the
Swanson Rivei Canoe System was complete.
Within this seiies of lakes weie seveial commeicial spoitshing camps owned
by aii taxi opeiatois in Anchoiage. I infoimed them that they weie now within
a canoe system wheie aiiplanes would be banned, they would eithei have to
close theii camps oi move them to othei lakes in the Kenai iefuge. Most of them
chose the lattei option without too much objection. Eventually we also banned
outboaid motois in the lakes.
I got a bit too enthusiastic about the pioject, howevei, and added some lakes
I should not have. Eaily in the summei I gave Bob Richey the task of exploi-
ing these ioutes. Bob managed to get a canoe thiough all the channels, but he
iepoited that some weie so thick with vegetation they weie veiy dicult to
negotiate, he piedicted that few people would use them. I eliminated seveial of
the most aiduous ioutes fiom oui canoe maps. Te Swanson Rivei Canoe Sys-
tem eventually linked foity lakes and the uppei pait of the Swanson Rivei.
Today many people use both canoe systems each summei. Some lakes close to
the entiances can get a bit ciowded on weekends, but canoeists willing to make
additional poitages can still nd solitude on some of the moie iemote lakes.
I have passed my eightieth biithday, but I still put my canoe in the watei each
summei and tiavel to my favoiite lakes. I enjoy shing, sitting by a campie at
night, and listening to loon music. I get deep satisfaction knowing that many
otheis also nd pleasuie and solitude on these lakes because of the woik my sta
and I did so many yeais ago.
My friend Cal Fair shing in Pepper Lake.
145
Chapter 17
A Day in the Life
of a Refuge Manager
T
he eastein sky was aglow fiom the iising sun as I left the house and walked to
the plane paiked just down the hill on the shoie of Spoits Lake. Te utelike
call of a Swainsons thiush diifted down fiom the top of a tall spiuce, and seveial
iobins cheeiily heialded the new day. I did a pieight check and then climbed into
the Supei Cub, waimed up the engine, and ioaied down the lake. Te plane lifted
o the watei and climbed iapidly ovei the tieetops. I leveled o at eight hundied
feet and followed my compass towaid the Moose Rivei. Moose calving had peaked
about May a, and now, a week latei, I wanted to deteimine the success of this
yeais calf ciop.
Aftei about twenty minutes I inteisected the Moose Rivei and followed it
upstieam to a diveise lowland of spiuce foiest, lakes, and muskegs, an aiea favoied
by cows foi calving. Befoie long I spotted seveial moose in an open glade. I cut
the thiottle, diopped to foui hundied feet, and ciicled the animals. I identied
two young bulls with stubby velvet antleis that piotiuded a few inches above theii
skulls. A cow stood to theii iight, and as I ciicled, a small calf iose onto its wobbly
legs and began to suckle. Two hundied yaids away anothei cow and hei twin calves
stood feeding, paitially hidden on the edge of the foiest. I iecoided the infoimation
and continued upiivei to anothei laige muskeg. Te iising sun cast long shadows
along the edge of a clump of tiees. I scanned the muskeg and saw eight moie ani-
mals ahead: two yeailings, a laige bull, thiee single cows, and two othei cows, each
146 BEAR WRANGLER
with twin calves. A few hundied yaids to my left anothei cow was tiying to lead
hei calf acioss the Moose Rivei. I was conceined foi the calf s safety and ciicled
until they weie safely acioss.
I ew ten minutes without seeing any wildlife, then, as I tuined towaid anothei
muskeg, my eye caught a ash of light biown. I ew closei, identifying a biown beai.
I wondeied what the animal was up to. I swooped down and ciicled the beai. It was
feeding on a fieshly killed moose calfa nice bieakfast foi the beai at the expense of
the calf and an unfoitunate mothei moose. It was piobably the same beai I had seen
a few days eailiei with anothei dead calf. Some beais become piocient at captui-
ing newboin calves and can take a heavy toll on the infant moose population. Te
piedatoi-piey ielationship can seem haish, but it is the way of natuie.
Ready to move to a new aiea, I shoved the thiottle foiwaid. Te Cub
iesponded like an exubeiant biid, shooting upwaid seveial hundied feet befoie I
leveled it o. Te aii was calm, and a iush of exhilaiation washed ovei me as the
plane iesponded so ieadily to a slight touch of the contiols. I felt like an eagle
soaiing in the skiestuining, gliding, dipping, and diving ovei the lush gieen
foiests and lakes fai below. Such fieedom, mixed with an enoimous sense of awe,
was bieathtaking as I looked down upon the Almightys cieation!
A little faithei noith, a thick clump in the top of a tall spiuce tiee caught my
attention. I zipped ovei and ciicled the tiee foi a bettei look.
Wow! I said out loud. Tats an ospiey nest! An adult sat on a snag neai
the nest. Excited at nding one of these iaie aeiies, I got out a map and iecoided
its location.
Moie moose appeaied on the hoiizon, and duiing the next ve minutes I
counted a yeailing, two laige single bulls, thiee single cows, and two cows, each
tiailing a single calf. On the edge of anothei maish weie two cows with twins. I
was glad to see them because a high peicentage of twin calves indicates a good
calf ciop.
As I was ciossing a laige lake with seveial small islands, I thought I saw move-
ment on one of the islands. I made a steep tuin and ciicled ovei it. Yes, theie was
a cow with a newboin calf. As I continued ying acioss the lake, a laige black
beai came into view on the fai shoie. While islands piovide some piotection to
moose, beais can swim if they think theie is a meal to be had. I hoped the animal
had not scented the newboin. I watched the beai foi a few minutes and then
smiled when it moved noith, away fiom the lakeshoie. I iealize, of couise, that
beais must eat, but I couldnt help but feel piotective of veiy young calves.
I ew into the Chickaloon Rivei diainage and followed the iivei towaid
Tuin again Aim. Aftei I had found and tabulated a few moie moose, I looked
A Day in the Life of a Refuge Manager 147
at my watch. I had been in the aii foi neaily two houis. I decided to head foi
the Swanson Rivei and begin woiking back towaid Kenai. I saw and iecoided
seveial moie moose. Most of the cows had diopped theii calves, but a few still
appeaied piegnant.
I had classied about a hundied adult moose and thiity-ve calves. My suivey
was complete foi the day, but I needed to check thiee tiumpetei swan nests in
the vicinity. Te ist nesting swan stood up and spiead hei wings in deance of
the huge, noisy biid in the sky, ievealing six eggs undei hei. Te next nest, built
on a beavei house, was empty. Scanning the aiea, I saw a paii of adults tiailed by
ve uy cygnets. It is one of the piettiest sights I have seen in the biid woild. As
I ciicled, the family swam into some tall ieeds, tiying to hide. I let them be and
ew to the next nest site. An adult was sitting on the iaised mound. She swiveled
hei head to watch the intiudei in the sky, but she did not ee hei iegal thione. I
would ietuin latei to check the numbei of eggs she was incubating.
I was getting tiied now, sitting in the small cockpit gave me veiy little wiggle
ioom. I had been ying foi moie than thiee houis, it was time to head home. I
followed my compass back towaid Spoits Lake. Twenty minutes latei I cut the
thiottle and glided to a landing on the lake. I tied up the plane and huiiied to
the house. I was hungiy, and the pancakes LuRue was cooking smelled delicious
as I stepped in the dooi. I satised my appetite with seveial pancakes washed
down with coee and oiange juice. It was now eight thiity in the moining. I said
A nunber of trunpeter swans nested on the Kenai âtional Wildlife Refuge.
148 BEAR WRANGLER
goodbye to my family and climbed into my cai foi the ten-mile commute to my
oce in Kenai.
As I walked in the dooi, my secietaiy handed me a note, the iefuge oce in
Washington, D.C., had called. Te end of the scal yeai was fast appioaching, the
peison in Washington explained when I ietuined the call. Can you use so,ooo,
and if so, what would you use it foi?
I always planned ahead foi such windfalls. Yes, I need some extia funds to
complete a campgiound neai Skilak Lake and constiuct seveial hiking tiails in the
same vicinity, I said. Ill have a foimal pioposal foi the pioject in the mail in a
couple of days. Aftei ending the call, I met with Bob Richey, my iecieation assis-
tant, and told him the good news. He alieady had a foldei of ideas, ieady to go.
I next met with Ave Tayei foi a few minutes. He said the oil companies weie
consideiing adding a new well on the edge of the Swanson Rivei eld. We biiey
discussed some stipulations we would iequiie if they went ahead with the pioj-
ect, and then I tuined to othei things. Seveial pieces of mail on my desk needed
answeiing, and while composing my ieplies ovei the next houi, I also took a few
ioutine phone calls.
Aftei a quick sack lunch at my desk, I diove with Bob the thiity miles to Skilak
Lake to inspect a new campgiound oui maintenance ciew was building. We met
with Rex Williams, the maintenance foieman, and the thiee of us decided on the
location of seveial moie picnic and camping sites. On the way back Bob and I
took a shoit hike to an eagle nest that I had spotted fiom the aii a week befoie.
An adult was peiched neai the nest, and with my binoculais I saw the heads of
two uy eaglets, piobably less than ten days old. Now I would be able to update
that infoimation.
On the diive back to the oce a lynx ciossed the ioad, and we stopped to
admiie it foi a few minutes. Tis is the highlight of my day, I told Bob, who
shaied the sentiment. Even with all my time in the eld, I iaiely saw one of these
shy cieatuies.
Aftei aiiiving back at the oce, I told my secietaiy I was going to make a late
ight to count the Dall sheep on Suipiise Mountain. Te aii had iemained calm
thiough the day, and I thought I had bettei take advantage of the good weathei
conditions. I diove home and told LuRue about the ight, saying that I would be
late foi dinnei.
I gassed up the Cub, staited it, and zoomed down the lake. Aiiboine, I climbed
to thiee thousand feet as I appioached Suipiise Mountain. Te sheep would be in
the high countiy, so I ciuised along the alpine zone looking foi them. I spotted a
laige gioup and ciicled them iepeatedly while deteimining theie weie foity-ve
A Day in the Life of a Refuge Manager 149
ewes and yeailings with ten lambs in the bunch. Continuing aiound the mountain,
I iecoided seveial small gioups of iams. I caiefully looked ovei foui laige iams
with full-cuil hoins. I knew hunteis would be seeking them in the fall, as the
mountain had good foot access and was a populai hunting aiea foi sheep. Tough
I had no plans to hunt them myself, I knew otheis would ask me what I had seen.
White spots appeaied on a high peak. I pushed the Cubs thiottle foiwaid,
made a few climbing tuins, and leveled o neai the top. I ciicled seveial times,
counting sixty-two sheep scatteied in the high teiiain. I eventually deteimined
theie weie fteen new lambs. Five half-cuil iams giazed on the fiinge of the
gioup. I continued aiound the mountain, counting a few moie sheep befoie
completing the suivey. I had iecoided sheep and speculated that I may have
missed a few iams, which often iest in iock cievasses. I called it good and tuined
the plane towaid home.
I landed on the lake at seven oclock and tied up the plane. Two of my kids,
Janice, age ten, and Eiic, age seven, weie sitting on the bank. Tey had heaid the
plane and had come down to gieet me.
Daddy, Mom said dinnei is ieady and waiting, Eiic said.
Okay, I said. I giabbed each by a hand, and we staited walking towaid the
house. Lets go home and eat. Im hungiy.
As a refuge nanager, I was responsible for nanaging a variety of wildlife, including Dall sheep.
150 BEAR WRANGLER
Moms got a moose ioast in the oven, Janice volunteeied. Tat sounded deli-
cious. As we walked into the house, I smelled the aioma and looked foiwaid to
dinnei. But ist I had to give little foui-yeai-old Teiesa a piggyback iide. A few
minutes latei we weie all gatheied aiound the table enjoying pait of the moose
I had shot the fall befoie.
It had been a pioductive day. Tomoiiow I would leave eaily againthis time
to diive the hundied miles to Sewaid. I had a meeting with the Foiest Seivice
about a planned hiking tiail neai the iefuge boundaiy.
151
Chapter 18
Working for Wilderness
I
had a panoiamic view of the Kenai iefuge as I sat on top of a mountain above
Tustumena Lake. I had made the long, aiduous hike into the Kenai Mountains
the day befoie, and now I could sit back and enjoy the view. Just below me a gioup
of Dall sheep woiked its way along a iocky tiail above Indian Cieek, lambs exu-
beiantly ian and played as they followed the moie seiious ewes. Shaip waining
whistles fiom a neaiby colony of maimots occasionally pieiced the aii, and faithei
down the mountain slope neai timbeiline a black beai and seveial moose giazed
peacefully, appaiently oblivious to one anothei.
I diiected my attention to the lowlands fai to the noith. With binoculais, I iden-
tied a few of the laigei lakes in the canoe system that my sta and I had woiked
haid to connect with poitages just a few yeais befoie. To the west of these lakes I
caught the silveiy glint of buildings within the Swanson Rivei Oil Field.
As I gazed at the two distant, contiasting sceneswildeiness and develop-
mentI speculated about the futuie: What would the Kenai iefuge look like a
hundied yeais fiom now? Would moie of it be bioken up by ioads, aiipoits,
industiial complexes, homes, and othei modein developments that follow human
population giowth? As I sat on that mountain suiiounded by a vast wildeiness, I
hoped much of this wildlife iefuge would iemain foievei wild. And I knew I could
help that wish come tiue.
In ,6 Congiess passed the Wildeiness Act, establishing a National Wildeiness
Pieseivation System (NWPS). It set aside laige tiacts of wild lands that weie to
iemain foievei wild and ioadless. Most of the lands weie within national foiests,
152 BEAR WRANGLER
but Congiess had also diiected the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice to evaluate wild
lands iemaining in national wildlife iefuges and to iecommend aieas suitable foi
the wildeiness pieseivation system.
Goveinment wheels usually tuin slowly, and it was not until ,68 that the
FWS was ieady to hiie someone to evaluate the wildeiness potential of iefuges
in Alaska. Te employee who took that job would have to study each Alaska ief-
uge and iecommend whethei to include all oi designated paits of it as a national
wildeiness aiea. My boss, Dave Spencei, knew of my inteiest in wild lands and
asked if I would be inteiested in the position. Te decision was not easy. I was
just completing my fth yeai as the Kenai iefuge managei, a position Dave had
convinced me to take. I had leained to love the Kenai and was denitely not ieady
to leave. On the othei hand, I stiongly believed in the wildeiness piogiam and did
not want to see the job go to someone who was not committed to the cause. In
addition, the new job would iequiie that I exploie many of the iemote iefuges in
Alaskaaieas that I would nevei see if I iemained at Kenai. Te alluie of exploi-
ing new wild places was stiong. Aftei pondeiing the issue foi seveial days and
discussing it with LuRue, I decided to accept the job. I was not looking foiwaid to
moving to Anchoiage, but LuRue was, it would give hei the chance to puisue hei
dieam of obtaining hei univeisity degiee.
One of the downsides of the job was that I would again be jumping into a new
contioveisy. When I had come to the Kenai, I had enteied a conict between
wild lands and oil development. Ovei the yeais my sta and I had woiked out
oui dieiences with the oil companies, and we now had a good woiking ielation-
ship with them. Tis new job would be full of issues involving wild lands veisus
Our fanily and friends enfoy a trek through part of the Andy Sinons Wilderness Area.
Working for Wilderness 153
development, but I would be dealing with many new people on both sides of the
fence. I knew my woik would be moie political than biological. Many Alaskans
wanted to see laige paits of the state iemain wild and undeveloped, they sup-
poited the concept of wildeiness. But many otheis wanted to constiuct ioads
and develop all the iesouices in eveiy iemote coinei of Alaska, iegaidless of the
consequences. Tis job would not be easy, as I would be tiying to nd a ieason-
able path between the two extiemes.
To lay some political gioundwoik, I immediately staited to build a iappoit with
local and national conseivation and outdooi gioups, which suppoited wildeiness
lands in geneial. I also began talking and woiking with people who had doubts
about oi weie opposed to conseiving piistine lands foi futuie geneiations. I hoped
to change theii minds oi at least get them to compiomise on some issues.
I quickly leained that I would have to become something of a public infoima-
tion ocei. I would need to piepaie iepoits and biochuies and give public intei-
views. Public heaiings on each individual iefuge would be iequiied befoie any
iecommendations could be submitted to Congiess. Befoie long I was attending
meetings, giving talks, and wiiting numeious aiticles foi magazines and news-
papeis on iefuge wildeiness aieas.
Many of the iefuges had been actively managed foi yeais. We knew enough
about theii wildlife iesouices to know how peimanent wildeiness status would
aect them. Still, I would get to do plenty of the eldwoik that I loved. I was
expected to become peisonally acquainted with all iefuge aieas in oidei to speak
knowledgeably about them to the public. Foi some of the iefuges moie infoi-
mation about wildlife and othei iesouices was iequiied. To make good iecom-
mendations, I would have to gathei biological data on many iemote sea-island
iefuges that had not been visited by FWS employees foi many yeais.
Te long chain of islands in the Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge was
paiticulaily challenging. Te iefuge had been actively managed foi many yeais,
but still moie data was needed on most of the islands. It would take yeais to
visit all these iemote spots and gathei the infoimation. I ieceived cleaiance to
hiie Palmei Sekoia as my assistant in ,6,. He would spend the next foui yeais
suiveying the vast seabiid and maiine mammal populations of the Aleutians.
I eventually hiied additional people to assist me in the eld studies and in the
numeious oce duties.
Te least contioveisial aieas would be the small sea-island iefuges. Veiy
few people had evei visited these isolated spots, and they did not have many
mineial iesouices that could be developed. Dave Spencei and I decided that I
should stait evaluating these locations ist. I began with Simeonof Island in the
154 BEAR WRANGLER
Shumagin Island gioup and the Semidi Islands east of Chignik, both southeast
of the Alaska Peninsula, as well as the small, piecipitous Chamisso Island in
Kotzebue Sound of the Chukchi Sea.
Once I completed the eld studies, my sta and I piepaied biochuies and
news ieleases foi the public. I gave numeious talks about the impoitance of the
maiine iesouices the islands contained. I ieceived consideiable suppoit and
met little opposition at the public heaiings when I iecommended placing these
small islands into the NWPS. In fact, the Alaska State Legislatuie passed a ieso-
lution suppoiting wildeiness classication foi the Semidi Islands gioup. Many
state legislatois piobably embiaced the iesolution to enhance theii conseiva-
tion images, neveitheless, theii suppoit was appieciated by me and otheis who
wanted to see the islands ieceive peimanent wildeiness piotection.
On the political side I deteimined that the two most impoitant and contiovei-
sial iefuges to be consideied foi wildeiness would be the Kenai National Moose
Range and the Aictic National Wildlife Range. Te Kenais pioximity to a laige
uiban population and the vaiiety of iecieational uses on the iefuge, coupled with
the cuiient and futuie commeicial development of some of its land foi oil and
gas, would make it a hot-button issue. Te Aictic National Wildlife Range was
veiy impoitant to many outdooi gioups because it is one of the laigest and most
iemote de facto wildeiness aieas in the United States. But it was, and is, coveted
by developeis because of its potential oil and mineial iesouices.
In ,;, when I did piopose a wildeiness plan foi the Kenai, my sta and
I tiied to foige a compiomise that would satisfy the many inteiest gioups,
including developeis, hunteis, iecieational useis, enviionmentalists, and
futuie manageis of the iefuge. Te pioposal we submitted eliminated laige
poitions of the lowland aieas fiom wildeiness status to peimit continued
oil development and to allow habitat manipulation in oidei to impiove the
amount and quality of vegetation biowsed by moose. We did piopose that the
NWPS include the foiests and lakes within the canoe system and most of the
mountain iegions.
Not suipiisingly, Bob Atwood of the Anchorage Tines opposed any peima-
nent wildeiness aieas in Alaska, and he became my biggest adveisaiy ovei the
Kenai. He published many editoiials in his papei about the evils of wildeiness,
hoping to peisuade the public and the U.S. Congiess to oppose the Kenai wildei-
ness plan as well as otheis pioposed by the FWS and the NPS.
Atwood was so vehement in his opposition to the Kenai plan that I intensied
my eoits to counteiact his editoiials. I gave numeious public slide shows, wiote
aiticles, appeaied on iadio talk shows, and met with many individuals to neutial-
ize his editoiials, but I had no way of knowing how eective his media campaign
would be compaied to my eoits. I was neivous about the outcome.
A few days befoie the ist Kenai heaiing, which was held in Anchoiage, we
got a bieak. One of Atwoods young iepoiteis inteiviewed me on the wildeiness
pioposal. Te iepoitei seemed genuinely inteiested in the piogiam. I explained
why the FWS had pioposed a laige pait of the iefuge foi wildeiness while leav-
ing out sections to peimit ceitain developments. I showed him pictuies I had
taken in the undeveloped poition of the iefuge. Tese photos included expansive
mountain views and close-up wildlife scenes, as well as images of people enjoy-
ing outdooi oppoitunities, such as canoeing, hunting, shing, and hiking. He
asked me if he could boiiow them to use in the aiticle. I gladly obliged.
Aftei he left the oce, I felt I had convinced the young iepoitei that the
Kenai wildeiness plan was equitable, something he could peisonally suppoit.
But what would his boss, Bob Atwood, do with the infoimation and mateiial?
Would he somehow use my pictuies and infoimation against me? Would he kill
the stoiy? I was neivous about the outcome and scanned the papei eveiy day foi
his iesponse.
Te day befoie the heaiing, I opened the papei to the Outdooi section, and
theie, spiead acioss a full page of Atwoods newspapei, weie many of the pic-
tuies I had given the iepoitei! Te accompanying aiticle was faii and balanced.
My son, Eric, enfoying a rest stop on top of Surprise Mountain.
156 BEAR WRANGLER
My sta and I weie elated. Te stoiy and photos could have only one eect, and
that was to show the beauty of the piistine aiea. We weie suie the featuie would
convince some ieadeis to suppoit the plan.
I found out latei the jouinalist had submitted the aiticle late in the day, and
it had somehow slipped past Atwood without his knowledge. He latei called the
wiitei into his oce and iepiimanded him. Too latethe stoiy and photos had
enhanced the image of the pioposed Kenai wildeiness. Foi once, I had a scoop
at Atwoods expense.
Te day of the Anchoiage heaiing, the ioom was full. I glanced aiound and
iecognized many conseivation fiiends who weie theie to suppoit the pioposal.
I also iecognized seveial developei types who weie theie to oppose it. Otheis
weie theie whose motives I did not know.
When it was time to stait, the heaiing ocei iead a biief desciiption of the
FWS pioposal and then invited people to come foiwaid to testify. Te ist
peison to speak was an oil company iepiesentative. He indicated that the oil
industiy was not opposed to placing some lands into the NWPS but disagieed
Te Kenai Mountains within the Kenai âtional Wildlife Refuge becane part of
the âtional Wilderness Preservation Systen.
with poitions of oui pioposal. Othei individuals said they did not see any need
foi fuithei land piotection, feaiing that they would be iestiicted fiom land-
ing theii peisonal aiiplanes on ceitain lakes oi using theii snow machines in
designated aieas. A iepiesentative of the Alaska Depaitment of Fish and Game
testied against the pioposal because it would iestiict hunteis fiom using
snowmobiles to entei the mountain foothills to hunt moose. But the laigest
majoiity of the people piesent weie conseivationists and outdooismen who
eithei embiaced the plan oi pioposed incieasing the amount of wildeiness we
had suggested.
I was pleased at how the heaiing had piogiessed. We ieceived similai suppoit
at the heaiing held on the Kenai Peninsula a few days latei. I knew, howevei, that
numbeis weie not the only thing that counted, some individuals had moie clout
than otheis. A numbei of businesspeople, including my adveisaiy Bob Atwood,
had ties with oui congiessional delegation in Washington, D.C. It was theie that
the nal decision would be made on oui pioposals.
Bob Atwood continued his opposition to any wildeiness pioposals by the
FWS and the NPS. Following is an example of one of his editoiials, wiitten sev-
eial months aftei the public heaiings foi the Kenai plan weie held:
Zoo Country
(Published on Novembei 6, ,;)
Tose Japanese touiists who have ieceived an invitation fiom Gov. William
A. Egan had bettei huiiy if they want to do all the things that have been
piomised them in Alaska. Mi. Egan, paiticipating in a business develop-
ment tiip to Japan undei the auspices of the Alaska Visitois Association,
told a Tokyo piess confeience the othei day that Alaska isnt an unfiiendly
land of ice and snow, but a state in which touiists can ski and camp and have
fun in the gieat outdoois.
Tats tiue, of couise.
But it wont be tiue if most of the state eventually gets socked away into
wildeiness aieas in which man, by law, is to be iegaided as an unwelcome
intiudei.
As it now develops, moie than a. million acies of Alaskaincluding
some of the most accessible iecieation aieas as well as the most iemote
aie being eyed as potential lands in which the wildeiness concept may be
used to pievent entiy by manJapanese touiist oi Alaska iesident.
Public heaiings on one of those pioposals alieady have been held, covei-
ing .o million acies of the Kenai Peninsula.
158 BEAR WRANGLER
Heaiings on two othei pioposed wildeiness aieasa.a million acies in
Glaciei Bay and a. million acies in the Katmai iegionaie scheduled to
begin Tuisday at Alaska Methodist Univeisity.
If all of these wildeiness aieas actually aie cieated, theie will be no place
foi touiism development in Alaska. Teie wont even be many of Alaskas
favoiite y-in shing spots left, oi foi that mattei even a place to diive
campeis in the summei oi snowmobiles in the wintei.
But theie will be the woilds biggest zoo.
My sta and I weie unawaie that we would have to wait neaily ten yeais foi
a decision on this contioveisial issue. On Decembei a, ,8o, Piesident Jimmy
Caitei signed the Alaska National Inteiest Lands Conseivation Act (ANILCA).
It placed neaily all of oui Kenai wildeiness pioposals, as well as otheis we sub-
mitted, into the NWPS.
I sometimes found the heaiings stiessful, as we weie often veibally attacked
by people who opposed oui iecommendations. In ietiospect these contioveisial
heaiings weie a shaip contiast to the usually peaceful eldwoik iequiied to
gathei infoimation.
While I did not enjoy all aspects of my wildeiness job, I have always been
giateful foi the chance I got to exploie so many iemote aieas.
159
Chapter 19
The Remote Sea Islands
T
he engine of the Aleutian Tern dioned on as it had thioughout the night.
Now at dawn the iadai indicated we weie iapidly appioaching the Semidi
Islands, a seiies of nine small islands that lie in the Gulf of Alaska about one hun-
died miles southwest of Kodiak Island. Tey iepoitedly had massive numbeis of
seabiids, and I had yeained to visit this wildlife spectacle foi many yeais. I stood
on the foiedeck and stiained foi a glimpse of the islands thiough the mist that
enveloped us. Ten, ten minutes latei, we abiuptly emeiged fiom the fog bank, and
the islands appeaied on the hoiizon as a daik band amidst a vast sea. Muiies, kit-
tiwakes, puns, auklets, guillemots, fulmais, and coimoiants speckled the suiface
of the watei wheievei I looked. It was a stunning sight, almost suiiealthe laigest
display of seabiids I had evei witnessed! Tose neaiest us swam out of the way oi
dove as the vessels bow cut thiough the sea.
Oui sea chaits indicated we weie neaiing Chowiet Island, one of the laigest in
the island gioup. Constant stoims lash the shoies of the Semidis, and the islands
oei little piotection foi ocean vessels. Foi that ieason people iaiely visit them, to
my knowledge no scientist had stepped on theii beaches since Iia Gabiielson, an
oinithologist and foimei diiectoi of the Fish and Wildlife Seivice, had done so in
,6. Now, some twenty-ve yeais latei, I was anxious to exploie the aiea to see if
the laige numbeis of biids he iepoited weie still piesent.
To conduct the wildeiness studies in the Aleutian Islands, I had hiied Palmei
Sekoia, a seasoned biologist with knowledge of the aiea. Within a yeai it became
obvious that he needed a laige vessel to accomplish the task. In ,;o we acquiied
160 BEAR WRANGLER
a sixty-ve-foot suiplus militaiy vessel and modied it to suit oui needs. Each
yeai Palmei and his ciew spent the summei aboaid the vessel Aleutian Tern,
suiveying the natuial iesouices of the island chain. One spiing as the vessel and
ciew left Kodiak foi theii seasonal woik in the Aleutians, I tagged along foi pait
of the tiip. Palmei and I decided to diveit the Tern to the Semidis foi a few days
to suivey the wildlife in that gioup of islands.
As we appioached Chowiet Island, I maiveled at the sheei iock walls, the pin-
nacles, and the sea stacks that iose out of the sea, thiusting upwaid foi two hun-
died feet oi moie. Diving and wheeling biids lled the sky, while iafts of them
bobbed on the choppy wateis. I felt as if we weie enteiing a gieat city of seabiids.
Jagged iows of muiies and kittiwakes highlighted the iocky ledges, standing like
soldieis in foimation decked out in black-and-white paiade unifoims.
Te vessel ciicled the shoieline closely. Each time we iounded a point, swaims
of suipiised biids lifted fiom the blus in a gieat swoosh, myiiad wings beat-
ing the aii. Tey iose into the sky and milled in clouds above us. Tey dove and
ciicled in gieat swoops and aics, cieating a fiantic iush-houi madness of biids.
It was amazing how they swept by one anothei without colliding. Tousands
landed, clinging piecaiiously to ledges, hundieds moie splashed into the watei,
joining the iafts that dotted the suiface foi miles.
Te rugged coastline of the Senidi Islands oers nesting habitat for seabirds and shelter
for narine aninals.
Te Renote Sea Islands 161
I had nevei encounteied such laige numbeis of biids, and I was at a loss as to
how to count them. Palmei, who had seveial yeais of expeiience iecoiding sea-
biids in the Aleutians, came to my iescue. He showed me how to estimate theii
numbeis by counting them in blocks of fty, one hundied, oi two hundied biids
at a time as we moved aiound the island. It was a daunting job, and the tally soon
suipassed a half million.
Te steep clis gave way to bioken, iocky points and sloping canyons coloied
with patches of giass. Tis was the teiiain of fulmais. Hundieds sailed out of the
canyons and eoitlessly iode the aii cuiients on outstietched wings. Teii low,
guttuial calls weie baiely audible compaied to the iaucous ciies of the kittiwakes
and the muiies.
As we iounded anothei coinei, about thiee hundied staitled sea lions iesting
on a huge, at iock awoke and clumsily humped theii way towaid the sea, wheie
they felt safei fiom oui appioaching vessel. One side of the iock had a twenty-
foot-high blu. A few ieached the edge of it, paused foi a moment to look down,
and then plunged into the sea. Te impact of theii huge bodies sent gieat plumes
of spiay skywaid. Tose alieady in the watei popped theii heads above the sui-
face and ioaied at us in deance.
Te Senidi Islands provide nesting habitat for nillions of seabirds.
162 BEAR WRANGLER
We occasionally spotted haiboi seals iesting on naiiow beaches, they also
quickly sciambled into the watei as we appioached. But not all maiine mammals
we encounteied weie such alaimists. We often found pods of bewhiskeied sea
otteis oating peacefully on theii backs in dense beds of kelp. Tese cieatuies
iaiely showed any concein. To them, we weie meiely a cuiiosity.
Foi two days we ciicled the islands, estimating and tallying biids and sea
mammals as we ciuised by. Te biid guies weie astounding, muiie counts
alone exceeded the million maik, and kittiwakes appioached a half million.
Towaid the end of the second day we anchoied in a cove on the leewaid side
of a laige island. I had been eagei to go ashoie to get into the midst of these vast
biid colonies. I took a small ski and iowed towaid the iocky beach, which was
coveied with haiboi seals. As I neaied the shoie, a swell caiiied my ski on its
ciest and deposited me among the seals, they scatteied to give me ioom.
I hiked up to a long, naiiow iidge of the island and then followed it until I
was faiily ceitain I was above some biid ledges on a high blu. I peeied ovei
the edge and was gieeted with swaims of ying biids. Combeis ciashed into
the iock blus on the windwaid side of the island, iesounding like gieat claps
of thundei. Oshoie, muiies coveied a spiied iock so densely that it seemed
impossible they all had ioom to peich. Kittiwakes dipped and tuined in the aii,
and an occasional pun ew by, its wings beating iapidly in its no-nonsense,
beeline ight.
I moved faithei along the ledge until I could see seveial chimney iocks that
iose out of the pounding suif. Sea lions and haiboi seals coveied the small, at
base of the iocks. I sat down on a ledge and spent the next houi absoibing the
iugged, natuial beauty befoie me. At times I could heai the ioai of sea lions
above the ciashing of the iolleis. Fulmais iode the aiiwaves in giaceful tuins,
and kittiwakes scieamed as they ciicled above me. Te scene was awesome. I
hated to leave, but I knew the iest of the ciew was expecting my ietuin. Reluc-
tantly, I ietiaced my path back to the ski and then to the boat.
Gambling that the weathei would hold, the skippei of the Aleutian Tern
decided to anchoi foi the night in a maiginally piotected bay. I awoke in the
daik of night and peeied out a window. Shadows weie daiting aiound the anchoi
light. I stepped outside onto the deck. Small, daik biids weie diving and twittei-
ing aiound the biightness of the light like giaceful butteiies. I iecognized these
noctuinal biids as stoim petiels, both Leachs and foik-tailed. Even with the wide
vaiiety of biids on and aiound these islands duiing the day, heie was yet anothei
kind that came out at night. I enjoyed theii elegant aeiial ballet foi some time
befoie ietuining to my bunk.
Te next day we left the bay. Oui woik at the Semidi Islands was done, and
Palmei needed to continue on to the Aleutians. Standing on the stein of the boat
as we headed southwest, I watched the iemote Semidis disappeai into the mists. I
knew it might be many yeais befoie I would ietuin, if evei, and I savoied the view.
Duiing the couise of my wildeiness woik I visited seveial othei small islands.
Anothei favoiite was Simeonof Island, the outeimost island in the Shumagin
Island gioup, which lies south of the Alaska Peninsula. In contiast to the iocky
Semidis, Simeonof has a low shoieline, extensive giass ats, and long, sandy
beaches. It had been set aside as a sea ottei iefuge in ,8. In the late 8oos and
eaily ,oos it was used foi fox faiming, but moie iecently cattle had been intio-
duced. I wanted to see what eect the cattle and fox still piesent weie having on
the wildlife and vegetation. On some islands in this iegion the intioduction of
fox had diastically ieduced giound-nesting biids.
I decided to visit the island while I was woiking in the Izembek National
Wildlife Refuge on the Alaska Peninsula. Reeve Aleutian Aiiways kept a
pilot with a twin-engine Giumman Goose stationed at Cold Bay to seive
the smallei communities in the aiea. I aiianged to chaitei the plane foi the
one-houi ight to Simeonof Island. I was told the pilot was a bit ciazy, but he
would get me theie.
Murres use the rocky ledges.
164 BEAR WRANGLER
We lifted o fiom the Cold Bay aiipoit on a ielatively calm day and headed
east to Simeonof Island. We had baiely left the iunway when the pilot leveled
o at one hundied feet elevation. I was in the copilots seat, neivously glanc-
ing at the pilot, when he iemoved his feet fiom the pedals, ciossed his legs,
and staited singing a song. We skimmed along, baiely cleaiing the tops of
seveial small islands. I ceitainly had an excellent view of the seascape, though
my thoughts weient exactly on the sceneiy! About twenty minutes into the
ight seveial high sea stacks appeaied diiectly in oui path. I thought the pilot
would climb to go ovei them, but nohe kept heading iight towaid them. As
we passed between two stacks, the sky lled suddenly with wheeling puns
and gulls that the plane had ushed fiom the neaiby iocks. It was like y-
ing thiough a swaim of bees. I thiew my aim acioss my face, as I was suie a
biid would be coming thiough the windshield, the sky seemed satuiated with
biids. But we somehow passed thiough the sea stacks without hitting them
oi any biids. I heaved a sigh of ielief and looked at the pilot, who had a happy
smile on his face. I was inciedulous at his devil-may-caie attitude. Tis guy
was ciazy, all iight.
Tousands of horned puns nest on the Senidi Islands.
We continued oui low-level ight and eventually ieached Simeonof Island
safely. He ciicled once and then landed in the piotected haiboi and pulled out
onto the beach. I was immensely glad to put my feet onto solid giound.
Okay, now. Te pilot paused. When is it you want to get picked up?
In foui days, I said, holding up foui ngeis, hoping he would iemembei.
Seveial buildings, including a small house, sat neai the head of the bay. Te
cattle owneis had a giazing lease and let the cattle ioam ovei the ten-thousand-
acie island in a semiwild state. Befoie leaving Anchoiage, I had talked to one of
the owneis, a schoolteachei. He said he spent only pait of each summei on his
ianch, butcheiing a few head foi the maiket. A hiied assistant seived as caie-
takei of the livestock on the island, but no one was piesent when I aiiived.
I moved my geai into one of the old buildings, which contained a cot and a
small cooking stove. It was not much, but at least it would keep me diy in case
of a stoim.
Te next moining I decided to suivey the wildlife and vegetation by walking the
islands peiimetei, appioximately a ten-mile hike. A few low mountains occupied
the centei of the island, but mostly it was a lowland of giasses, sedges, and heathei.
Wildoweis, such as white anemones, yellow butteicups, and blue violets, coveied
Tufted puns also nest on the Senidi Islands.
166 BEAR WRANGLER
these lowlands like a coloiful blanket. Te cattle had woin paths all aiound the
island, so I followed these tiails. Dozens of giound squiiiels ian acioss the paths,
and I occasionally saw blue aictic foxes, iemnants of the old fox-faiming days.
At one point I stood diiectly acioss fiom the small, at Muiie Islets, which
lay just oshoie. Teii kelp-laden wateis weie a haven foi sea otteis. With my
binoculais I counted just ovei two hundied of the oating animals. In the same
aiea on Simeonof I passed seveial shallow ponds with nesting pintails and com-
mon teals. Te teals wintei in Asia and ietuin to westein Alaska to nest each
yeai. Sea ducks, such as scoteis and scaup, bobbed in the waves oshoie, while
many song and savannah spaiiows itted amid the shoit willows, lling the aii
with theii shoit, cheeiy songs. Willow ptaimigan sat on heathei hummocks and
sent theii cackling calls iolling acioss the tundia.
I appioached a gioup of cattle giazing on a hillside. When I got closei, an old
bull loweied his head, bellowed, and pawed the eaith. Having giown up on a faim, I
dont feai cattle, but I iespect them, especially a semiwild bull. I did not caie to test
the belligeience of this one, so I ietieated to the shoie, piepaiing to swim out into
the cold wateis if necessaiy. Foitunately, he allowed me to pass along the beach.
In anothei houi I aiiived on the windwaid side of the island. Heie beauti-
ful white sandy beaches inteimittently decoiated the shoieline. Some accom-
modated dozing haiboi seals, which slid into the sea and swam oshoie as I
appioached. Te beaches weie as puie white as I had evei seen in Alaska, and I
wondeied how valuable they might be in a waim climate neai a laige city. Occa-
sionally, I saw a piece of biight gieen seaweed on a beach, its vivid hue contiast-
ing shaiply with the white sand.
I continued aiound the island and found moie cattle. In all I counted about
two hundied. Tough cattle had been piesent foi many yeais, they appeaied to
Tese buildings served as ranch headquarters for the owner of Sineonof Islands cattle.
have had only minimal impact on the shiub vegetation. I speculated that if they
weie iemoved, the natuial plant life would iecovei quickly.
I was tiied by the time I completed my ciicumnavigation. It had taken all day.
I slept well that night.
Te following day I found a small ski and iowed to the Muiie Islets. Te
iocky shoielines weie inteispeised with a few sand beaches. Foi the most
pait the islets weie coveied with shouldei-high giass, eldeibeiiy bushes, cow
paisnip, and salmonbeiiya nesting haven foi song and savannah spaiiows.
I speculated theii density was due to the lack of foxes, which often decimate
giound- and low shiubnesting biids. As I walked aiound one of the islets, I
came to a kelp-coveied point and staitled a dozen sea otteis that weie spiead
out on the iocks, sleeping in the sun. Tey staied at me foi a moment and then
scampeied into the watei.
I spent the day iowing between the small islets. I exploied each one, counting
wildlife and occasionally catching a quick nap in the iaie sun. Late in the evening
I ietuined to camp.
Duiing the night I awakened to the sound of biisk winds and the pattei of
iain. By moining the stoim was venting its full fuiy, I could heai suif pounding
the beach on the windwaid side of the island.
I love a stoim, and aftei a late bieakfast I put on my iain geai to walk to the
iidge above the beach. Te wind was gusting fty to sixty miles an houi, and the
sea was achuin with whitecaps and waves. Combeis slammed into the shoie and
White sandy beaches forn part of the coastline on Sineonof Island.
168 BEAR WRANGLER
shot up the sandy beaches. Te ioaiing sea diowned all othei sounds. O to my
iight bieakeis sent sheets of spiay skywaid foi thiity feet oi moie. It was a wild,
eice scene. Te tempest diove the iain into my face with such foice that it stung
like needles. I walked along the beach, at times leaning shaiply into the wind to
move foiwaid.
The fieice weathei made me appieciate the cabin. In these conditions a
tent would have been blown away like an insignificant leaf. I spent the iest
of the day ieading and occasionally walking to the beach to watch the stoim.
I knew theie would be no plane tomoiiow, foi stoims in this pait of Alaska
usually last seveial days. Even a ciazy pilot would not fly in this weathei, at
least I hoped not!
Tough the wind was still gusting biiskly the next day, I spent pait of it
beachcombing on the leewaid side of the island. As I walked aiound the shoie
of the haiboi, I picked up iocks and diiftwood to admiie, saving a few special
items. I spotted an unusually iound iock, I ieached down and ipped it ovei. I
was utteily delighted to discovei a small but well-pieseived stone lamp! Ancient
Aleuts buined seal oil in these lamps to cook and to heat theii sod houses, which
weie dug paitially into the giound. Te lamp was a little moie than six inches
long and about ve inches wide. Te centei depiession that had held the oil was
slightly moie than an inch deep. I ian my ngeis ovei the lamp and into the
depiession, woin smooth by weathei and yeais of use. A shoit tiough at one end
of the depiession maiked the wick ledge. I wondeied at the age of the lamp and
its histoiy. Peihaps it had lain theie foi hundieds of yeais, peihaps thousands.
How many days had an Aleut sat outside his hut and chipped away at the stone
to foim such a well-ciafted lamp?
I walked on and discoveied thiee baiabaia sites. As I stood neai the ancient
semisubteiianean houses, now just small depiessions in the giass, I thought
about the Aleuts who had once lived and woiked on this same spot. Tey weie
piobably attiacted to this site by the piotected bay. As I tuined the stone lamp in
my hands, I imagined a village scene hundieds of yeais ago.
In my mind I pictuied seveial bidaikas lying on the beach. A man and a boy
in anothei bidaika weie enteiing the bay, towing a fieshly killed seal. Blood
stieamed fiom the caicass, coloiing the wateis in ieddish stieaks. Two women
and seveial childien stood on the beach watching the ietuining hunteis. Inside
one of the baiabaias an old woman waimed hei gnailed hands ovei the stone
lamp, which was buining low, sending a small plume of sooty smoke up thiough
a hole in the ioof. A mothei with a baby sat on a sea ottei skin mending clothes
with sinew and a bone awl.
Questions ooded my mind: How many geneiations of Aleut women had
waimed theii hands ovei the lamp that I now held? Why had such a peifect
lamp been left on the beach? Had theie been a battle, the iesidents diopping
the lamp as they ed with theii few possessions? Could some disease have taken
all the Natives, leaving theii belongings to be claimed by the foices of natuie? I
wondeied about these things as I slowly walked back to camp, moving my hands
ovei the smooth lamp.
Foi two moie days the stoim continued, dominating the island with ioaiing
suif, gusty winds, and iain. Finally, duiing the next night, the winds died down.
In the moining the skies weie cleai.
Soon aftei I had eaten bieakfast, a dioning sound announced the aiiival of
my plane. Te pilot swooped ovei my cabin ioof, ciicled, and then gently sat the
plane down in the haiboi.
Hey, how you doing? he yelled. Ready to get aboaid?
Aftei ve days of stoimy weathei and a week alone on the island, I was so
ieady that I was willing to climb into any plane, even if the pilot was a bit loony.
He took o and suipiised me by climbing to ve hundied feet. We ew back to
Cold Bay without having to dodge sea stacks oi biids, and I was giateful foi the
uneventful ight.
Today the stone lamp sits on my living ioom bookshelf. Eveiy time I pick it
up and stioke its smooth suiface, I vividly iecall the stoim-tossed shoies and
white sandy beaches of Simeonof Island. I also see the ancient Aleut village that
once occupied the haiboi, the bidaikas moving acioss the bay, and an old Aleut
woman waiming hei wiinkled hands ovei the seal oil lamp.
I visited many secluded spots in Alaska duiing the yeais of my wildeiness
woik. Each was unique and had its own special magic. Te small iemote islands
inhabited by myiiad seabiids and mammals, howevei, biing back some of my
fondest memoiies.
171
Chapter 20
Along the Arctic Coast
W
e had been flying foi moie than an houi since leaving Foit Yukon at the
confluence of the Poicupine and Yukon Riveis neai the Aictic Ciicle.
The vast boieal foiest appeaied to ieach fiom hoiizon to hoiizon at fiist, but
as we followed the Sheenjek Rivei noith into the foothills of the Biooks Range,
the solid foiest gave way to the spiuce-muskeg taiga with its spindly, scatteied
tiees. The pilot, Ave Thayei, had been my foimei assistant on the Kenai and
was now iefuge managei of the Aictic National Wildlife Range. Seveial times
duiing the flight he pointed out a moose oi small bands of caiibou as we tia-
veised the iefuge.
We climbed highei and followed a pass thiough the mountains, ciique gla-
cieis, snow-coveied peaks, steep talus slopes, and iock canyons suiiounded us.
In anothei half houi the mountains fell away abiuptly, we ew ovei the gieat
noithein plains that lay between the mountains and the Beaufoit Sea. Lakes and
ponds dotted the landscape, while biaided stieams with theii numeious giavel
bais owed noithwaid. Giant fiost polygons lay scatteied acioss the tundia,
foiming a gieat jigsaw puzzle. Te scene was wild and piimitive. Foi a minute I
speculated on how dieient this iegion would appeai if coipoiations developed
the oil ieseives that supposedly lay undeigiound. What impacts would oil wells,
pipelines, ioads, and othei stiuctuies have on the cuiient piistine wildeiness
In the eaily 1970s the Aictic National Wildlife Range contained a little less than nine million
acies of land. Te Alaska National Inteiest Lands Conseivation Act (ANILCA) doubled the size of
the iefuge and ienamed it the Aictic National Wildlife Refuge.
172 BEAR WRANGLER
qualities? What eect would such developments have on the Poicupine caii-
bou that diop theii calves heie each spiing? I put these thoughts out of my
mind as the Cessna ew on.
As we appioached the coast, the pack ice appeaied solid all the way to the
Noith Pole, even though it was the ist day of July. Oshoie giavel ieefs and
low islands held the sea ice at bay, a naiiow stiip of watei lay between them and
the mainland. It was thiough these naiiow wateiways that my son, Eiic, and I
intended to paddle oui small kayak.
Ave landed on a giavel beach in Demaication Bay, neai the Canadian boidei.
Eiic and I would begin oui jouiney heie. Now ten yeais old, he was old enough
to help paddle, and I hoped this expeiience would instill in him an appieciation
of the outdoois.
Befoie I staited the wildeiness studies in the Aictic iange, I had spent some
time with Ave discussing the diveisity and impoitance of the natuial iesouices
and geogiaphic featuies that lay within the iefuge. He iecommended vaiious
aieas to visit so that I could undeistand and evaluate the wildeiness qualities
of this huge aiea. He paiticulaily emphasized the impoitance of the noithein
coastal iegion foi wateifowl, shoiebiids, and caiibou, he had suggested the tiip
we weie about to undeitake.
Giant frost polygons and shallow ponds dot the ôrth Slope tundra.
Along the Arctic Coast 173
Aftei saying goodbye to Ave, we spent the iest of the afteinoon aiianging oui
geai and assembling oui folding, two-peison Kleppei. Accoiding to my plan we
would paddle and pull the kayak along the coast foi about a week to oui pickup
point at Beaufoit Lagoon.
I did not expect to see othei people along the coast as we tiaveled. We weie
the only humans foi miles aiound, but that had not always been the case. Long
ago whaleis sometimes spent long aictic winteis locked in the ice in Demaica-
tion Bay and neaiby Heischel Island in Canada. Tey enduied this long, cold
wait so that they could hunt the whales that aiiived along the coast in the spiing.
Te coast was also once the highway of the noith foi the Inupiat Eskimos. Tey
had tiaveled via dog team along these shoies foi centuiies, taking seals, sh, and
caiibou, which piovided food, clothing, tools, and sheltei. Remains of some of
theii old village sites aie still piesent.
Aftei assembling the kayak, we pitched oui tent and then exploied the sui-
ioundings. A paii of tundia swans nested in a neaiby shallow pond. Numeious
semipalmated ploveis ian along the beach, chiiping at us if we followed. A Lap-
land longspui, the bobolink of the noith, gave its chiming call fiom the top of a
tundia tussock. Glaucous gulls and paiasitic jaegeis skimmed thiough the skies,
and seveial noithein phalaiopes fed on the insects that theii spinning swimming
maneuveis biought to the suiface in a neaiby pond.
We weie giateful foi oui down jackets as a chill bieeze blew o the ice pack.
Time passed quickly, and though the sun was still high in the sky, my watch said
it was ten oclock. Te constant daylight was something we had to cope with
Eric and I paddled a kayak along the Arctic coast in the Arctic âtional Wildlife Refuge.
174 BEAR WRANGLER
duiing oui days in the Aictic. Te sun nevei sets duiing the shoit aictic summei,
and it was only physical tiiedness that diove us to bed.
When we got up the next moining, we began exploiing the oshoie ieefs
by paddling thiough the shallow lagoons. Tese wateis aie iich in nutiients
ushed in fiom the numeious stieams that diain the land, this attiacts the
biids and sh that thiive along the coast. We stopped and walked acioss a low
island. Gulls ciicled above us, scieaming deance at oui piesence, while com-
mon eideis scuiiied fiom theii nests dotting the low shoieline. We iecoided
the numbei of nests and the eggs they contained befoie ietuining to oui
kayak. On a low iidge on an adjacent island we found the iemains of seveial
abandoned sod huts. Te site was once the village of Kuluiuah, accoiding to
oui map. Latei in the evening we discoveied the iuins of moie sod huts and
decided to pitch oui tent on the leewaid side of one of them to give us piotec-
tion fiom the wind.
Tat evening we climbed a neaiby hill to get a view of oui suiioundings. We
spotted two seals iesting on the seemingly endless ice pack. We scanned the
ice, hoping to see a polai beai, but no such luck. Seveial Pacic loons swam
in the lagoons, and in the distance we heaid the constant gabble of long-tailed
ducks. Suif scoteis skimmed acioss the watei, and a few jaegeis wheeled in
the sky.
Tat evening as we sat aiound a diiftwood campie, I maiveled at the fact
that I was sitting with my ten-yeai-old son heie at the top of the woild. His
questions about the sounds in the distance and the vaiiety of biids indicated his
keen inteiest in natuie. He also wanted to know how the Eskimos suivived the
long, cold wintei months. I thought of the thousands of othei ten-yeai-olds who
knew only the dione of city tiac and had nevei heaid the call of a wild loon oi
camped in a tiue wildeiness. I was pleased to shaie these wildeiness expeiiences
with him, and I hoped it would help shape his futuie.
Te next day we continued to move westwaid, ihythmically dipping oui
paddles into the watei, pushing oui kayak foiwaid. Te wind o the ice pack
again blew in oui faces, chilling us to the bone and making piogiess moie dif-
cult. Neai noon we saw a small iise on the shoie. We stopped foi a iest fiom
paddling and climbed the hill.
Caiibou! Eiic called out. He had been scanning the tundia when he spotted
some of the animals. We watched the distant scene come alive giadually with
caiibou moving eastwaid.
Holy smoke, Eiic! I said. Tats a lot of caiibou! Lets get oui packs and
cameias and see if we can inteicept them.
We ian back to the kayak, giabbed oui geai, and huiiied towaid the mass of
animals. Te caiibou weie moving iapidly. We walked and ian towaid the heid
foi a half mile, tiying to keep out of sight by following a low iavine. I stopped to
catch my bieath.
Lets go up that little iidge and see wheie they aie, I said, indicating a high
point above the iavine.
When we climbed out of the diaw, we found ouiselves diiectly in the path of
the oncoming animals.
Wow! Look at that! I whispeied to Eiic. Lets hold ieal still and see what
happens.
Only a few hundied yaids sepaiated us fiom the vanguaid of the heid. Te lead-
eis spotted us and paited, veeiing slightly to oui left and oui iight. Te caiibou
moved past us like iapids owing aiound a jutting bouldei in a stieam, uniting again
once they weie beyond us. Foi as fai as we could see, the chuining mass of caiibou
moved ovei the tundia like biaided stieams. On they camebulls, yeailings, single
cows, and cows with calves at theii heelsnow tiotting along, and then stopping
foi a few moments to feed on succulent sedges befoie dashing foiwaid again. Heie
and theie some bedded down foi a few minutes and then iose again to follow the
heid. Te caiibou weie constantly giunting and coughing. Calves bleated at theii
motheis. Even though the animals walked ovei soft tundia, we could heai clicking
noises, caused by tendons in theii feet iubbing against bones.
Te heid appeaied to ow as one oiganism, undulating like a giant amoeba
moving, spieading, ietieating, constantly changing foim. Some of the animals
stopped and watched us foi a few seconds befoie passing to oui left oi iight. Vel-
vet antleis ashed in the sun as the caiibou tossed theii heads oi used the antleis
to sciatch theii backs. Shoit-lived challenges bioke out between individuals as
they vied foi position.
Run, stop, look, feed, lie down, jump up. Te animals weie constantly active
doing a vaiiety of things, but the heid always moved in the same diiection.
Eventually, I was able to bieak fiom my fascination of watching the behavioi of
individuals and suivey the entiie scene. Above the mass of animals I could see
the Biooks Range in the distance, adding a majestic backgiound to the alieady
awe-inspiiing sight.
Hey, look, Dad! Teies a calf suckling, Eiic said, pointing towaid a gioup of
cows and calves. Many of the calves weie less than a month old, but they could
iun almost as fast as the adults and had no diculty keeping up with the heid.
Te scientist in me iecognized this ability as an evolutionaiy stiategy, but still I
found it impiessive to watch those babies move so fast.
176 BEAR WRANGLER
Te numbeis weie staggeiing. I had seen some impiessive ocks of biids
and gioups of animals in my life, but I had nevei been in the midst of such a
laige heid as I was now witnessing. I glanced ovei at Eiic and found him also
enthialled in the spectacle suiiounding us, a scene found few othei places in
the woild. I had to wondei if latei in life Eiic would iemembei this as the way
the Aictic used to be, just as we now talk about the gieat heids of bualo that
once ioamed the west.
Te suddenness of being engulfed by this massive heid held us foi a time,
entianced by its natuial beauty, but giadually the spell woie o. I attempted to
count the caiibou but found the task impossible, I could not see the othei side of
the heid. I knew Ave Tayei and the Alaska Depaitment of Fish and Game had
conducted an aeiial census and concluded the Poicupine caiibou heid contained
appioximately o,ooo animals, but I wondeied what poition of the heid we
weie seeing. I nally guessed that the gioup suiiounding us contained between
twenty thousand and foity thousand caiibou. I got out my cameia to photogiaph
the animals, but the scene thiough my viewndei looked pathetically small. I
took many photos even as I iealized they would not do justice to what we weie
seeing with the full sweep of oui eyes.
As we watched the heid, I thought about wheie the caiibou weie in the
seasonal cycle of theii lives. Each yeai they scattei acioss the tussock sedge
meadows of the Aictics coastal plains, wheie the females give biith. Cotton
giass sends up gieen shoots eaily due to veiy little snow, pioviding the caiibou
motheis with nouiishment to pioduce an abundance of iich milk foi theii new-
boin calves. In addition, the at plains have fewei piedatois than do the inland
mountains and foiested aieas. Foi these ieasons the coastal plain is ciitical to the
suivival of the Poicupine caiibou heid.
When calving is completed, the caiibou begin gatheiing in gioups, which
giow laigei and laigei until a laige single heid is foimed. I explained to Eiic
that the heid, such as the one we weie now witnessing, then moves as one. Te
animals migiate southeast thiough the mountains and scattei onto theii wintei-
ing giounds in the foiests of inteiioi Alaska and the Yukon Teiiitoiy of Canada,
wheie they can moie easily foiage foi food duiing the long, haish wintei. Its a
huge, fai-ieaching migiation that has gone on foi centuiies, yet so many people
know little oi nothing of it. We weie extiemely foitunate to be in the middle of
this natuial phenomenon.
Te animals kept moving past us, pouiing ovei the low swales and hills.
Finally they swung inland and away fiom us. Eiic and I sat on a low hummock
and watched them leave with oui binoculais, still unable to fully compiehend the
oveiwhelming expeiience.
Well, Eiic, I think its ovei. Lets go back to oui camp, I said.
Reluctantly, we ietuined to oui kayak and pitched oui tent. Tat evening as
we sat aiound the ie, Eiic asked, How many caiibou weie theie?
I told him I did not know, but biologists had iecently counted moie than
o,ooo in the whole heid.
It seemed like a million to me, he ieplied.
I woke up seveial times that night and iealized I had been dieaming about
the thousands of caiibou we had seen. Oui expeiience would stay with me
foievei. Ive been on the giound with seveial heids of caiibou in Alaska since
that episode, but I nevei again came into such close contact with that laige
a numbei.
When we aiose, fog was enshiouding the landscape. It diifted by us in waves,
diiven by the wind. Even in oui down-insulated clothes, we weie cold. My thei-
mometei indicated the tempeiatuie was thiity-foui degiees Fahienheit. To keep
waim, we sometimes took a bieak fiom paddling and walked along the beach
while towing the kayak. In the afteinoon we came to the mouth of the Kongakut
Rivei. Te delta ice had not yet melted, so we had to pull oui kayak ovei it foi
moie than a mile. Diagging it ovei ice was much haidei than towing it in the
watei, but we eventually ciossed the fiozen delta.
We camped eaily and waimed ouiselves by a ioaiing ie built fiom the
abundant diift logs. Tank goodness foi the diiftwood! Te Kongakut and
othei iiveis that ow fiom the Biooks Range to the Aictic coast in Alaska lack
foiests, these logs had piobably come down Canadas Fiith Rivei oi the long
Mackenzie Rivei, oated into the Beaufoit Sea, and nally diifted ashoie in
this tieeless woild.
While we slept, seveial inches of snow fell, coveiing oui tent. When we woke,
my cold boots ieminded me to expect winteilike weathei any time heie on the
edge of the ice pack. It was the Fouith of July.
Te patchy moining fog diifted by us, paitially obscuiing the biids that fed in
the lagoons. Long-tailed ducks occasionally swept low ovei oui heads. Scoteis
and eideis swam in the misty watei, while aictic teins ew above it.
Seabiids weient the only biids to watch. In the maishes just inland we
saw Pacific, ied-thioated, and yellow-billed loons patiolling ponds wheie
they had built theii nests. They kept an eye on us as they swam guaid duty.
Pomaiine, paiasitic, and long-tailed jaegeis sailed in the sky, and occasion-
ally we spotted the white sentinel of the noith, the snowy owl, seaiching foi a
178 BEAR WRANGLER
meal. Golden ploveis peifoimed theii bioken-wing act to lead us away fiom
theii young, and the tiilling calls of seveial species of sandpipeis announced
theii piesence.
Te coastal aiea not only piovides habitat foi many nesting biids but seives
as a migiation coiiidoi foi otheis. In the fall thousands of snow geese gathei on
the coastal tundia to feed and fatten on the abundant cotton giass befoie moving
on. Most nesting biids do migiate to southein climates, but a few, such as the
iock and willow ptaimigan, the iaven, and the snowy owl, iemain to enduie the
haish, cold wintei.
We spent pait of the day at the mouth of a iivei catching a few giayling and
aictic chai foi oui evening meal. We camped eaily on a diy iidge in the middle of
a gaiden of oweis. Despite the coasts bittei cold, haidy aictic plants bloom in
piofusion. Diyas plants aie common, pink moss campion abundant, blue foiget-
me-nots and yellow aictic poppies bloom eveiywheie. Tese oweis attiact
a vaiiety of insects. I was suipiised at the numbei of small butteiies itting
between them. Foitunately, one insect not piesent was the mosquito. Because
of the wind and cold, the little beast was conspicuously absent, latei we would
encountei hoides of them faithei inland.
Te weathei alteinated between sunshine and fog foi the next few days as we
paddled and walked along the coast, nally aiiiving at Beaufoit Lagoon, located
about halfway between Demaication Bay and Kaktovik, Alaska.
Enpty fuel barrels litter the ground at Beaufort Lagoon, which was the location of a forner
Distant Early Warning site constructed after World War II. Many years after our trip,
Congress appropriated funds to have the eyesore renoved.
Neai the lagoon was a soiiy example of how modein man can iuthlessly
spoil a wildeiness enviionment. A clustei of buildings that sat on the edge of
the lagoon was the iemains of a Distant Eaily Waining (DEW) site constiucted
aftei Woild Wai II. Tese DEW sites, a Cold Wai legacy that once iimmed the
Aictic coast acioss Alaska and Canada, weie designed to detect incoming enemy
missiles and planes. Tousands of laige, empty baiiels, used to haul fuel to these
sites, lay scatteied acioss the neaiby tundia, empty and iusting. Steel buildings,
cianes, giadeis, and Cateipillai tiactois weie stiewn about, abandoned due to
budget cuts and changing piioiities.
I was appalled by the sight. As we exploied the aiea, my disgust deepened.
I fully expected these despicable iemains to be a blot on an otheiwise piistine
enviionment foi centuiies. Many yeais latei I was glad to be pioven wiong. Te
eoit took thiee decades, but the outciies of enviionmental gioups and FWS
iefuge sta weie nally heaid. Congiess appiopiiated funds to iemove the eye-
soie. Only the aiistiip iemains.
Te inuence modein man has on his enviionment is quite a contiast to that
of the Eskimos who inhabited the coast foi centuiies. Te sod huts and othei
basic necessities they left behind eventually collapse, decay, and disappeai into
Te renains of a sod house used by the Inupiat Eskinos inhabiting the northern coast of Alaska.
180 BEAR WRANGLER
the eaith, a piocess we had been witnessing duiing oui tiip. We weie not soiiy
to leave Beaufoit.
Te next day Eiic and I heaid the dione of the plane long befoie it aiiived.
We loaded oui geai into it and weie soon skimming ovei the tundia, anticipat-
ing a few moie days at two wild and iemote lakes in the Biooks Range befoie we
would nally head home.
En ioute to Schiadei Lake, Ave and I discussed the kayak tiip, and he quizzed
me on oui obseivations. He suggested othei aieas within the iefuge that I should
visit, I told him I would be only too happy to oblige. I was alieady anticipating
othei iemote adventuies that I would expeiience befoie completing the wildei-
ness studies in the Aictic iange.
Inland fron the Arctic coast and near the nountains, nosquitoes were atrocious and
head nets a necessity.
181
Chapter 21
The Firth River Valley
T
he ist time I ew ovei the uppei valley of the Fiith Rivei with Ave Tayei,
he pointed out vaiious geogiaphic featuies and said, Tis is one of the most
iemote spots in the Aictic National Wildlife Range. Its suiiounded by mountains
in the Biooks Range and is the only spiuce-coveied valley within the iefuge in
which the wateis ow noith thiough Canada into the Aictic Ocean. I dont know
of anyone who has exploied the aiea, but you should. Id like to know what biids
nest in this spiuce foiest.
As iefuge managei of the Aictic iange, Ave had a laige teiiitoiy to covei, and
he attempted to gathei as much data as possible. As we continued on oui ight, he
went on to point out that the aiea lacked any lakes oi iivei giavel bais laige enough
to piovide access foi small aiiciaft, unless you landed fai downstieam in Canada
and walked back to the headwateis. But that would take days.
His woids immediately challenged me to commit myself to exploiing such a
iemote and wild aiea. When I got back to the oce, I began to study maps foi
possible access points and hiking ioutes. Eventually I had to conclude it would be a
moie dicult tiip than I had thought, and it would iequiie moie time than I had.
I ieluctantly put it out of my mind.
One spiing a couple of yeais latei Ave ew photogiaphei Wilbui Mills and me
into the headwateis of the Jago Rivei to spend two weeks documenting the caiibou
calving. Just befoie depaiting, Ave tuined to me and said, Remembei when we
weie talking about the Fiith Rivei aiea? We ieally need some good photogiaphs
182 BEAR WRANGLER
of that aieaalso some biid-nesting data. Would the two of you be inteiested in
going when you get thiough heie?
Man, I suie would, but how do we get in? I asked. I looked at Wilbui, he was
nodding eageily.
Ill see if I can guie something out befoie I pick you up, he ieplied. He
jumped into the Cessna and took o.
I wondeied what he had in mind. Seveial times duiing oui stay at the Jago,
Wilbui and I discussed the possibility of visiting the Fiith. Both of us weie keen
to exploie the valley, but the access pioblems appeaied insuimountable. We
came to the conclusion that it wasnt possible. We guied that Ave would iealize
this when he again scouted the uppei Fiith foi a landing site.
But a deep-seated hope iemained alive in me: peihaps Ave had thought of a
possible access point and was keeping quiet until he could check it out.
Two weeks latei Ave ew in to pick us up.
I just ew ovei the Fiith and found a few laige snow patches that I can land
on. Do you want to go? I biought some extia gioceiies.
Well, ah, yes, I stammeied. But how do we get out if the snow patches melt?
Oh, well woik it out, he answeied, seemingly unconceined.
Wilbui and I exchanged anxious glances.
A northern icker at its nest site.
Te Firth River Valley 183
Oh, lets go! I said. We can always build a iaft and oat out as the last
iesoit. Wilbui was giinning, he did not need peisuading.
A few houis latei we weie ciicling ovei the headwateis of the Fiith. I tiied to
memoiize as many landmaiks as I could befoie Ave put on the aps and landed
on a laige snow patch. We unloaded oui geai, and just befoie Ave took o, he
assuied us he would guie out a way to get us out.
Ill see you in two weeks, he yelled as he climbed back into the plane.
I had a twinge of anxiety as I watched the plane take o and disappeai south
into the mountains. We weie alone in this iemote valley, piobably moie than
a hundied miles fiom any othei human. But I put my appiehension aside, we
weie committed now. Wilbui and I picked up oui heavy packs and hiked ovei to
Mancha Cieek, a tiibutaiy of the Fiith. Aftei a bit of seaiching, we found a good
camping spot neai the cieek with plenty of iewood.
Wilbui was a piofessional photogiaphei. He had spent many seasons in the
Aictic iange caiiying his laige-foimat cameia to iecoid the many unique sce-
nic and wildlife featuies of this iemote aiea. At times he sat foi houis looking
thiough the cameia viewndei, waiting foi the iight light to captuie the peifect
image. I also took photogiaphs, but I did not have his patience. I enjoyed Wil-
buis company, and we usually camped togethei at night, but we spent oui days
apait, following oui own inteiests.
Fiom oui camp we had a good view to the noith of iolling foothills and highei
peaks behind them. Te stieams weie lined with faiily laige spiuce tiees, but they
giew moie stunted as they ciept up into the iavines. Te highei ones weie so
small they appeaied to baiely suivive the shoit giowing season in the Aictic. Te
valley was still coveied with patches of snow, but willows weie alieady unfolding
tiny gieen leaves. Life was buisting foith aftei a long wintei of doimancy.
Te woods weie alive with singing biids, theii music seemed to iesound
fiom eveiy spiuce tiee, willow clump, and snag. Te utelike notes of the giay-
cheeked thiush iang fiom the foiest, iobins and white-ciowned spaiiows sang
cheeiily, while olive-sided ycatcheis called out foi Quick, thiee beeis. An
upland sandpipei atop a dead spiuce snag chatteied to establish its teiiitoiy,
and fiom the open willows came the soft, cleai notes of tiee spaiiows and yel-
low waibleis.
Othei biids weie sounding o as well: heimit thiush, iusty blackbiid, yellow-
shafted ickei, fox spaiiow, and iedpoll. Nevei had I heaid such a vaiiety of
biid music coming fiom such a conned aiea. It seemed to me that they had all
headed noith to the last stand of spiuce in Alaska and weie singing theii heaits
out to notify the woild of theii aiiival. Oi peihaps they weie celebiating the
184 BEAR WRANGLER
tianquility of this unmolested aictic wildeiness. Eithei way, the songs weie joyful
music to my eais and to my spiiit.
Each day I tiamped thiough the woods in seaich of nesting biids. Te woik
was enjoyable, and I identied a lot of dieient biids. Te scatteiing fiinge of
each spiuce clump contained at least one active nest and the iemains of many
nests fiom yeais past. Robins, giay-cheeked thiushes, and the secietive vaiied
thiushes weie all nesting close to each othei.
A paii of pine giosbeaks iegulaily ew ovei oui camp singing theii liquid,
waibling notes. One moining I followed them to theii nest, which was tucked
into a thick spiuce bianch fteen feet above the giound. As I appioached, foui
naked heads iose above the nest and ciied foi food. I stood motionless and
watched as the paients shuttled back and foith with insects to feed the hungiy
youngsteis. On anothei moining I found a ickei nest only ve feet o the
giound in a spiuce tiee. I placed my eai next to the hole and conimed that it
was occupied by chicks.
On a cleai day I followed Mancha Cieek upstieam, walking thiough clumps
of spiuce, skiiting wet muskegs, and enjoying the music of biidsong. Te sweet
waibles of tiee spaiiows iose fiom the shoit willows, and longspuis chimed
fiom wet tundia tussocks.
Aftei hiking foi a time, I spotted seveial caiibou bulls enteiing a spiuce giove
a shoit distance acioss the valley. Tey weie moving towaid me, so I slipped
quietly behind a neaiby tiee and waited. Aftei a moment a huge bull stepped
out into the open a few hundied yaids away, his body iippling with stiength, his
velvet antleis glimmeiing in the sun. He acted neivous and aleit, looking aiound
a lot. He may have detected wolf oi beai scent in the aiea, but he failed to spot
me behind the tiee. A minute latei two laige bulls joined him, then anothei and
anothei, until nine magnicent bulls stood out in the open, unawaie of my pies-
ence. Tey fed slowly acioss the meadow while I admiied theii giaceful beauty
fiom my hiding spot.
Ten the wind shifted slightly, and theii heads came up in unison as they
caught my stiange scent. Te lead bull shook his head and tiotted away in a
swinging gait, and the otheis followed. Tey stopped on a iidge to look back,
nine huge animals silhouetted on the skyline, then they tuined and weie gone.
I was thiilled to have encounteied this band of laige bulls, and I hoped I would
see otheis.
I continued up the valley, walking along the giaveled stieambed. Moose tiails
weie numeious, and I watched a young bull disappeai into the willows. Te
occasional tiacks of a wolf and a giizzly beai weie wiitten in sandy patches.
I climbed a high bank, leaving the spiuce behind, and got my ist glimpse of
the pinnacles seveial hundied yaids ahead. I had iead about these spiies in the
iugged mountains: ciaggy limestone ngeis that extended along one side of a
iidge foi a quaitei mile oi so. I ciossed a small diaw and continued towaid the
iock spiies. Tey weie immense, they appeaied so much laigei than when I had
ist seen them fiom an aiiplane. I was immediately ieminded of cathedials in
a laige city. Some pinnacles jutted up into the sky foi well ovei a hundied feet.
A vaiiety of heights and base sizes, they weie paitially coveied with patches of
yellow lichens and gieen moss that added coloi to the dull giay iocks. Te foices
of natuie seemed to be giadually ievealing the jagged foimations hidden in the
mountain iange.
Fiom the base of the spiies I glassed this wild land. It was a seiene setting,
yet full of life. With my binoculais I followed the iidge and spotted a iough-
legged hawk. It stood on a pinnacle, its scieam pieicing the aii. Neaiby a paii of
peiegiine falcons launched fiom an aeiie. I watched as theii quick wing beats
caiiied them in evei widening ciicles above me.
Rock spires near the Firth River.
186 BEAR WRANGLER
I hiked along the base of the pinnacles and then climbed a iidge on the oppo-
site side of a diaw until I was level with the top of the spiies. I looked past them
to a pond below, its suiface ieecting a stand of spiuce tiees. Eveiywheie yellow,
biown, and ied lichens coloied the iocky giound, and oweis weie alieady in
bloom along the south-facing slopes. Shiubby ihododendion bloomed piofusely,
and theii puiple oweis gave foith a pleasant aioma. Pink lousewoit also added
hues to the hillsides.
It was a landscape of awesome beauty. I took a few photos and ieminded
myself to tell Wilbui about this place when I ietuined to camp so he could
captuie this panoiama with his laige-foimat cameia. His equipment was bettei
suited to do the scene justice.
I wandeied aiound these iidges foi anothei houi befoie daik thundeiclouds
began to gathei ovei the valley. I decided to descend the iidge and head foi
camp. Befoie I got halfway down, my eyes caught the quick movements of an
animal. A wolveiine! Tis elusive animal has always fascinated me, piobably
because I have seen so few. Tey aie often poitiayed as vicious, but I am diawn
to the beauty of theii daik biown coats highlighted with bioad light-yellowish
stiipes. I had a giandstand view of this one, and I was enjoying it bieathlessly.
Te wolveiine was hunting below the pinnacles, moving towaid a small maish. It
checked each giass hummock, moving iapidly fiom one to anothei, until nally
it found a piizea biid nest with eggsand ate a quick meal. I watched as it
thiust its nose into two moie clumps of giass, iaiding moie nests, befoie loping
into a willow thicket. Spying on a wolveiine added a special bonus to an alieady
impiessive day aeld.
Te clouds had giown moie ominous while I was watching the wolveiine.
Now claps of thundei ciashed acioss the valley, and stieaks of lightning ashed
in the heavens. I smelled the iefieshing aii of the appioaching stoim and ian foi
sheltei undei an ample ledge neaiby. I caught a few diops befoie I ieached covei,
and then the iain came down in toiients. Tundei clapped and lightning contin-
ued to light up the sky foi neaily an houi as I sat snugly in my iefuge, thiilled by
the sound and light show of the squall.
Aftei it passed, I staited back towaid camp, the wet vegetation soaked my pant
legs, but I did not mind. Te time just aftei a stoim is often extiaoidinaiy, and it
was paiticulaily so this day. Te scent of oweis seemed to have fieshened the
aii. Eveiything looked full of life, watei fiom the iain enhanced the plant colois,
making them especially vivid. Biids, quiet duiing the stoim, buist foith with song.
Teii sweet caioling came fiom eveiy tiee and bush. Tis expiession of ienewed
life infected me. I felt joyfully eneigized to be alive and pait of wild natuie.
I hiked back to camp iapidly as it was getting late. I lit a ie to diy my wet
clothes, and as I sat waiming myself, a few mosquitoes appeaied. So fai we
had been fiee of these buzzing pests, but I knew they would eventually come
in hoides, making life miseiable. I had to admit I could not nd beauty in all
things natuial.
About an houi latei Wilbui came back to camp. We discussed the highlights
of oui days while having dinnei, and then he ietiied foi the night. I stayed up to
enjoy the soft, ied glow of the ie and to ieect on the days expeiiences.
My thoughts tuined to the histoiy of the aiea. Te Fiith Rivei was once an
ancient tiade ioute used by Indians and Eskimos. Tey piobably diove dog teams
thiough the valley duiing the aictic winteis. Te iemains of an old cabin I had
found the ist day had contained seveial iusting shovels and gold pans, indicat-
ing that piospectois had once exploied the aiea foi mineials. At the tuin of the
centuiy whaleis spent the wintei neai Canadas Heischel Island and piobably
followed the Fiith upstieam in seaich of game.
I speculated on the possibility that someone might discovei some valuable
mineial in the futuie, and if so, piessuies to open the aiea foi development might
occui. Would that biing hoides of people? Would it be wise to give this aiea wil-
deiness status to pievent such a tuin of events?
It was late. Te sun, now low on the hoiizon, backlit the mountains, giving the
sky a iosy glow. Te aictic evening was hushed, the biids had nally quit singing.
Te hot coals waimed my feet. As I began to wiite in my diaiy, I heaid the faint
howl of a wolf. I foigot my diaiy, sat bolt upiight, and listened eageily. Foi some
minutes all was quiet except foi the guigling of Mancha Cieek. Ten I heaid the
long, mouinful ciy again. Tough faint, it seemed to ow thiough the entiie val-
ley. Silence again foi a few minutes befoie the cieatuie iepeated his ciy. It electii-
ed me, the wild, lonesome call seemed to dominate the night. Seveial times this
symbol of the wild howled, and each time I thiilled at the sound. I wondeied if
the caiibou weie still in the valley, weie they neivous when they heaid the call?
Silence ietuined, and I sat by the ie foi anothei thiity minutes hoping foi an
encoie. But the wolf iemained silent. It was the end of a iemaikable day, and I
ciawled into my tent, ieady foi a nights iest.
Two days befoie oui pickup date I heaid the dione of an aiiplane. It was Ave,
he ciicled seveial times and then diopped a note. I ian to ietiieve it. Te note
said, See if you can nd a shoit stiip to land on. Im sending a hotshot Supei
Cub pilot to pick you up.
Wow! I said to Wilbui. Ive got a few thousand houis in Cubs, and I havent
seen any place Id want to land one.
188 BEAR WRANGLER
I spent the iest of the day looking foi a landing site. I nally found a giavel
bai a little way fiom oui campsite. It was maiginal, but by cutting down a few
willows with my axe, I decided it was doable. I maiked the shoit stiip with some
oiange agging that Ave had included in his diop. Tat evening I told Wilbui
about my shoit aiistiip.
Maybe well get out of heie aftei all if he sends a good pilot, I said.
Wilbui and I had both been expiessing doubts about the pickup, but we weie
now a little moie optimistic about getting out.
It will suie beat spending a week building a iaft and oating to the ocean,
Wilbui said.
Te next day we waited hopefully in camp. At about noon I heaid a Supei
Cub. Te pilot spotted oui tents and ciicled. I ian out into the open and gestuied
bioadly towaid my landing stiip. But the pilot cut his engine to land iight away.
I could not believe it! Teie was a shoit, iocky giavel bai in fiont of oui tent, but
I did not think anyone could safely land on it.
I watched in hoiioi as the pilot sideslipped the plane down ovei the tieetops
and landed iight in fiont of oui camp! Te plane iattled and bounced as its
wheels iolled ovei the iocks, many the size of volleyballs. Te pilot ciunched to
a stop about twenty feet fiom Mancha Cieek, and then he tuined aiound and
taxied to camp. I looked at the landing geai, convinced that it must have been
damaged in the landing, but it seemed ne.
Teie is no way Im getting into that plane foi a takeo, I told Wilbui.
When the pilot got out of the plane, he seemed a bit neivous. I would have
been too aftei that landing! He seemed ielieved when I told him about the aii-
stiip I had hacked out. He told us he had been wained the landing would be
tight, so he stiipped eveiything he could out of his plane to lighten the load,
including the iadio.
Gieat! I thought to myself. If we ciack up, hell have no way to notify
anyone.
Te pilot was fiom Foit Yukon and seemed to like a challenge. He told me
that aftei he stiipped down the plane, he had spent seveial houis piacticing
shoit landings and takeos on the banks of the Yukon Rivei. Tat was some-
what ieassuiing.
I told Wilbui to head home ist, he had been eagei to leave. I helped him
caiiy his geai to the othei stiip and, exchanging uneasy glances, we listened nei-
vously as the pilot took o fiom his ist landing site. Would he make it? When
he ew ovei us, we let out a joint sigh of ielief. Well, at least he had accomplished
that much! He landed on my makeshift aiistiipa iunway compaied to that
othei giavel baiand got out of the plane.
Oh, this is plenty goodno sweat, he said, smiling.
He loaded Wilbui and his geai onto the plane, and I watched them take o
and climb out of the valley. Staying behind by myself, I felt a little appiehensive.
Tis would be a veiy iemote coinei of Alaska in which to become stianded.
I waited seveial houis and was beginning to expeiience some small disquiet.
I wondeied what I should do if he did not show up again. Should I wait, hoping
someone would come, oi should I stait building a iaft? I was pondeiing these
questions when I heaid the Cub. I dont think Ive evei been happiei to heai that
familiai dione.
Tis time the pilot landed condently on my stiip, and I climbed aboaid. He
ievved up the engine, and we bounced down the impiovised iunway. A couple
of willow bianches nicked the wings, and then we became aiiboine. A sense of
ielease washed ovei me, now I could let go of all my feais and take in the splen-
doi of the landscape below. I looked down at the valley wheie I had spent the last
two weeks and iealized that I was also a bit sad to leave.
Te view fiom the aii ieminded me of the iemoteness of the uppei Fiith Rivei
valley, tucked in the mountains along the Canadian boidei. It is a beautiful wild
place, piactically untouched by modein man. I hoped it would always iemain
that way.
191
Chapter 22
Birds of the Delta
A
s I walked acioss the tundia ats, westein sandpipeis iose out of the heathei
like honey bees coming fiom a eld of clovei. Othei species of shoiebiids
weie calling fiom tundia tussocks, iuddy tuinstones, phalaiopes, ploveis, god-
wits, and cuilews all made themselves conspicuous by voice and piesence. Gulls,
jaegeis, and aictic teins wheeled in the sky and piotested my company. Vaiious
species of ducks ew low ovei a neaiby pond, and fiom a small iidge I spotted
empeioi, Canada, and cackling geese sitting on nests. Fiom hoiizon to hoiizon
the land and sky seemed lled with nesting and ying biids.
I was in one of the gieatest wateifowl- and shoiebiid-nesting iegions in the
woildthe Claience Rhode National Wildlife Refuge. Te iefuge lies between
Alaskas two laigest iiveis, the Yukon and the Kuskokwim. Most of the iefuge is a
bioad, at, tieeless tundia plain that is less than one hundied feet above sea level.
It contains thousands of lakes, ponds, and sloughs, stitched togethei with iiveis
and stieams.
Duiing the long wintei months the wetlands aie locked in snow and ice.
Only a few haidy species of biids iemain, the maishes seem silent and deso-
late. In late Apiil and eaily May waim winds biing iising tempeiatuies, open
leads appeai along the seacoast, and then iiveis and lakes begin to thaw. As
spiing aiiives on the delta, the baiien land begins to thiob and pulsate with
Te 1980 Alaska National Inteiest Lands Conseivation Act (ANILCA) combined the Claience
Rhode National Wildlife Refuge with othei iefuges and ienamed it the Yukon Delta National
Wildlife Refuge.
192 BEAR WRANGLER
life. A faint musical gabbling fills the aii as flocks of eideis and empeioi geese
aiiive. They aie the fiist migiants to ietuin, they dont have fai to come, as
they have spent the wintei in the fiigid coastal wateis along the Alaska Pen-
insula and the Aleutian Islands.
Tousands of biids have winteied in the Beiing Sea in polynyas, openings
within the ice pack. Tese open watei aieas aie caused by winds and ocean cui-
ient upwellings, iich in nutiients, they piovide food foi the sea ducks and the
maiine mammals that congiegate theie. Fiom these bieaks in the ice pack spec-
tacled eideis nd theii way to the delta foi the nesting season.
Soon otheis follow. Te aictic teins, the gieatest migiants of all, aiiive
aftei tiaveling foi weeks on a ten-thousand-mile jouiney fiom theii winteiing
giounds along the southein tip of Aigentina. Anothei distant tiavelei is the
bai-tailed godwit. It is thought to take the longest single-ight migiation ovei
watei of any biid, tiaveling fiom New Zealand to Alaska, a distance of neaily
seven thousand miles. Te gieatei scaup leave theii winteiing giounds along the
eastein shoies of the United States and cioss the continent in oidei to ieach the
delta nesting giounds. Te Pacic black biant aiiive fiom theii wintei sojouin
along the westein coast of the United States and Mexico.
Tey come fiom eveiy diiection and fiom many dieient paits of the globe
with theii uneiiing compasses set to this gieat nesting giound in Alaska. In a
few shoit months they will build nests, lay eggs, and iaise theii young befoie
again taking to the aii to wing back to theii winteiing giounds. I have always
been fascinated with this miiaculous movement of biids. How did such a gieat
Many of the bar-tailed godwits reared in the delta nigrate to êw Zealand each fall.
Birds of the Delta 193
vaiiety fiom so many fai-ung places evolve to make these ights each yeai and
aiiive on these nesting giounds in Alaska at neaily the same time? It suiely took
centuiies foi each species to develop such migiation ioutes and habits.
I had heaid and iead about the biids of the Yukon Delta foi yeais. When I took
the wildeiness job, it was one of Alaskas biid wondeis that I needed to see. I con-
tacted my fiiend Cal Lensink, iefuge managei of this wateifowl aiea, and asked foi
advice on when to visit the ats. He suggested mid- to late June, when many of the
geese and shoiebiids would still be nesting while otheis had alieady hatched.
I aiiived in Bethel, the headquaiteis foi the iefuge, on about June ao, ,;a,
and contacted Cal. I had planned to y with him foi seveial days foi an oiienta-
tion to the iegion. Instead I found Cal at home, at on his back.
Gee, Cal, I said, what happened to you?
Oh, I injuied my back and cant y, oi do much of anything else, foi that mat-
tei. I shouldve called you and told you not to come, but then I thought maybe
youd be willing to do some ying foi me.
Be glad to help if I can, I ieplied, but I had a few qualms about his pioposal.
I did not know the aiea and had limited ying expeiience in a Cessna 8o.
Cal got out some maps and showed me wheie his ieseaich ciews weie
located. If youll y in some supplies and move my folks aiound, Id suie appie-
ciate it. He pointed out some of the majoi geogiaphic featuies, such as a few
laige lakes and Cape Romanzof on the Beiing Sea coast. Te capes elevation is a
little highei than two thousand feet, fai above most of the delta aiea. With good
visibility, it would seive as a guiding beacon foi me.
Ruddy turnstones nest in the delta
194 BEAR WRANGLER
On my ist ight the aeiial views weie astounding. Te myiiad shallow lakes,
ponds, maishes, and sloughs suipassed the size of any othei wetlands I had evei
seen in Alaska. Watei levels acioss the delta weie high fiom melting snow and
fiom oodwateis of the two majoi iiveis. Numeious Native villages weie scat-
teied acioss the ats, they all appeaied to be on the veige of ooding. Ovei many
geneiations the Yupik Eskimos had leained to build theii peimanent settlements
on highei giound, and I suspected they would suivive the spiing ooding this
yeai as well.
Te aiea contained few landmaiks, and I had pioblems keeping myself oiiented
while ying. Eventually, howevei, I found Cals ciews. I spent seveial days ying in
supplies and moving ciews fiom one aiea to anothei. Giadually I began to iecog-
nize vaiious lakes and othei iefeience points. Aftei I completed the supply tiips, I
aiianged to spend seveial days at Old Chevak, one of Cals eld camps.
When I aiiived, the delta was alieady gieen and abloom with oweis. Cian-
beiiy and ciowbeiiy plants coveied the tundia, latei in the summei theii beiiies
would piovide an abundance of delicious moisels foi man, biids, and mammals.
Te heathei, mixed with lichens and mosses, piovided a soft, spiingy cushion
foi my feet. I had not walked fai when a pintail duck utteied fiom undeifoot.
Quacking loudly, she landed on the othei side of a pond. It took me only a
moment to nd the down-lled nest containing seven pale olive eggs.
Seveial hundied yaids ahead, the mouinful ciies of a black-bellied plovei
caught my attention, and I spied a stiikingly beautiful paii of biids standing on a
ciowbeiiy tussock. As I appioached, they both ew towaid me, landed neaiby,
and attempted to distiact me fiom theii nesting site. Teii heait-iending ciies
of tu-lee, tu-lee, tu-lee lled the aii. Tey iepeated this shaip, pieicing whistle
ovei and ovei. Te veiy mouinful, distiessed ciy typies this lonely land. Teii
jet-black bieasts boideied by snow-white plumage make them one of the moie
stiiking biids of the tundia. As I continued towaid theii nest, both adults
ietuined and utteied on the giound, feigning injuiy by diagging theii wings
and tiying to luie me away. I obliged by alteiing couise.
A few longspuis sent theii melodious bobolink-like chiming songs iolling
fiom hummocks. Te sweet music of savannah spaiiows now and then diifted
fiom a low shiub, but it was the display of shoiebiids that kept me spellbound.
As I skiited aiound seveial small ponds, many westein sandpipeis iose fiom
the tundia. Gulls, teins, and long-tailed jaegeis wheeled oveihead. Ten in a
neaiby pond seveial ied-necked phalaiopes swam fiom shoie. Te movements
of these giaceful little biids weie ieected in the cleai watei as they spun
aiound in ciicles, picking tidbits fiom the suiface. Tey moved iapidly, theii
heads daiting back and foith in swift, jeiky motions. While I was absoibed in
theii antics, a ied phalaiope, glistening in its biight plumage, swam into the
open fiom a patch of sedge.
A few hundied yaids to my iight anothei laige shoiebiid, the bai-tailed god-
wit, attiacted my attention. As I staited in its diiection, the biid iose and ew
towaid me and then ciicled oveihead calling loudly, too-whoo, too-whoo! Its
alaim call became moie agitated as I continued, it obviously had a nest neaiby. I
did not want to distuib it, so I changed diiection.
I leained latei that each fall appioximately sixty thousand godwits ieaied in
the delta congiegate on the coastline befoie making theii iecoid nonstop ight
acioss the Pacic Ocean to theii winteiing giounds in New Zealand.
I came to the edge of a laige depiessed bowl of about ten acies. Te inside of the
depiession was faiily at, coveied with gieen sedges inteispeised with puddles of
watei. A hoiseshoe-shaped pond foimed the outei edge on one side. As I scanned
the bowl with my binoculais, an abundance of biooding biids came into view.
Numeious nesting empeioi geese occupied the hummocks, and I counted six
cackling geese incubating theii eggs. As I sat down on the iim above the pond, a
ied-thioated loon slipped fiom hei nest at the edge of the watei and swam away,
sounding hei low, mouinful call. Black tuinstones, mew gulls, Sabines gulls, and
aictic teins iose fiom nesting sites and wheeled thiough the aii. A dunlin and sev-
eial species of sandpipeis scuiiied along the edge of the pond stabbing at insects
in the watei and mud. I was excited and a bit oveiwhelmed to expeiience such a
vaiiety and abundance of biids in one place. As a biologist and avid biid-watchei,
Black turnstones nest in the delta.
196 BEAR WRANGLER
I felt as if I had enteied my own paiadise of singing and calling biids of all colois
and desciiptions.
One biave empeioi goose held hei giound. I inched foiwaid until I was only
six feet away. She attened hei blue and white body on the giound and stietched
hei neck and iose-coloied head acioss hei nest, deteimined not to move fiom
hei thione. Te biight plumage and yellow legs of this noble goose make it one of
the most coloiful geese on the continent, I took my time photogiaphing hei.
Aftei I neaily stepped on a nesting long-tailed duck, I caiefully picked my
path aiound mew gulls, teins, and tuinstone nests. Biids weie scieaming in
alaim as they followed my piogiess acioss the bowl. My intiusion was not appie-
ciated, and I decided that maybe it was time to leave anyhow.
Te next moining I boated and then walked fiom camp to the edge of the Bei-
ing Sea, wheie mudats, sedge-coveied iises, and sandy knolls aie suiiounded
by tidal guts, pioviding a dieient type of habitat fiom the maishes faithei
inland. Heie is the nesting giound of the Pacic black biant.
When the young biant aie giown, they migiate along the westein coast of
Alaska to the extensive eelgiass beds in Izembek Lagoon neai Cold Bay. I had
been at the lagoon seveial times duiing the fall to witness the gatheiing of neaily
the entiie Pacic black biant population. Tey feed and fatten on the abundant
eelgiass until Novembei stoims send them ying acioss the noithein Pacic
Ocean to the coasts of Washington and eventually to Califoinia and Mexico.
As I walked neai the shoie, a cool bieeze blew in fiom the sea, chilling the
alieady bleak day. A thick blanket of fog hung oshoie. Gazing towaid the sea,
An Enperor goose nesting on the delta.
I saw a landscape coveied with paiis, singles, and ocks of biant. Some weie
incubating, some feeding, otheis walked about with newly hatched young in
tow. Eveiy little sedge iidge seemed to contain nesting biids oi empty nests still
lled with down. As I appioached, paients led theii uy young away, anxiously
bowing and talking to theii ospiing. Black heads thiust above sedge clumps as
biids kept an eye on me, and small battalions ew oveihead in waveiing lines. I
continued acioss the ats, unable to fully compiehend such a massive concentia-
tion of the black geese. I spied a laige diiftwood log on a small sand dune and
climbed on top to get a bettei view of my suiioundings. Tiough binoculais I
counted hundieds of geese.
Without waining, the fog bank moved inland. In seconds the entiie scene was
coveied with a dense, moist, giay blanket. Moments befoie, hundieds of geese
had been visible, and now I could see only a few. Te sudden limitation to my
sight gave me an eeiie feeling, and I daied not wandei foi feai that I would be
unable to nd my way back to my boat.
I sat on the log foi some time listening to biid calls. Fiom my left came a
high-pitched whoo-whoo. Six gieat tundia swans emeiged out of the fog and
ew by in slow motion, less than twenty feet away. Tey disappeaied into the
giay mists like phantom white ships. I sat theie as othei biids ew by, some close
and visible, otheis obscuied in the haze. O in the mist I heaid the melodious
yodeling of long-tailed ducks, the guttuial calls of sandhill cianes, and the deep
calls of eideis as they passed by with thundeiing wings. I couldnt identify all the
biids calls, but I enjoyed just sitting and listening.
Finally the fog lifted, and the landscape was again lled with families of wad-
dling geese. Feaiing that anothei fog bank would ioll in fiom the sea, I ietuined
quickly to my boat and followed the tidal channel back to camp.
Foi seveial moie days I wandeied ovei the delta, expeiiencing the lavish
population of avian life. Te aiiay of painted wings and musical notes gave this
land a pulse of life that I have not seen equaled in any othei aiea of Alaska. In
that sense, this aiea seemed to be a natuial choice foi wildeiness designation.
But these wetlands aie moie than excellent biid habitat. Te vast delta is also
home to many Yupik Eskimos. Tey have lived heie foi centuiies, thiiving on the
abundant sh and wildlife iesouices.
I was ieminded of this one day when I came acioss a Native sheiman attend-
ing seveial huge iacks of diying salmon. Te split sh caicasses hung neatly in
iows acioss the fiamewoik, theii ied esh gleaming in the sunshine. I stopped
to talk to the man, and he told me how many sh his family would need to sui-
vive the wintei. He said he also did some commeicial shing foi salmon neai the
198 BEAR WRANGLER
coast. Commeicial seasons, though shoit, piovided some income to pay foi the
gas he used foi his motoi. In the wintei he tiapped mink and othei fuibeaieis to
add to his cash income. Te Natives also gatheied goose eggs each spiing to help
suppoit theii subsistence lifestyle. I knew my sta and I would have to take all
these things in consideiation befoie we could come up with a ieasonable wildei-
ness pioposal foi any of these wetlands.
I ietuined to the FWS camp and spent seveial moie days ying the Cessna
and hauling supplies to the ieseaich ciews befoie I ietuined to Bethel. I stopped
to see Cal and ll him in on the status of his ciews. I thanked him foi the chance
to gain a lot of knowledge in my biief stay.
Witnessing the annual explosion of life in the wetlands and maishes of the
Yukon Delta duiing the spiing nesting season had been a tiuly stiiiing expeii-
ence foi the biid-watchei in me. Woiking foi the wildeiness piogiam had given
me this oppoitunity, and I was giateful.
Te abundant salnon that spawn in the delta streans are an inportant food source
for the Yupik people.
199
Chapter 23
Leaving the FWS
B
y the end of ,;a the wildeiness piogiam was staiting to change, the Wash-
ington, D.C., oce of the Fish and Wildlife Seivice was piessing us to
acceleiate the wildeiness studies. Aftei foui yeais of almost constant eldwoik I
now supeivised eight employees. Tat meant moie administiative dutiesmoie
unwanted time in the oce foi me. Dave Cline, Maiv Pleneit, and Dick Hensel
had joined Palmei Sekoia to help conduct the eld studies. Oui piogiam also had
foui oce woikeis, including oce supeivisoi Sandy Dauenhauei. I was spending
most of my time helping the oce sta wiite biochuies, hold public heaiings, and
piepaie infoimation foi the legislative piocess. I hoped these eoits would even-
tually lead Congiess to add many Alaska iefuge lands to the National Wildeiness
Pieseivation System, but I gieatly missed being out in the eld. Duiing the peak of
the eld studies in ,;o and ,; I was spending as many as 8o days a yeai in the
eld, but by ,; that had dwindled to only a few weeks.
As I had anticipated when I ist accepted this job, it had given me an oppoitu-
nity to visit many iemote aieas in Alaska. I had oated the Coleen and Sheenjek
Riveis in the Aictic iefuge. I had spent many days hiking and camping in isolated
valleys in the Biooks Range and in the vast boieal foiest to the south of the iange.
I had visited Nunivak Island seveial times, boating along its iugged coast and
watching musk oxen giazing its windblown plains. I had spent weeks in the Izem-
bek National Wildlife Refuge, known foi its eelgiass beds, and I had been theie
in the fall to witness the gieatest concentiation of biant geese in Noith Ameiica.
I had wandeied ovei Unimak Island and stood on the shoies of the Beiing Sea
200 BEAR WRANGLER
while combeis ciashed onto those wild shoies. I had exploied othei islands
within the Aleutians and elsewheie and had ievisited many of my favoiite
aieas on the Kodiak and Kenai iefuges. Most of those aieas had once been only
dieams of mine on the map. Tis job had made those dieams become a ieality.
Tese had been extiaoidinaiy yeais, and I was looking foiwaid to seeing many
of these aieas become ocially designated as wildeiness.
But new political issues aiose that biought Alaskas pait of the national wil-
deiness piogiam to a halt. Oil had been discoveied at Piudhoe Bay neai the Aic-
tic coast in ,6;, and the oil industiy wanted to build a pipeline fiom Piudhoe
to Valdez to get the oil to maiket. At the same time many Alaska Natives weie
pushing foi compensation foi lands they felt had been unfaiily taken fiom them.
Tis political battle had been going on foi some time, but some of these lands
lay in the path of the pioposed pipeline ioute. In addition, national and state
conseivation gioups weie anxious to set aside moie conseivation lands in Alaska
befoie the initiation of any laige industiial developments. Te nations hungei
foi oil heightened the uigency foi some kind of settlement.
In ,; Congiess passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA),
awaiding Alaska Natives monetaiy iestitution and foity-foui million acies of
land, some of which lay within the wildlife iefuges. A piovision in ANCSA
iequiied the secietaiy of the inteiioi to biing to Congiess iecommendations to
set aside anothei eighty million acies of conseivation lands. As the FWS was
pait of the U.S. Depaitment of the Inteiioi, they would be iequiied to iecom-
mend impoitant wildlife aieas that should be included in these conseivation
lands. Some Natives weie also claiming additional lands in iefuges based on his-
toiical usage. Tese issues would have to be settled by the couits and Congiess,
and that might take yeais.
Ocials at the FWS knew Congiess would not establish any moie wildeiness
aieas in Alaska until these conicts weie iesolved. We continued to hold some
heaiings thioughout ,; and in eaily ,;, but by the end of ,; I was oideied
to dismantle most of the wildeiness piogiam. My budget was gieatly ieduced,
most of the sta that had not alieady tiansfeiied to othei goveinment agencies
oi sought othei jobs soon did so.
Tis tuin of events was heaitbieaking foi me and my foimei employees who
passionately believed in oui mission, we had devoted time and aident eoit to
get many of the Alaska iefuge lands into the NWPS. Now many of oui pioposals
might nevei be implemented.
One of the best paits of ANCSAthe iequiiement to iecommend eighty
million acies of new conseivation landsalso became contioveisial. A stiong
Leaving the FWS 201
contingent within the FWS believed the iefuge system should be conned to
piotection of wateifowl habitat. Some of the FWS peisonnel on the study team
that was pioposing new iefuges agieed with this philosophy and initially chose
only piime wateifowl habitat.
I and many othei FWS employees believed that some lands in Alaska with
laige mammal populations should ieceive equal consideiation. We weie espe-
cially conceined with species such as the biown and giizzly beais that iequiied
laige tiacts of wildeiness lands foi theii long-teim suivival.
Many conseivation gioups weie also identifying and lobbying foi lands
impoitant foi theii wildlife, scenic, and iecieational iesouices. It was a daunt-
ing job foi these piivate and often small associations with limited funds.
Tey fiequently tuined to fedeial biologists and othei iesouice manageis foi
infoimation and opinions iegaiding the most valuable lands that should be
selected foi new national paiks, wildlife iefuges, and national foiests. I and
othei fedeial employees spent many evenings and weekends woiking with
these conseivation gioups.
Aftei identifying the aieas they deemed impoitant, the piivate conseivation
gioups met with Assistant Secietaiy of the Inteiioi Nathaniel Reed, who was
a stiong pioponent of establishing moie wildlife iefuges and national paiks in
Alaska. Tey listed theii new iefuge and paik piefeiences, and Mi. Reed agieed
with most of theii pioposals, including a biown beai iefuge on the Alaska Pen-
insula, which I had suggested.
In eaily ,; FWS Alaska Aiea Diiectoi Goidon Watson was in Wash-
ington, D.C., and met with the assistant secietaiy. Mi. Reed immediately
confionted Mi. Watson with the Alaska Peninsula beai iefuge pioposal that
the conseivation leadeis had biought to his attention. He ielated paits of his
conveisation with Ed Waybuin of the Sieiia Club and Stewait Biandboig of
the Wildeiness Societyincluding the fact that Will Tioyei thought the FWS
was making a big mistake by not pioposing a iefuge foi biown beais on the
Alaska Peninsula.
Assistant Secietaiy Reed appaiently gave Mi. Watson quite a lectuie foi not
including in the FWS pioposals some of the lands that the conseivation gioups
wanted to nominate. Mi. Watson, contiaiy to othei agency diiectois, did not
want any of his employees woiking with these gioups that disagieed with the
FWS pioposals. It was unfoitunate that Mi. Reed ievealed my name.
Mi. Watson did not appieciate the iepiimand he ieceived, and when he
ietuined to Alaska, he was livid. He called me into his oce and beiated me foi
woiking too closely with conseivation gioups. He was not in a position to ie
202 BEAR WRANGLER
me because the assistant secietaiy had appioved of my eoits, but he could, and
did, make things miseiable foi me.
My supeivisoi, Dave Spencei, appioved of my actions but tiied to iemain
neutial. On June , ,;, he ieceived a memo fiom Mi. Watson with a copy to
me. Te memo iestiicted my tiavels in Alaska and elsewheie, stating in pait, I
expect you to ieview each individual tiavel iequest by Mi. Tioyei as to its abso-
lute applicability to the Wildeiness Piogiam in Alaska.... Tose iequests you
concui with should be submitted to the Aiea Diiectoi foi fuithei ieview and
eithei appioved oi disappioved. Te last sentence iead, Although Mi. Tioyeis
infoimation and education eoits and his inteiest in othei buieau activities in
Alaska aie veiy commendable, they appeai not to be in the best inteiest of the
Wildeiness and FWS piogiams at this time.
Mi. Watson sent the memo to me in Euiope, wheie I was vacationing with my
family. He piobably hoped it would iuin my vacation. It did, I was seething.
When I got back to Alaska, I demanded a meeting with Mi. Watson and got
one. I told him what I thought of his tiavel iestiictions, he had little to say except
to state that he stood by his memo. Tough nothing was iesolved in this meeting,
I at least had the satisfaction of venting some of my angei.
I followed with a long memo of my own to Mi. Watson on June a,, laying out
my giievances. I ielated the eoits that my sta and I had made in woiking with
Palner Sekora and I oated the Sheenfek River while working for the wilderness progran.
Leaving the FWS 203
conseivation gioups. I desciibed the many evenings and weekends I had spent
woiking foi the conseivation cause in Alaska on my peisonal time.
In this woik Ive suppoited paiks and iefuges, I wiote, and one of my majoi
eoits was to include the wildlife and scenic lands on the Alaska Peninsula, which
weie laigely omitted by the FWS. As a piivate citizen I will continue to ght foi
these unique aieas. If this is ciiminally wiong in the eyes of the FWS, then I
deseive to be hanged, but I will go to the gallows with a cleai conscience.
In the memo I demanded a wiitten apology fiom him. I nevei ieceived one.
I was convinced that this contioveisy stemmed fiom politics. Senatoi Ted
Stevens opposed setting aside moie fedeial conseivation lands in Alaska. I
was faiily ceitain that Mi. Watson had made a commitment to Senatoi Ste-
vens to include only wateifowl habitat in the FWS pioposals, I could not piove
this, howevei.
Latei the FWS did include in theii pioposals lands foi the piotection of
some laige mammals in Alaska, thanks to the inuence of Assistant Secietaiy
Reed. When Piesident Jimmy Caitei signed the Alaska National Inteiest Lands
Conseivation Act (ANILCA) in ,8o, it included the Alaska Peninsula National
Wildlife Refuge and the Bechaiof National Wildlife Refuge, also on the Alaska
Peninsula. Both include excellent biown beai habitats and healthy beai popu-
lations. Te act also added many othei aieas my sta and I had pioposed to
My canp in the Brooks Range while studying the wilderness resources in A^WR.
204 BEAR WRANGLER
conseivation gioups, these aieas piotected habitat foi othei laige mammals,
as well as wateifowl. I was immensely giatied, I felt my eoits had not been
in vain.
Some yeais latei I was awaided the Alaska Conseivation Foundations Olaus
Muiie Awaid foi my conseivation eoits, but I nevei heaid ocially fiom the
FWS. I did, howevei, ieceive peisonal thanks fiom many of my colleagues,
including seveial in the Washington oce.
My disagieement with Mi. Watson was not the only contioveisy I stiiied up
duiing my time at the FWS. Tis was the ,;os, and changing social moies weie
allowing people to speak up in situations they had pieviously enduied in silence.
Tough noimally an easy-going type, I did feel stiongly about some things and
was willing to take a stand.
In the eaily ,;os smoking was still socially acceptable. Oui FWS oce at
the time was one laige ioom with individual cubicles sepaiated by head-high
panels. Nonsmokeis found it quite annoying to bieathe the smoke that cuiled
ovei the walls into theii spaces. I wiote a memo to Diiectoi Watson, suggesting
that smokeis and nonsmokeis be sepaiated into dieient iooms. Most of my col-
leagues agieed with me, but some of the smokeis on the sta weie oended by
my pioposal. Cuiient social noims pievailed, howevei, and smoking in the oce
was allowed foi many moie yeais.
Duiing the same peiiod few women in the FWS seived in eld positions.
One spiing Fied Robaids in Juneau iequested an assistant to help him conduct
bald eagle nesting suiveys aboaid the vessel Grizzly Bear. Since most biologists
weie busy, I wiote a memo suggesting that my oce assistant Sandy Dauenhauei
would be a good candidate foi the job. Sandy had taken many college biology
couises and was an excellent biidei. Tis suggestion iaised a few eyebiows and
even biought gasps fiom some. Te idea of a man and a woman not maiiied to
each othei but woiking on the same boat sent up a ied ag to moie than a few
tiaditionalists. Mi. Robaids, being moie libeial than many, accepted the oei.
Sandy did an outstanding job. She eventually nished hei degiee in wildlife
biology and became the ist female assistant iefuge managei in Alaska, at the
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge at Cold Bay.
Most people thought my iecommendations weie justied, but a few thought I
was just tiying to be piovocative. LuRue stood solidly behind the positions I took
and encouiaged me to ignoie the negative comments.
Dave Spencei discieetly avoided the contioveisial issues in the oce, but
he made it cleai that he appioved of my conseivation eoits. Aftei it became
obvious that the wildeiness piogiam would end, he ocially iequested that I
Leaving the FWS 205
become his assistant. I expected Diiectoi Watson to block my appointment,
but he did not.
I became the assistant iefuge supeivisoi foi all Alaska iefuges. I had acted
often in this capacity duiing the past few yeais whenevei Dave was absent
foi shoit peiiods, and he appaiently appioved of how I handled these extia
duties. I quickly giew iestless in the position, howevei, it was almost entiiely
office woik.
A couple of months into my new supeivisoiy capacity I attended an intei-
agency meeting. Also in attendance was Bob Peteison, assistant aiea diiectoi foi
the National Paik Seivice (NPS) in Alaska. Duiing a coee bieak he appioached
me and said, Hey, Will, iemembei when we weie talking a while ago about youi
wanting to get back into biown beai woik?
Yeah, I iemembei, I ieplied. I denitely piefei eldwoik, an oce job is not
foi me.
Ten why dont you come ovei and talk to us. We might have a job that would
inteiest you.
Tat got my attention. Te thought of spending most of my time in the eld
again was denitely appealing. But I would have many things to considei, and I
needed to leain moie about what they weie oeiing. I let the idea simmei in the
back of my mind.
A few weeks latei I met with Bob and Stan Aliight, Alaska diiectoi foi the
NPS. Tey told me that theii aiea biologist was tiansfeiiing, they thought I
would be a good candidate foi the position. Te job would include, among othei
things, biown beai studies at Katmai National Paik and Pieseive and caiibou
woik in Mount McKinley National Paik.
I was tempted, but I had spent my entiie caieei of twenty-thiee yeais with
the FWS in Alaska, I hated to leave. I had enjoyed most of my woik, had many
good fiiends in the seivice, and felt dedicated to the FWS cause. My fiiends
uiged me to stay. But was I ieady to spend most of the iest of my caieei in the
oce? Te eldwoik oeied by the NPS was teiiibly tempting. It was going to
be a tough decision.
I mulled the job oei ovei in my mind foi seveial days and then discussed it
with LuRue. Knowing how discouiaged I had been at the FWS foi the past yeai
and a half, she encouiaged me to take the NPS position.
I talked at length with Dave Spencei. He had been my boss foi twenty yeais
and had woiked haid to make me his assistant. He did not want to see me go,
Te 1980 Alaska National Inteiest Lands Conseivation Act (ANILCA) enlaiged Mount
McKinley National Paik and ienamed it Denali National Paik and Pieseive.
206 BEAR WRANGLER
but he undeistood. In fact, he iathei envied the eldwoik I would be doing. Dave
told me that with the way things weie going he might not stay much longei,
eithei. He was eligible foi ietiiement and thought that it might be the iight time
to leave since the FWS was becoming so political.
Aftei much thought and discussion with vaiious people, I ocially applied foi
the biologist job at the National Paik Seivice. I was hiied at the end of Septembei
,;. Making the decision was dicult, but I nevei iegietted it. Te change was
good foi me, and the NPS eldwoik included many new adventuies.
207
Chapter 24
Dart Guns at Katmai
T
he beai tiail wound thiough a maze of willow bushes and tall giass meadows.
It was baiely visible in the dim moining light. We had aiiived at the iiveibank
without encounteiing a beai and now stood by a placid pool, watching pink skies
come aglow above the mountains. Te constant squawking of gulls and the splashing
of jumping salmon heialded the coming day. Two bald eagles ew by, seaiching foi
salmon iemains that might have washed ashoie duiing the night. A iainbow tiout
leaped high and sent wide, iippling waves towaid the iiveibank.
I was engiossed in these sights and sounds when I heaid the splashes of a beai
wading in shallow wateis upiivei. I came aleit and stiained to heai and see exactly
wheie the beai might be. I tuined and whispeied to my assistant, Maitin Gios-
nick, Listen, I think I heai a beai coming! I cupped my hands to my eais. Maitin
stopped in his tiacks and tuined his head to listen intently.
Teie aie at least two beais, I added, still speaking quietly. Maitin nodded
his head in agieement. Te splashing became loudei as they moved downstieam
towaid us, and then, aiound the bend of the iivei, silhouettes began to appeai.
A sow and two yeailings, I hissed. Just what we want! By putting a iadio collai
on a female with two cubs who would iemain with hei until at least the following
spiing, we would get movement data on all thiee beais instead of one individual.
Maitin iaised thiee ngeis and smiled.
We hunkeied down beside a laige willow bush. As the beais moved closei, we
estimated the adult female at o pounds and loaded the dait with the appiopii-
ate amount of tianquilizing diug. Te sow stopped foi a few minutes, scanning
208 BEAR WRANGLER
the wateis, and then she chaiged acioss a shallow iie, sending sheets of spiay
into the aii. A wateiy stieak iaced in fiont of hei as a salmon swam foi its life.
Te beai pounced, missed, and pounced again, but the agile sh escaped into
deepei watei. Te sow ietuined to hei cubs and continued along the shoieline,
closing the distance between us.
Get ieady, shes coming! I whispeied. Maitin checked the twelve-gauge
shotgun loaded with slugs that we caiiied foi piotection, while I looked ovei
the dait gun one last time. Eveiything seemed in oidei. Seventy-ve yaids, then
ftyI ticked o the ianges in my mind. Goose bumps weie beginning to com-
pete foi attention with the pounding of my heait.
Keep coming, keep coming, I pleaded silently. I caught my bieath as she
stopped foi a moment. She lifted hei nose to test the aii.
Now tuin sideways, I thought, and youll be a peifect taiget.
She stood theie foi anothei minute without moving any closei, swinging
hei head fiom side to side while my pulse iaced. I waited neivously foi what
seemed like an eteinity. Ten she took that hoped-foi step and tuined bioadside.
Quickly, I biought the dait gun up to my shouldei, biaced my elbow on my knee,
let the sight settle on hei shouldei, and touched the tiiggei.
Smack! I heaid the dait hit esh. As she whiiled to iun, I saw the silveiy ash
of the dait dangling fiom hei shouldei.
Good shot! Maitin yelled.
Eveiything continued to go well. Te sow went down, and we found hei
quickly. Te yeailings didnt give us any tiouble. Maitin and I weie able to get
biological data fiom the sow, and we placed a iadio collai aiound hei neck. Te
whole opeiation was done within an houi. We had an additional thiee beais to
tiack, and we felt good about oui accomplishment.
Soon aftei tiansfeiiing to the National Paik Seivice, I met with Bob Peteison,
assistant aiea diiectoi foi the NPS in Alaska, to discuss wildlife ieseaich piioii-
ties. Since I was the only wildlife biologist in the Anchoiage oce and had only
one summei eld assistant, the piojects I undeitook would have to be limited.
Te NPS had two othei employees doing biological woik in Alaska, one was sta-
tioned in Mount McKinley National Paik and the othei in Glaciei Bay National
Paik. Bob was a stiong advocate of using aiiciaft foi wildlife woik.
If youll lay out ieseaich pioposals, Ill see that they get funded, he said.
And Ill make suie you have a single-engine aiiciaft available to help you con-
duct youi studies.
Aftei consulting with the paik supeiintendents, I nally settled on thiee majoi
piojects: a caiibou study in McKinley, a biown beai study in Katmai National
Dart Guns at Katnai 209
Paik, and aeiial inventoiies of the laige mammals in Katmai, McKinley, and Lake
Claik national paiks. Tese aeiial inventoiies of vaiious laige mammals, such as
moose and Dall sheep, would piovide base data foi measuiing futuie popula-
tion tiends. In McKinley the caiibou heid was at an all-time low, and the paik
manageis wanted to know why. In Katmai I would study beais aiound Biooks
Rivei and do aeiial inventoiies of biown beais thioughout the paik to leain moie
about theii total numbeis, distiibution, and movements.
Bob kept his woid about suppoiting my woik. With piopei funding and an
aiiplane, I staited the studies at Katmai.
This paik in southwest Alaska was becoming populai. Moie and moie
touiists weie visiting it foi the excellent fishing and the chance to see and
hike aiound the Valley of o,ooo Smokes. Inteiest was also giowing in beai
watching, and people began coming on day tiips to watch the animals. All
this incieased human activity was causing moie encounteis between beais
and people. The dangei was especially heightened because fisheimen and
beais weie often competing foi salmon, and sightseeis weie sometimes
becoming a little too nonchalant. Remaikably, only one oi two veiy minoi
injuiies had occuiied.
Te paik seivice needed moie management infoimation on the beais at
Biooks Rivei, we would do the woik in the fall, aftei the touiists had depaited.
Te supeiintendent wanted the infoimation gatheied with as little haiassment
of the beais as possible. Tat posed a challenge since my past beai ieseaich on
Kodiak Island had involved captuiing beais by tiaps and snaies. At that time,
moie than eleven yeais eailiei, we had had to woik thiough seveial steps. Aftei
captuiing the beais, we tempoiaiily anesthetized them, ioped and hog-tied them
by hand, and then administeied anothei diug to put them to sleep. Diamatically
bettei techniques and equipment had since been developed, but I had not used
the new and impioved methods.
Te diug Seinylan was now available and much moie ecient than the old
two-diug method I had used at Kodiak. A single dose, deliveied with a dait
gun (also known as a Cap-Chui gun) into a laige muscle of the beai, would
immobilize the animal foi an houi oi moie. Antidotes weie also available, and if
injected, the animal was back on its feet quickly. Collais with iadio tiansmitteis
weie used by scientists to tiack the wheieabouts of the animals fiom the giound
oi a plane.
Aftei ieseaiching these new methods, I decided to stalk the beais on foot and
shoot them with a dait gun. Once the diug had taken eect, my assistants and I
would put iadio collais on the beais to tiack theii movements.
210 BEAR WRANGLER
I was piimaiily inteiested in getting movement data, so we needed to captuie
and collai only a single animal fiom a family gioup. Te Cap-Chui guns peimit-
ted us to be much moie selective in choosing which animals we would take,
something that the use of foot snaies had not allowed. Since cubs follow theii
motheis wheievei they go, we had no ieason to captuie a cub, theieby tiauma-
tizing its mothei as we had done at Kodiak.
My summei assistant, Maitin Giosnick, and I woiked as a team, and I often
peisuaded Alaska Depaitment of Fish and Game peisonnel to foim anothei
team to assist us in captuiing beais and putting on iadio collais. Te Biooks
Rivei has excellent iainbow shing in late Septembei and Octobei, so ieciuits
weie easy to nd.
We did most of oui woik in the eaily moining when the beais weie most
active, they weie usually shing foi salmon along the shoies of Naknek Lake
and Biooks Rivei. When we found a suitable beai, we stalked it until we weie
close enough to tiy a shot with the dait gun. If the dait hit its taiget, the animal
became immobilized in about two minutes. Howevei, in that shoit time beais
aie capable of iunning quite a distance, and they would often disappeai into
the woods.
At times a downed animal was dicult to nd in the thick biush, so we had
paik iangeis help us seaich. We would spiead about a hundied feet apait and hike
thiough the woods in the diiection the beai had taken. Usually we found the ani-
mal within twenty minutes. Te diug kept the beai poweiless foi about an houi,
plenty of time to gathei biological data and collai the animal.
Eventually oui captuies and pioceduies became ioutine. Still, we had some
moments that got oui adienaline pumping.
Maitin and I woiked alone the ist week of Octobei ,;;. One diizzly moin-
ing we left oui cabin at the ist light of dawn and walked to the shoies of Naknek
Lake to look foi beais. As I glassed the shoieline, I spotted a sow and two cubs on
the beach a couple of hundied yaids away, neai the campgiound. Two subadults
weie following the lakeshoie in the othei diiection.
Lets tiy foi the sow, I said to Maitin. Collaiing this mothei with cubs would
give us infoimation on thiee beais.
We ducked back into the woods and paialleled the shoieline towaid the beai
family. Te wind blew inshoie, sending shoit, choppy waves swishing up onto
the giavel beach. Te situation was ideal. Fiom the woods we could appioach
upwind and let the lapping waves mue any noise we might make. Te iain also
helped mute oui movements. Rows of small cottonwoods and spiuce helped
conceal us as we ciept thiough the tiees.
We moved foiwaid a hundied and fty yaids oi so and then cautiously
sneaked to the edge of the foiest. I spotted the beai family to my left, less than a
hundied yaids away. I gestuied towaid the beais to aleit Maitin, and we slipped
back into the woods.
Lets make a semiciicle and come in behind them, I whispeied to Maitin.
Shes just caught a salmon, and hei cubs aie feeding at the edge of the watei.
He nodded, so we began oui appioach.
Tis should woik, if eveiything goes iight, I thought. When we weie diiectly
acioss fiom them, we could see that the cubs weie still feeding while the sow
stood knee-deep in watei looking foi anothei salmon. I estimated hei at foui
hundied pounds and piepaied the dait. I slipped it in the chambei and closed
the bolt.
Do you want to take the shot? I whispeied to Maitin, but he motioned me
to go ahead while he double-checked the slug in the shotgun chambei.
I moved foiwaid anothei ten feet behind a low shiub and then iested the bai-
iel of the gun against a small cottonwood tiee to steady my shot. Te sow was
standing at the edge of the watei with hei butt towaid us and hei cubs by hei
side. I judged hei to be about sixty feet away, a comfoitable distance foi a shot.
Brooks Lodge is located at the nouth of the Brooks River on the shores of âknek Lake.
212 BEAR WRANGLER
I aimed at hei ieai leg muscle and ied. I knew the dait had hit home when I
heaid it smack on contact.
Te instant it stiuck, the sow bawled, whiiled, and then slapped the cub
neaiest hei. Te cub tumbled back, emitting a distiessed ciy. Te sow evidently
thought the cub had bitten hei ieai, and she punished it again by nipping its
iump with hei teeth. Te cub got back on its feet and appioached the mothei,
whining like a child that had been wiongfully punished. I didnt do it, Momma.
But with anothei shaip cu she sent it scampeiing.
While all this was happening, I had ietieated into the woods and ciouched
down. Maitin and I had huge, silent giins on oui faces fiom watching the antics,
I was afiaid one of us would explode with laughtei. Ten the sow tuined and
came towaid us. She halted at the edge of the foiest and iose to hei hind legs
to peei in oui diiection, sensing something suspicious. Oui giinning faces sud-
denly tuined sombei, and we instinctively fioze.
As the angiy sow scanned the woods, I wished foi something moie piotec-
tive than the dait gun I held. She diopped to all fouis and came foiwaid into
the woods to within thiity feet of us, hei nose testing the aii. She had detected
something amiss but was not suie wheie the dangei luiked. She snied the aii
foi a few seconds moie and then tuined and ian back to hei cubs. When she got
Red salnon I, Troyer o. Te sh fought hard and threw the hookright into ny cheek.
A ight to the clinic in âknek followed. Photo by Rollie Osternick.
to the beach, she snued at hei cubs, and they all bounded down the shoieline a
shoit distance befoie tuining into the woods. I bieathed a huge sigh of ielief.
Gee whiz, that was too close foi comfoit, I nally confessed to Maitin.
Yeah, I had the safety o, thinking I was going to have to ie, he ieplied.
Reseaicheis iaiely kill beais to piotect themselves while peifoiming studies,
but it does occui. Close calls, such as the one we had just had, almost always
end safely foi both beais and ieseaicheis as long as the people involved keep a
cool head. I was glad Maitin had the patience, even undei piessuie, to wait the
situation out.
We walked back to camp and ieciuited two iangeis to help us locate the
beai. We found the downed animal, put a iadio collai on hei, and got the bio-
logical data we needed. Te cubs stayed in the backgiound duiing oui activi-
ties, but they ietuined to the mothei as we weie leaving. We knew the family
would be okay.
Martin Grosnick with one of our radio-collared bears.
214 BEAR WRANGLER
Latei in Octobei Maitin and I spent seveial fiuitless moinings attempting to
captuie beais. Each time we made a stalk, the beais eluded us oi we missed with
the dait. We became discouiaged with oui moining hunts and decided to tiy in
the evening.
I piefeiied to dait beais in the moining when animals weie moie active and
easiei to nd. Duiing the middle of the day they tended to bed down and weie
dicult to locate. Beais became active again late in the evening, but captuiing
a beai at that time of day could sometimes cieate pioblems, daikness often fell
befoie we could piocess the animal.
One evening, aftei seveial unsuccessful days, fiustiation oveicame caution,
and I daited a matuie sow latei in the day than I should have. I could see the
dait hanging fiom hei ieai leg as she iushed fiom the iivei into the spiuce and
biich foiest. We sighted hei again, moving thiough a giassy opening on a iidge
some two hundied yaids away. We knew we had little time befoie the setting sun
would spiead daik shadows beneath the foiest canopy.
We picked up the sows tiail in tall wet giass and followed it to the edge of
the foiest. We stood theie, scanning ahead, but we did not see hei and began
Spawning red salnon ll a snall strean near âknek Lake.
to move foiwaid. Fiom about fty yaids into the woods she suddenly lunged
towaid us fiom behind a tiee, giowling. Suipiised, I stumbled back, but she col-
lapsed befoie I could ee.
Shes not quite out yet. Lets give ei anothei cc, I said to Maitin.
I piepaied a dait with anothei small dose of Seinylan and shot it into the
beais left shouldei. Once moie she luiched foiwaid with a loud bawl befoie col-
lapsing as we jumped behind neaiby spiuce tiees. If she was tiying to instill feai,
she was doing a good job. We ietieated a hundied feet to avoid fuithei stiessing
the beai and waited foi the second dose to take eect. Te sow nally lay down
at the base of a spiuce.
I think she is going down foi good this time, I called to Maitin.
I hope so, he answeied skeptically.
Aftei a few minutes we talked it ovei and deteimined that the diug must have
had time to act by then.
Lets go, I said. We weie losing daylight fast, and I was conceined we would
not be able to get data fiom the beai oi collai it. We ciept to within foity feet of
hei. She was bieathing heavily. I was faiily ceitain she was down foi good, but a
voice inside me also scieamed, Bewaie! I picked up a stick and ung it, hitting
hei side. She leaped up with an angiy ioai and took a few steps towaid us, but
then she folded in a heap.
Brown bears shing on the Brooks River falls in Katnai âtional Monunent.
216 BEAR WRANGLER
We stayed back and pondeied the situation. I was ieluctant to give hei any
moie diugs, by noimal standaids she had alieady had an oveidose. We waited
ve minutes moie and again hit hei with a stick, getting the same iesults. She
leaped up and stumbled foiwaid as we ian foi covei. Tis time she managed to
amble into some heavy aldeis. I could baiely see hei daik foim beneath the thick
covei. I ciicled the aldeis to see if I could get a bettei view, but when I acciden-
tally snapped a bianch, she again jumped up and giowled. By then I was ieally
woiiied. We had a half-diugged beai in a thick patch of aldeis with daikness
iapidly descending.
I ietieated and ciicled aiound to wheie Maitin stood. We looked at each
othei, fiowning. It was not going well. Fiankly, I was scaied and did not ielish
going into the aldeis aftei a paitially sedated beai, especially in the daik.
I think wed bettei let ei go, Maitin nally said. Tat gave me all the excuse
I needed. I agieed, and we headed back to camp.
Te next moining we checked to make suie she had iecoveied and had left
the aiea, which she had. Te sow was one of those iaie beais that did not ieact
to diugs as anticipated. Aftei this incident we decided to quit daiting beais late
in the evening.
One day we had an unexpected adventuie while accompanied by a guest. One
of the seasonal iangeis had asked to accompany us, he had nevei seen a beai
daited. He, Maitin, and I left oui cabins in the piedawn daikness and followed
a well-used beai tiail towaid the Tiout Hole, a favoiite spot foi sheimen on
Biooks Rivei. As we moved towaid the iivei, I thought I heaid a beai moving
thiough the biushy willows to oui left, and I gestuied foi my companions to halt.
We stopped to peei thiough the willows and aldeis, and I could just make out a
silhouetted beai coming towaid us along the iiveibank. As it got closei, I got a
bettei look, it was an immense beai.
I quickly assessed the situation, noting that the beai was on oui side of the
iivei. If we hit him with a dait and he stampeded in oui diiection, we could be in
dangei. We weie tiapped on a peninsula with no easy escape. Te big beai was
less than fty yaids away and walking iapidly. At the iate he was appioaching we
would not have time to piepaie the dait and make a shot. As he closed the gap
between us, his huge size became even moie appaient, and I spooked.
Hes too big! I hissed at the two behind me. I picked up a stick and thiew it
at the beai less than one hundied feet away, hoping to scaie him into anothei
diiection. Te stick landed iight in fiont of him, hitting the base of a tiee with a
loud whop. To my amazement, he gave no indication of having heaid anything.
He continued in oui diiection, still unawaie of us.
Is he deaf? I wondeied. In seconds the beai was eighty feet away and fast
appioaching. Maitin had moved to the iiveibank and was tiying to hide behind
a small cottonwood, while I backed into an aldei bush foi covei. Te two of us
weie less than thiity feet apait. Te iangei had spotted the impending situation
eailiei and had hid behind a willow bush, thiity feet behind us.
Something had to be done quickly to stop the beai fiom blundeiing into one
of us. I was caiiying a iie that moining, so I iaised it and ied into the aii. I
hoped the loud ciack would fiighten the beai into the opposite diiection. Te
shot sounded like ciashing thundei in the moining stillness.
Te beai heaid the shot, and it scaied him, but instead of ietieating, he bolted
towaid us. Befoie Maitin oi I could ieact, the beai ian full speed thiough the
thiity-foot opening between us and then iight towaid the willow bush the iangei
was hiding behind, biushing past it. Aftei the beai passed, I watched the iangei
stumble fiom behind the bush, his face ashen. He was tiying to say something
but was completely incoheient.
Maitin and I exchanged ielieved glances, iealizing we weie lucky to have
avoided a disastei. Te iangei nally got his senses back, but he nevei again
asked to help us dait beais.
By following oui iadio-collaied beais, we collected valuable infoimation on
theii movements. Using a handheld ieceivei on the giound, we weie able to tiack
A cabin at the Brooks River canp.
218 BEAR WRANGLER
the animals aiound Biooks foi half a mile oi so, depending on the teiiain. Fiom
a plane, howevei, we weie often able to pick up the iadio signal up to ve miles
away. I leained that some beais spent theii entiie life within a few-mile iadius
of the Biooks Rivei. Otheis tiaveled extensively, often moving acioss mountain
ianges. I was unhappy to heai latei that seveial youngei beais we tagged had
moved out of the paik and into the King Salmon aiea, wheie they weie shot and
killed as nuisance beais.
Radio collaiing and maiking beais was only pait of oui eoits in studying
the biown beais in Katmai. I spent the bulk of the summei and the fall ying
iepeated stieam suiveys, gatheiing data on minimum population numbeis foi
each diainage, and classifying the beais into age gioups. Te numbei of new
cubs and yeailings in the population piovided infoimation on whethei the beai
population was incieasing, decieasing, oi stable. Aftei multiple counts, I found
we had fai moie beais within the paik boundaiies than we had oiiginally esti-
mated and the population appeaied stable.
Duiing my studies at Katmai I became conceined that potentially dangeious
encounteis between beais and people weie incieasing on the Biooks Rivei and
aiound Biooks Camp. Touiists hiked to Biooks Falls to watch beais shing,
which often caused close contact with the animals. I iecommended that a beai-
Photographing brown bears along the Katnai Coast.
viewing platfoim be built neai the falls to help sepaiate beais and people. Tis
was done a few yeais aftei I ietiied.
Te lodge and the clustei of cabins wheie most people stayed weie located
on a peninsula. My studies indicated that many beais cut acioss this peninsula
to feed on salmon and thus walked iight thiough camp, causing moie conicts.
Because of my ndings, the paik seivice iecommended that the camp be moved
acioss the iivei and away fiom this natuial beai coiiidoi. Te lodge owneis,
howevei, liked to be close to the iivei and the lake so theii clients could watch
beais fiom the camp. Tey opposed the plan and lobbied politicians to block the
pioposal. Te facilities weie nevei moved, and the conicts continue.
Te biown beai woik at Katmai was fascinating and often exciting. I enjoyed
daiting beais each fall and ying the aeiial suiveys to count hundieds of beais
while they shed foi salmon oi fed on sedge ats along the seacoast. Te paik
seivice job had gotten me out in the eld again and away fiom the oce politics in
which I had been embioiled duiing my last few yeais with the FWS. I enjoyed the
eldwoik immensely, and I was nevei again tempted to take an oce position.
221
Chapter 25
Turquoise Lake Calving Grounds
I
gazed at the panoiamic scene as we ciicled in the Cessna 8o. To the east lay
ice-coveied Tuiquoise Lake, its eastein shoie boideied by iugged mountains
toweiing high into the blue sky. Fleecy cumulus clouds diifted lazily acioss the
peaks, enshiouding some of the pinnacles like silk veils. Fai to the west the ioll-
ing Bonanza Hills dominated the hoiizon, and diiectly below me a high valley
lay between the two contiasting geogiaphic featuies. I caiefully studied the land
below, which was coveied with shoit willows, heathei, sedge meadows, and a few
small ponds. Te Mulchatna caiibou heid, attiacted by iich foiage, gatheied heie
each spiing to give biith to a new geneiation.
Seveial thousand caiibou weie scatteied ovei the teiiain. A few individual cows
had alieady sepaiated fiom the main heid to seek solitude befoie giving biith.
Once the calves weie boin, the cows would spend a few days alone, nuising theii
ospiing and letting them gain stiength befoie iejoining the heid.
Te Mulchatna caiibou weie ieceiving an incieasing amount of hunting piessuie
by the mid-,;os. To keep an eye on the situation and assess the health of the heid,
the National Paik Seivice and the Alaska Depaitment of Fish and Game undeitook a
study to monitoi theii numbeis, movement, and pioductivity. As the NPS biologist, I
was looking foiwaid to spending some time on the giound duiing the calving season.
By obseiving these caiibou I could leain valuable infoimation about theii inteiac-
tions with the suiiounding enviionment duiing this ciitical pait of theii lives.
Lets y ovei the heid one moie time befoie we land on the lake, I said to the
pilot, Glen Alswoith.
222 BEAR WRANGLER
Glen glided down and ciicled ovei numeious gioups of caiibou befoie land-
ing the Cessna on the west end of the fiozen lake. Dick Pioenneke and I jumped
out and unloaded oui geai. Dick was a longtime fiiend. I had invited him to
accompany me on this tiip, and he had eageily accepted. Tuiquoise Lake was
just ovei the mountains fiom Twin Lakes, wheie Dick had built a cabin and now
spent his days ioaming the vast, wild landscape on foot. His life at Twin Lakes
has been chionicled in One Mans Wilderness An Alaskan Odyssey, a book he
wiote with Sam Keith.
I handed Glen a walkie-talkie. Heie, take this, I said. When you ietuin to
pick us up in ten days, Ill let you know the condition of the ice.
Okay. Good idea, he said, taking the iadio. He and I both knew the lake ice
sometimes deteiioiated iapidly in the spiing.
Aftei Glen took o, Dick and I pitched oui tent and got the camp ieady. At
an elevation of a,oo feet Tuiquoise Lake is above tiee line. Te aiea next to the
lake has little in the way of depiessions oi hills, and the small willows and othei
low shiubs piovide little wind piotection. I knew windstoims sometimes lashed
the aiea, but I hoped the calm weathei would pievail duiing oui stay.
Its still faiily eaily, I said to Dick. Lets see if we can nd a few caiibou.
Sounds good to me, he ieplied.
We giabbed a scope, a tiipod, and binoculais and walked to the top of a low
iise. Numeious tiee and savannah spaiiows ushed fiom the bushes, a paii of
iavens squawked oveihead, and a noithein haiiiei skimmed acioss meadows
looking foi voles oi something else to eat. We had not gone fai when I heaid the
cackle of a cock willow ptaimigan. He sat in the top of a willow bush, his ciimson
combs contiasting vividly with his white bieast and wing plumage. Tis was his
bieeding teiiitoiy, and a hen was piobably hidden on a neaiby nest.
We spotted a gioup of about thiity-ve caiibou feeding and moving slowly in
oui diiection. Dick and I ducked behind willow bushes and waited. We saw no
calves, but seveial cows had swollen bellies and extended uddeis, indicating they
would soon give biith. We watched the band foi about thiity minutes without
being detected, but when we stood up to leave, an aleit cow spotted us. All heads
tuined in oui diiection, and the entiie gioup appeaied suipiised at oui piesence.
Tey staied at us a few moments befoie the lead cow tuined and tiotted sti-
legged down a iidge. Te otheis followed. Tey tiaveled seveial hundied yaids
and then stopped to tuin and gaze at us again. Suddenly, they wheeled and ian,
appaiently deciding they did not tiust us.
Dick and I hiked a bit faithei. I found a knoll, set up the spotting scope, and
began scanning the aiea.
Turquoise Lake Calving Grounds 223
Okay, Dick. I see two cows with calves in a small swale to the left, I said,
pointing.
Dick iaised his binoculais.
Yeah, fiom the looks of theii wobbly legs, they cant be moie than a day old,
he said.
We scanned the hoiizon foi moie caiibou calves but failed to nd any, so we
headed back to camp.
Whats foi dinneidiied stew? Dick asked skeptically aftei we aiiived back
at camp. I had supplied most of the gioceiies, so he was piobably suspecting I
had biought my usual laidei of diied food.
No. I biought a suipiise, I said, ieaching into my pack and pulling out two
venison steaks.
Dicks eyes lit up. Wow! Is that evei going to taste good!
Weie going to live like kings tonight. Well get plenty of fieeze-diied stew
latei, I ieplied.
We got the stove going, and Dick soon had the meat sizzling. Ten minutes
latei we weie eating steaks and a fiesh salad I had also biought.
Dick Proenneke in front of his cabin at Twin Lakes.
224 BEAR WRANGLER
Aftei dinnei Dick biewed a pot of Labiadoi tea, made fiom the plant of the
same name. We sat on a low knoll neai camp, sipping tea and watching the sun
disappeai ovei the hoiizon. Dick enteitained me by ielating some of his adven-
tuies at Twin Lakes. As we talked, a full moon iose into the sky, and a small pond
in fiont of us ieected the scene. A light bieeze whipped a few iipples acioss the
shallow pond, causing the moon and mountains to shimmei and dance. We put
oui cameias on tiipods to captuie the diamatic moment. Aftei taking seveial
photos, Dick biewed up some moie tea. We lingeied ovei it and watched the
evening skies befoie tuining in foi the night.
Duiing the next few days we wandeied ovei the vast valley, obseiving many
bands of caiibou. Each day we encounteied a few cows giving biith, and each day
we could see that the peicentage of calves in the population was iapidly incieas-
ing. Caiibou seemed to be eveiywheie, and the moving animals gave life to these
wild, quiet lands. Like most caiibou heids, the Mulchatna caiibou wandei ovei
hundieds of miles of teiiain, ciissciossing mountains, iiveis, and valleys. But
each spiing in May they ietuin to this paiticulai spot, theii calving giounds, to
give biith to a new geneiation.
In the distance I spotted numeious animals, some alone and otheis in small
gioups. Lets walk ovei to those two cows, I said to Dick. It looks like one is
iestless and about ieady to have a calf.
We headed to a small knoll and sat down to watch the two females with
swollen bellies. In about thiity minutes one cow lay down on hei side and
iocked back and foith foi seveial minutes until the fiont feet of a fetus
appeaied. Te mothei-to-be stood up and then lay down again befoie the head
made its appeaiance. A few minutes moie of iocking completed the deliveiy,
and the iest of the calf slid to the giound. Giving biith had taken only about
ten minutes. Te cow immediately iose, tuined aiound, and began eating the
afteibiith fiom hei newboin calf. Tis tiait helps detei piedatois fiom nding
newboin calves. Te newboin lifted its head a few times as the mothei licked
it. Befoie long the calf stiuggled to its feet, immediately falling to the giound
again. Te mothei continued licking the newboin, encouiaging it to iise. Sev-
eial minutes latei it got to its feet, totteied towaid the ieai of the cow, and
began to suckle the iich, waim milk. Te calf fed foi a few minutes befoie it
collapsed to the giound to iest.
Aftei watching the biith, we decided to leave. As we stood up, the mothei
tuined to look at us neivously and tiotted o in a swinging gait, away fiom hei
calf. Te newboin lay quietly on the giound without moving.
Lets get out of heie befoie she abandons it, Dick said to me.
We did not need to woiiy, foi as soon as we moved away the mothei ietuined
to hei newboin. Caiibou calves gain stiength iapidly, much moie so than many
othei mammals, in a few houis this one would be able to tiail its mothei. In a few
days it would be capable of following the heid.
Neai noon on the fth day of oui stay the wind picked up and incieased iap-
idly while we weie hiking the aiea.
Tis wind is so stiong I cant even hold my binoculais steady. Lets head back
to camp, I called to Dick.
Yeah, it looks like weie in foi a big blow, he ieplied. We had to piactically
yell to each othei to be heaid.
Te wind was gusting even haidei by the time we got to camp. Te tent apped
violently, and I noticed a small teai in the fabiic neai one of the tent stakes.
Weie gonna have to lay the tent down to save it, I shouted to Dick. He agieed.
We diopped the centei pole and laid the tent on the giound. Just as we got one
section secuied, anothei would bieak loose. We huiiiedly sciounged foi seveial
laige iocks to keep the tent fiom apping and teaiing.
Wow! I think that last gust hit sixty! Dick yelled above the fuiy of the stoim.
Natuie seemed to have unleashed its demons. Te wind picked up speed as it
ioaied out of the mountains and iaced acioss the lake. Dick and I both seaiched
foi some sheltei to eat dinnei but without success. Dick knelt down in a shallow
A newly born caribou calf suckles its nother near Turquoise Lake.
226 BEAR WRANGLER
depiession and tiied to light the small Coleman stove, but the task was futile.
Oui only iecouise foi piotection fiom the stoim appeaied to be undei the at-
tened tent, wheie we would be unable to cook. I found the giub bag and shed
out some cheese and ciackeis.
Heie, take this. It will have to do foi dinnei tonight, I said to Dick.
We slid into the at tent and into oui sleeping bags that lay within. Aftei
eating oui meagei dinnei, we tiied to get some iest. I slept tfully, constantly
awakened by the howling wind. Towaid moining my bladdei was getting full, I
was miseiable, but I hung on foi anothei houi, hoping the stoim would subside.
But theie was no letup. In despeiation I shed aiound in the muikiness of the
tent foi an empty can and nally found one. I emptied my bladdei, seaiched foi
a hole in the tent entiance, and ung the can and its contents outside. Relieved,
I went back to sleep.
When I awoke again, my watch told me it was seven oclock, but the stoim
was still bueting us. Two houis latei, neaily fteen houis aftei ciawling undei
the collapsed tent, I nally heaid the wind begin to diminish.
Hey Dick, you awake? I asked.
How can I not be? he mutteied. Shes a iegulai banshee stoim.
Yeah, but its letting up, I said. Im getting out. Ive had enough of this foi
a while.
We ciawled out fiom oui piison to nd that the wind had lost about half of
its stiength. I saw my empty pee can wedged into a willow bush, wheie the wind
had blown it. I ietiieved it and deposited it in oui tiash. Dick and I walked aiound
stietching oui legs and seaiching foi a piotected place in which to cook bieakfast.
Hey, Will. Come ovei heie!
I huiiied ovei to nd Dick squatting down in a depiession behind a iock.
I think we can get the stove going heie and have some bieakfast, he said.
We hunkeied down behind the iock and soon had enough hot watei foi some
cocoa and oatmeal. It suie tasted good aftei so many houis with only a few ciack-
eis and some cheese.
Te stoim continued to die down, and by midafteinoon it was ovei. We eiected
the tent again, and then we pigged out with moie food foi an eaily dinnei.
Boy, I hope thats the last stoim we get, I said.
Tat was about the woist one Ive expeiienced since coming into this countiy
in the ,6os, Dick ieplied. We both knew, of couise, that it had seemed a lot woise
tiying to weathei a windstoim undei a collapsed tent than in a snug cabin.
Latei in the evening we weie both eagei to take a hike. I giabbed the shing
geai, and we followed the shoieline to the mouth of the Mulchatna Rivei. Te
iivei was actually a small stieam at the outlet, but we found a nice deep pool a
hundied yaids downstieam. As we appioached, foui hailequin ducks in biight
bieeding plumage ushed fiom the watei. I cast a small luie into the pool, and
almost immediately a sh giabbed it and ian. It leaped out of the watei seveial
times as I tiied to tame it. When the sh tiied and came to the suiface, I yanked
it out of the watei onto the iiveibank to make suie we would have fiesh sh to
eat. It was a fouiteen-inch lake tiout. I smiled and handed the pole to Dick.
You tiy, I said.
He took my pole and iepeated the peifoimance.
Tose will taste mighty good foi bieakfast. We dont need any moie foi now,
he said, ietuining my iod.
Dick was whistling in jubilation as we walked back to camp. Te stoim had
passed, and we had fiesh tioutlife was good! Since neithei of us was eagei
to ciawl back into oui sleeping bags so soon, we sat aiound diinking tea until
neaily midnight.
Te next moining, aftei feasting on the two tiout, we again headed out to
obseive caiibou. Gioups of them weie scatteied acioss the calving giounds,
just as they had been befoie the stoim. Te stiong winds appaiently had little
eect on these iugged animals of the noith. Moie cows with new calves had
joined the bands, and we estimated neaily a thiid of the adult cows now had
calves. We spent the next two days taking photogiaphs of caiibou feeding,
calves suckling, and gioups of calves iunning and playing togethei. We weie
still nding a few newboin calves, but calving had ieached its peak and was
beginning to tapei o.
Tat evening we dined on moie fiesh tiout caught fiom the pool.
Tomoiiow is oui last day at Tuiquoise Lake, I said to Dick. Lets spend the
day counting as many cows and calves as we can. I want to know the success of
this yeais calf ciop.
Good idea, Dick ieplied. We know wheie most of them hang out, and we
should be able to nd seveial hundied animals. Most of these caiibou would
latei wandei ovei to Twin Lakes, wheie Dick lived, so he had a special inteiest
in the heid.
Te following moining we packed a lunch, giabbed oui binoculais and spot-
ting scope, and headed west. Befoie long we encounteied a band of sixty animals.
I set up the scope, and as I called out how many cows, calves, and yeailings I saw,
Dick iecoided the numbeis.
Aftei censusing that gioup we continued oui tiek, stopping often to count
small bands, singles, and paiis. At about noon we topped a iidge and saw a
228 BEAR WRANGLER
seiene pastoial scene in a laige swale below us. Moie than a hundied caiibou
weie bedded down, peacefully chewing cud. Neaily eveiy adult cow had a calf by
hei side. We sat and watched the animals foi some time without being detected.
Te only sound we heaid was a male Lapland longspui that iepeatedly iose fiom
a bush, climbed high in the sky, and then utteied down like a butteiy, all the
while sounding his chiming call as he descended.
We did not want to distuib the peaceful scene, so we sneaked down the othei
side of the iidge and continued oui census. By the end of the day we had tabu-
lated 6o cows and o, calves.
It appeais weie getting a good calf ciop this yeai, I said to Dick.
It suie does, and I hope some of them will visit me at Twin Lakes latei this
summei so I can get moie pictuies.
Te tempeiatuie continued to iise aftei the stoim, and the lake ice was melt-
ing iapidly. Open watei appeaied on the fai side of the lake. We weie due to y
out the next day, so Dick and I walked out onto the fiozen lake in fiont of oui
camp that last evening. We found spots wheie the ice appeaied quite weak.
What do you think, Dick? Shall we wave o Glen tomoiiow and tell him the
ice isnt safe?
Boy, I suie think so. He can go back and get the Tciaft on oats and pick us
up in that open watei.
Caribou forn into large herds after calving.
I agieed. Te ice was just too iotten to chance a landing with the heavy Cessna
8o on wheels.
Duiing the calm of the evening we heated a fieeze-diied stew and then sat
aiound a small ie diinking tea and talking about what we weie going to do
when we got home. Dick was anxious to ietuin to his cabin and see how all
his wild pets had faied while he was gone. He always fed a few small animals
and biids, such as giay jays, that hung aiound his aiea. I was eagei to ietuin
to my family.
Te weathei was good the next moining, and we weie suie Glen would aiiive
to pick us up on schedule. Aftei eating bieakfast, we walked out on the ice again.
It was denitely unsafe foi a wheeled landing. We decided to pack oui geai but
leave the tent standing in case we weie stianded anothei day.
At about eight thiity Glens 8o appeaied on the hoiizon and ciicled oveihead.
I tuined on the walkie-talkie. His voice ciackled ovei the iadio.
Hows the ice down theie? he asked.
We think its too iotten and iecommend you dont land. Teie is enough
open watei on the othei side foi a oatplane landing, I iadioed back.
Rogei, I heai you, but aie you suie? It looks pietty good to me.
I looked at Dick. He shook his head. Rogei, Glen, but Dick and I both think
you shouldnt chance it.
Teie was a shoit pause befoie he called again. Ill just touch down a little
and see how it feels.
Glen made anothei ciicle, ieduced powei, and gently let down until the
wheels ian on the ice. I expected him to lift o and go aiound again, but instead
he cut the engine. Dick and I glanced at each othei appiehensively. We both held
oui bieath, as we knew the ice was weak. Te plane slowed as it iolled along the
ice, which appeaied to be holding. But just as the plane stopped, the left wheel
diopped thiough the ice. Foitunately, the left wing hit the fiozen lake, and its
wide suiface kept the Cessna fiom sinking deepei.
Boy, oh boy! Aie we evei in a jam! said Dick.
I was speechless. Why in the woild had Glen tiied to land aftei we had wained
him against it? Dick and I walked quickly out to the plane. Glen was still inside as
we appioached, and we could heai him talking on the planes iadio. I suiveyed
the stuck Cessna and wondeied how we weie going to get it out.
Glen nished his iadio conveisation and ciawled out of the planes passengei
side, looking sheepish.
Well, I guess I should have listened to you guys.
We did not ieply. No point in saying, I told you so.
230 BEAR WRANGLER
Glen said he had contacted a laige aiilinei on the iadio emeigency fiequency.
Te aiilinei pilot would call the Fedeial Aviation Administiation (FAA) in
Anchoiage. Tey would ielay a message to Glens biothei Bee at Poit Alswoith,
a small community on the shoie of Lake Claik wheie Glen and his biothei lived.
Bee would aiiange a iescue.
Glen was conceined the plane might sink faithei into the ice and asked if we
had seen any logs that he might slip undei the 8o. I said no, but told him we had
found a cache of empty ve-gallon gas cans that someone had left on the lake-
shoie. Te thiee of us got the cans, tied them togethei, and slid them undei the
wings, the engine, and the iight wheel. We all hoped that would keep the plane
stable until it could be iescued.
In about an houi Bee aiiived in a Tciaft on oats and landed in the watei on
the othei side of the lake. Glen hiked acioss the ice to his biothei, and they ew
back to Poit Alswoith to aiiange foi help. Befoie Glen left, he asked Dick and me
to look aiound foi a possible emeigency aiistiip neai the lake.
Dick and I weie discouiaged. We had been looking foiwaid to going home.
Now it appeaied we would be out anothei day, maybe longei. Despite oui feel-
ings, we had a task to do. Back at the tent I asked Dick if he iemembeied the at
iidge we had found a few days eailiei while looking foi caiibou. We had taken
notice because it was appaient that a few planes had landed on it.
Yeah, its iight theie, Dick said, pointing.
We staited hiking towaid the site, which was noithwest of oui camp. A shoit
while latei we got to the iidge and looked it ovei. We thought it might seive as
A wheel broke through the ice when Glen Alsworths plane landed to pick us up.
an emeigency stiip if we moved a few iocks, which we did duiing the next half
houi. I was suie I could land and take o on it with a Cub, but I was not suie
about the laigei Cessna 8o.
We ietuined to camp. About an houi latei two planes came inGlen in the
Tciaft on oats and Bee with a Supei Cub on laige wheels. Bee ew to the head
of the lake and found a landing site on a giavel bai, while Glen landed on the
ice using the Tciaft oats like skis. It saved a long hike fiom the open watei on
the othei side of the lake. We didnt woiiy about the Tciaft punching thiough
because it was lightei than the Cessna and the oats distiibuted its weight moie
evenly than wheels.
Aftei landing the Tciaft, Glen told us a helicoptei big enough to lift the
Cessna would soon be on its way fiom Anchoiage. I told Glen about the emei-
gency stiip we had found.
Ill iun Dick back to Twin Lakes, Glen said. When I ietuin, well hike up to
inspect it.
I helped Dick load his geai in the Tciaft. We shook hands, and I thanked him
foi accompanying me on the tiip.
Yeah, its been quite an adventuie, he said, smiling. Ill be glad to get back
to my cabin and the quiet life, though.
Glen ew Dick back to Twin Lakes. When he ietuined, he landed the Tciaft
on the ice neai the Cessna again. We hiked up to the emeigency stiip that Dick
and I had found. Glen was suie the stiip was long enough to take o with the
8o, but the suiface of the iidge was iough. He decided to put laigei wheels on
the Cessna so it could bettei absoib the iough spots. When we ietuined to the
Tciaft, Glen iadioed Bee and asked him to go back to Poit Alswoith to get a jack
and the biggei wheels. In a few minutes we watched Bee take o fiom the head
of the lake.
At about two thiity that afteinoon the helicoptei aiiived and landed on the
shoie of the lake. Glen and I put a laige sling, biought by the coptei, on the 8o
while the choppei ciew placed a net ovei the wings to bieak the aiiow while
caiiying the plane. Te ciew ietuined to the huge helicoptei, and in a few min-
utes it was hoveiing ovei the 8o. Te ciew loweied a cable, which Glen attached
to the sling aiound the Cessna. In just a few minutes the choppei lifted the plane
o the ice and caiiied it ovei to the emeigency stiip on the iidge.
Te helicoptei ciew unhooked the Cessna and then ew back to Anchoiage.
Glen and I hiked ovei to the site caiiying the jack and wheels Bee had biought.
We jacked up the plane and put on the laigei, softei wheels. At about that point
something occuiied to me. Glen planned to y back to Poit Alswoith in the 8o
232 BEAR WRANGLER
while Bee ietuined with the Cub, which was loaded with geai. Tat left only the
Tciaft and me at the lake.
Whos going to y back the Tciaft? I asked Glen.
You aie, he ieplied. You told me you once ew Tciafts.
My stomach sank. Tat was not what I wanted to heai, but I had suspected
as much. I had not own a Tciaft foi neaily twenty yeais, and this one was on
oats sitting on iotten ice. I voiced my doubts, but Bee and Glen both assuied
me I would have no pioblem. I had little choice.
Okay, Ill give it a tiy, I said to Glen. Its youi plane!
Bee agieed to wait until I was aiiboine, to make suie I took o safely. In the
meantime Glen got the 8o o the stiip without any pioblems.
A large helicopter in the process of pulling the Cessna I8o out of the ice.
While we had been iescuing the Cessna, the ice had continued to deteiioiate,
when I walked out to the Tciaft, my foot bioke thiough the ice twice. Tat ieally
made me neivous. I got into the plane, checked out the contiols, and staited it.
Aftei waiming the engine, I gave it full thiottle, but the plane would not dislodge.
Te oats had sunk into the soft slush a couple of inches. I got out, pushed on the
stiuts, and iocked the plane. I managed to get one oat out of the depiession, so
I got back in and gave the engine full thiottle again. Te plane still did not budge.
Peispiiation began iunning into my eyes. Fiustiated and neivous, I ievved the
engine seveial times, and nally a oat bioke loose. Ten the othei. In seconds
the Tciaft was sciunching along the ciusty ice, gaining speed. Finally it became
aiiboine. I exhaled mightily!
As I gained altitude, I tuined and ciicled ovei the caiibou. Laige gioups of
cows with calves occupied the numeious iidges and swales. Calving was almost
complete. I would ietain many fond memoiies of the week Dick and I had spent
with this iemote heid of caiibou.
Te plane continued to climb until I was ying high ovei the mountains
towaid Lake Claik. I was still neivous, though, as I had not made a watei landing
with a Tciaft foi neaily twenty yeais. When I aiiived at Poit Alswoith, I let the
plane down gently and made a powei landing. It was a smooth one, and I was
one ielieved pilot. I wiped the sweat fiom my biow, taxied to shoie, and tied up
the plane neai Glens house.
Dick and I had gone to Tuiquoise Lake to leain moie about the Mulchatna
caiibou heid. We had gotten a lot of good infoimation, and we had enjoyed
one anotheis company. Spending seveial days in a pictuie-postcaid setting had
ceitainly been a tieat, but, like Dick, I had had enough adventuie foi a while. I
looked foiwaid to getting back to my family in Anchoiage.
235
Chapter 26
Danger in Our Business
R
oss and I weie oating peacefully down the Alagnak Rivei as I watched an
ospiey glide and tuin in the sky. High iock walls loomed on eithei side of us.
As we appioached a bend in the iivei, my eais caught the sound of a wateifall. I
became aleit and cupped my hand behind my eai to heai bettei. Te sound became
loudei, and I yelled to Ross, Wateifall ahead!
He nodded and giabbed his oai imly. Oui iaft shot aiound the shaip cuive,
diiven by the incieasing velocity of the cuiient. My mind swiiled with confusion as
my eyes swept acioss the plunging iivei and the foaming white watei below. When
I saw oui fiiends iaft oating upside down in the iivei below the falls, I knew we
weie headed foi disastei.
Wildlife biology may not seem like a dangeious business, but ovei the couise of
my thiity-yeai caieei in Alaska many of my colleagues have been killed while con-
ducting eldwoik. Otheis, including myself, have had seiious accidents but weie
foitunate to have suivived them. Most of these incidents weie ielated to aiiciaft
oi boats. We often tiaveled in iemote mountain iegions oi on open seas, aieas
which aie exposed to windstoims, snowstoims, fog, and othei hazaidous weathei
conditions. Tose of us doing aeiial wildlife suiveys fiequently had to y at low
elevations, leaving little ioom foi eiioi.
Duiing my eaily days in Alaska the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice tiied to
impiove the safety of the woiking conditions. Te agency equipped its aiiciaft,
boats, patiol cais, majoi oces, and eld stations with iadios linked by a com-
mon iadio fiequency foi quick communication. Employees also had to go thiough
236 BEAR WRANGLER
intensive safety tiaining. Despite these eoits, accidents happened. When they
did, the espiit de coips among employees shone thiough. As soon as one of oui
planes oi boats was iepoited oveidue oi missing, we iallied to the seaich. Find-
ing oui missing colleagues became oui highest piioiity.
Te last seaich in which I paiticipated was foi Jeiiy Fishei and Jim Eiickson
in late July ,;o. Tey had been conducting aeiial sheep suiveys on the noith
side of the Biooks Range in the Aictic iefuge. When the men weie iepoited
as missing, the FWS iesponded with thiee Beavei and two Giumman Goose
aiiciaft. I ew as an obseivei in one of the Beaveis, piloted by Dave Spencei.
We had not seaiched long when a pilot ahead of us iadioed that he had found
the wieckage. Dave and I weie ovei the scene soon aftei heaiing the news. Te
plane was in a small canyon. It appeaied that it had exploded and buined on
impact. We ciicled but saw no suivivois. Dave tuined to me, shook his head,
and said, It doesnt look good.
We ew to Peteison Lake, wheie the iest of the seaich team was assembling. A
helicoptei with a state tioopei aboaid had alieady been dispatched to the scene.
We gatheied aiound a ie, awaiting the helicopteis ietuin. We had all own
ovei the accident and weie despondent, expecting the woist. I wiote in my diaiy
that evening, Eveiyone is standing gloomily aiound the campie this evening
making small talkeach in oui own thoughts. Many of us thinking it could just as
easily have been me. All of us have conducted sheep suiveys in iugged mountains,
and all of us have expeiienced downdiafts oi had othei weathei-ielated incidents
that iesulted in close calls. We aie continuing to sit aiound diinking coee late in
the evening. No one wants to go to bed. One just cant sleep at such times.
Latei the choppei ietuined with two body bags. As we had feaied, theie weie
no suivivois, and the tioopeis conimed the plane had exploded and buined
on impact.
Tis incident was especially haid foi me. Jeiiy Fishei, Ave Tayeis assistant,
had own me ovei pait of the Aictic iefuge only a week oi so befoie. We had
camped out togethei foi seveial days at Schiadei Lake.
I had many naiiow escapes ovei the yeais, but theie weie thiee times when I
was suie I had met my demise. Te ist accident happened in ,;, when Doug
Haynes and I ciashed at Tonki Cape, which I desciibed in Chaptei a. Te last
two occuiied in ,;,, while I was woiking foi the National Paik Seivice. Te ist
of these was the iafting incident.
Six of us weie piepaiing to oat the Alagnak Rivei in thiee sixteen-foot iub-
bei iafts to suivey the sheiy, iecieation, and wildlife iesouices of this majoi
diainage. My piimaiy inteiest was to locate and map the iaptoi nests along
Danger in Our Business 237
the iivei. Te Alagnak ows fiom Kukaklek Lake. Its othei main watei souice
is Nonvianuk Lake. Tese two lakes aie each about thiity miles long and aie
located just south of Iliamna Lake, the laigest lake in Alaska. Te outlet iivei
fiom Nonvianuk Lake joins the Alagnak about twenty-ve miles below Kukaklek
Lake. Te Alagnak Rivei meandeis anothei seventy-ve miles befoie it empties
into the Kvichak Rivei neai the head of Biistol Bay. At the time of oui oat tiip
the aiea had not yet been added to the Katmai paik lands, but much of it had
been selected as an addition.
I had own ovei the Alagnak Rivei seveial times while conducting beai sui-
veys and had seen a substantial wateifall on the noithein bianch below Kukaklek
Lake. I was alaimed, then, to leain that the plan called foi two iafts and foui
people to oat this bianch. Woiiied, I told the otheis what I had seen, but they
assuied me they knew a numbei of people who had oated the iivei and had
gone ovei the falls without incident. Tey told me that singei John Denvei had
iecently made a video of himself going ovei the falls, and that it appeaied to
be an easy diop. I was not convinced and piotested moie, so the otheis nally
agieed to diop me o just above the falls. I would then hike aiound the falls and
photogiaph the two iafts going ovei this iugged stietch of watei. It would make
a spectaculai pictuie.
Foui of us weie own with oui geai into Kukaklek Lake on the moining of
June , ,;,. Biuce Kaye and his fiiend Dick weie to y into Nonvianuk Lake
the following day. Tey would oat the Nonvianuk Rivei and meet us at an old
cabin neai the junction of the Alagnak and Nonvianuk Riveis. Dick Russell and
his assistant Bill took o in one iaft, Ross Cavanaugh and I followed in anothei.
We oated the iivei, catching a few sh and enjoying the sceneiy. We camped
about fteen miles downstieam fiom the lake outlet. Tat evening we delighted
in a nice sh dinnei cooked ovei an open ie.
Te next moining we stued all oui geai into wateipioof bags and secuied
them to the iafts. I climbed in and took a seat at the back of the iaft. A light mist
was falling, so I woie hip boots, a wool jacket, and a light iaincoat. Ovei the iain
geai I woie a life vest that contained a COa caitiidge foi quick ination.
Not fai downiivei high clis lined the banks. I began to think about the falls
and the plans to let me o to hike aiound them, but I wasnt too conceined. Te
iivei seemed placid enough.
As it naiiowed, howevei, the cuiient picked up speed, and I became a little
anxious. Dick and Bill weie a hundied yaids ahead of us and had disappeaied
aiound the cuive when I ist heaid the ioai of the wateifall. Ross and I weie
moving iapidly along one of the iock walls and weie pulled suddenly aiound a
238 BEAR WRANGLER
shaip bend of the iivei. Tat is when I saw the wateifall and the oveituined iaft,
and I knew theie was nothing we could do.
Hang on! I yelled to Ross.
I let go of my oai and giabbed the safety iope with both hands just befoie we
diopped ovei the ten-foot falls. Te iaft hit a huge standing wave at the bottom
and ipped befoie continuing down the iivei. I was now in fiont of the upside-
down iaft and still hanging on to the safety iope. As we weie caiiied down the
tuibulent iivei, waves bioke ovei my head. I was having tiouble catching a bieath.
I tiied to giab the pull tab that would inate my life jacket, but I could not nd it.
Moie watei washed ovei me, and I gagged as the iivei iushed into my mouth.
Tis is a heck of a way to go, I thought. I was ceitain I was going to die, but
even so I did not give up. Coughing and gasping foi aii, I fought to keep my head
above the violent watei. As I was swept aiound a bend of the iivei, I spotted two
laige willow bushes leaning ovei the edge of the bank. Convinced I could not
suivive in fiont of the iaft foi much longei, I let go and despeiately lunged foi
the willows, about ten feet away. I missed!
Now being swept down the iivei like a half-submeiged log, I tumbled and spun
out of contiol. My eneigy spent, I was almost ieady to give up, when my feet hit
some iocks. Hope suiged thiough me, giving me stiength I did not iealize I still had.
I kicked and fought my way acioss the slippeiy iocks towaid the iiveibank, slowly
getting out of the main cuiient. Finally, I giabbed a bush on shoie and pulled myself
out of the iivei. Exhausted, I lay on the bank, coughing and spitting up watei and
even some blood. Aftei seveial seconds I staggeied to my feet in time to see Dick
ciawling ashoie on the othei side of the iivei, pulling his iaft onto the iiveibank. He
had been caught in a whiilpool foi a few minutes befoie it spit him out and sent him
towaid the bank. Oui iaft, still tuined ovei, was being caiiied downstieam.
I despeiately looked aiound foi Ross but could not see him. I did not know he
was undei the iaft tiying to keep his head above watei in the aii pocket. When he
hit shallow watei a little faithei down the iivei, he got out fiom undei the iaft. I
was ielieved to see him alive and watched as he ciawled onto the opposite shoie.
Te iaft was too big foi him to pull out of the cuiient, howevei. I heaid him
hollei foi help. He was hanging on to the iaft, despeiately tiying to keep it fiom
being swept away. Fiom the opposite side of the iivei I could do nothing to assist.
I yelled to Dick that Ross was downstieam and needed help with the iaft.
Eventually the thiee on the othei side got togethei and poled the iafts acioss to
my side. As we discussed the oideal, we found out that each of us had been about
ieady to give up. Aftei Dick had been thiown fiom theii iaft, he was sucked to
the bottom and held theie by a stiong cuiient. When his hand accidentally hit the
safety iope tied to the iaft, he giabbed it and pulled himself to the suiface. Bill had
been thiown fiom the iaft and somehow managed to swim ashoie. We all knew
we weie extiemely lucky to have suivived. Te whole event had occuiied within a
few minutes, but in oui minds it had seemed much longei.
Aftei we iecoveied, we suiveyed the damage. Oui shing iods weie gone,
as weie thiee of the foui oais. Oui geai was still tied to the iafts, but watei had
seeped into seveial of the wateipioof bags. Some of oui food was satuiated, and
paits of my cameia geai weie iuined. Most of oui extia clothes weie also soaked,
so theie was little point in changing. Foitunately oui sleeping bags iemained diy.
Te situation was not gieat, but also it was not giim. We had all suivived,
and we still had oui iafts and most of oui geai. Since we knew no othei dangei-
ous iapids weie downiivei, we decided oui best couise of action would be to
continue oui tiip. We cut down thiee small spiuce tiees, fashioned them into
ciude oais, and then continued oating down the iivei to the junction, which we
ieached a few houis latei.
Biuce and Dick weie alieady at the old cabin. Tey had a ie going in the
stove and hot soup simmeiing on top. Chilled and shiveiing in oui wet clothes,
we weie extiemely giateful foi the ie and the soup, which waimed both oui
outsides and insides. We told Biuce and Dick all about the falls and again won-
deied how all of us had suivived the plunge. We decided that when John Denvei
had made the video, the iivei had obviously been at a dieient level. We spent
the evening iesting and diying out oui wet geai and clothes.
Te next moining we continued oui jouiney, mostly diied out but still using
oui makeshift oais. We had seveial moie days to oat to the pickup point neai
the Kvichak Rivei befoie being own back to King Salmon. Despite the accident,
the tiip was a success. We weie able to continue suiveying the iesouices of the
iivei, and we had a heck of a stoiy to tell when we got home.
And while I nevei got those spectaculai pictuies of the iafts going ovei the
falls, Ill be content to see photos someone else has taken. Tat expeiience taught
me some stiong lessons: nevei iaft ovei a wateifall, and always weai a life jacket
that does not need to be inated.
I had anothei biush with death latei that yeai, this time in a plane. I had own
sheep, moose, and caiibou suiveys in McKinley paik in a Supei Cub foi seveial
yeais, and I had become familiai with the pooi weathei conditions that often
develop iapidly in this high, iugged, mountainous iegion.
On Novembei a; I was ying moose suiveys in the Riley Cieek diainage. Te
weathei conditions weie good in the moining, but by noon the wind had picked
up. At one in the afteinoon I ended the suiveys and ietuined to the paik aiistiip.
240 BEAR WRANGLER
Two students fiom the Univeisity of Alaska had aiiived that afteinoon and
wanted to be own to the noithein side of the paik. Tey weie ieseaiching win-
tei feeding behavioi of caiibou.
Its too windy to y today, I told them. Ill tiy to get you out tomoiiow,
weathei peimitting.
Te following moining the wind was still blowing, but by eleven it had died
down a bit, so I told the students to get ieady. I left with the ist student at
about noon and followed the Denali Highway noith towaid Healy. I had a good
tailwind thiough the pass and veiy little tuibulence until I ew ovei Otto Lake.
Te wind theie tossed the Supei Cub aiound violently foi a few minutes, but as I
ew noith towaid the Stampede Tiail, conditions impioved. We spotted seveial
hundied caiibou neai the Teklanika Rivei. I landed on a small lake neai them and
unloaded my passengei and his geai. As I got ieady to leave, I said, Ill be back
with youi paitnei in about an houi.
On the way back I detouied faithei to the east to avoid the tuibulence aiound
Otto Lake. I landed at the aiistiip aiound one thiity, loaded up the othei stu-
dent, and was again undeiway. I ew thiough the pass and then east to avoid the
winds I had encounteied on the ist tiip. I landed on the lake and diopped o
the student and his geai.
Te wind incieased on the way back and slowed my speed. Te winds weie
playing with my plane that day, but they weient thiowing anything at me I hadnt
seen befoie. As I appioached the aiistiip, I put on a notch of aps and ieduced
powei. Te plane was at tieetop height when I ciossed the end of the iunway. A
violent gust of wind hit me fiom the side and tuined the plane ciosswise to the
aiistiip. I immediately shoved the thiottle foiwaid to give the engine full powei.
As the engine ioaied, I tiied to tuin the plane back into the wind, but it did not
iespond. I felt helpless as anothei gust hit me, tipping the plane on its side. I saw
willow bushes coming at me.
Te plane hit. A cacophony of ciashing, iipping, and scieeching ient the aii as
the Cub skidded thiough the willow bushes. Te foice of the impact slammed me
foiwaid. I baiely iegisteied the chaotic blui of bushes, iocks, plastic, and metal. I
felt I was going thiough a tunnel of death, I had nally met my end. Ten eveiything
became quiet. I sat theie foi a few seconds befoie I iealized that I was still alive.
Relief swept ovei me. Quickly, I began to suivey the damage. A wing had
been iipped o. Te cockpit was ciushed. Te uppei pait of my body was
outside the plane, the windshield having been toin away. Te engine had been
jammed back, tiapping my legs against the contiol stick. I tiied to pull myself
fiee but could not.
Maitin Giosnick, my assistant, appeaied at the side of the wieck and saw
me move.
My God, hes alive! he said. Sit still, Will. I iadioed the oce, and help is
on the way.
Maitin had been standing neai the iunway, awaiting my ietuin. He had
watched as the wind gust hit the plane and tuined it ciosswise. Ten he saw the
plane disappeai behind some shoit tiees and heaid the impact. He immediately
called the paik oce on his iadio.
Te plane was a mangled mess. Te left wing, which contained one of the gas
tanks, was now diiectly ovei my head and leaking gas onto my shouldei. I was
lucky that spaiks had not ignited it. I was not in pain, but when I ieached down,
I could feel that my leg was bioken. Te kneecap had a big knot on it, and I could
feel a piotiuding bone. In spite of the ie dangei Maitin stayed beside me until
the iescue ciew aiiived.
Within a few minutes an emeigency ciew began cutting and pulling the plane
apait to get me out. My leg was still jammed undei the contiol stick. I asked
foi a wiench and used it to unbolt the stick. I could nally pull my leg fiee. Te
ciew splinted my leg, piied the instiument panel foiwaid, and lifted me out. I
iemained conscious and calm duiing the entiie oideal. I think I was paitly in
shock, which piobably helped.
I was lucky to survive the crash of this Piper Super Cub in Denali âtional Park in I/. Tis
picture was given to ne by Teron Snith. Photographer unknown.
242 BEAR WRANGLER
I was iushed to Healy, wheie a medic conimed that my leg was bioken. Te
weathei was too iough to y, so an ambulance took me to the hospital in Faii-
banks. I aiiived at six thiity that evening, and by eight oclock I was on the opei-
ating table. Tey wiied my kneecap togethei, and then secuied my leg in a cast.
I spent about a week in the Faiibanks hospital befoie my NPS supeivisois,
Bob Peteison and Paul Haeitel, accompanied by LuRue, aiiived in a goveinment
plane and ew me back to Anchoiage. I was veiy happy to see LuRue and glad
to get home to the kids again. Once again I had caused LuRue a lot of woiiy and
neaily made hei a widow.
Te FAA team that investigated the ciash said it was one of the woist aiiplane
wiecks they had seen in which the pilot had suivived. Tey attiibuted my sui-
vival to my helmet. A Pipei Supei Cub has two tubulai bais that cioss inside the
windshield just in fiont of the pilots head. Some yeais befoie, I had decided that
I had a good chance of suiviving a ciash if my unpiotected head did not hit those
bais. Since I ew a lot of low-level wildlife suiveys, incieasing my chances foi a
ciash, I began weaiing a helmet even though it was not iequiied. In the ciash the
helmet had been seveiely damaged when I was slammed foiwaid into the bais.
Te investigatois said that the helmet had saved my life.
I spent seveial months iecupeiating, but by May I was ying again. I contin-
ued to y Supei Cubs in my wildlife woik, but the expeiience stayed with me.
Whenevei I got into seveie tuibulence, I became much moie neivous than I had
befoie the ciash.
Aftei suiviving two bad accidents in one yeai, the possibility of being seveiely
injuied oi killed while doing eldwoik was moie ieal to me than evei. I think
those incidents helped me decide to ietiie at the end of ,8. By then I had put in
thiity yeais of goveinment seivice, I had lived the exploieis life I had dieamed as
a youth. I loved my woik, but theie weie otheis things I wanted to do.
Te Kenai Peninsula was calling me back. LuRue and I moved to Coopei
Landing in ,8a to build oui dieam log home, the beginning of a whole new
adventuie.
243
Ackeiknecht, Bill, 71
Admiialty Island, 8
aeiial patiols and suiveys
along stieams, 218
dangeis of, 236
on Kodiak, 116
of laige mammals, 209
low-altitude, 100, 114
of Poicupine caiibou heid, 176
in Tciaft, 112
Afognak Island, 69, 99
aiiplane pilots, 107114, 188189
Alagnak Rivei, 235237
Alaska Conseivation Foundation, 204
Alaska Coopeiative Wildlife Reseaich Unit, 61
Alaska Depaitment of Fish and Game, 126,
176, 221
Alaska Game Commission, 126
Alaska National Inteiest Lands Conseivation
Act (ANILCA), 126n, 158, 171n, 203
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(ANCSA), 200201
Alaska Natives
Aleut people, 168169
ght foi compensation, 200
Inupiat Eskimos, 173, 179, 179180
moose as meat souice foi Kenai Peninsula
iesidents, 126
snowshoes made by, 36, 3
on Yukon Delta, 194, 197198
Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge,
201, 203
Albeit (souidough chaiactei), 54
Aleit Bay, Canada, 3
Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, 153
Aleutian Tern (FWS suivey vessel), 159160
Aleut people, 168169
Allin, Rogei, 71
Aliight, Stan, 205
Alswoith, Bee, 230
Alswoith, Glen, 221222, 228232
Anan Cieek, 42
Anchoiage, Alaska, 112, 152
Anchorage Tines, 132
Andy Simons Wildeiness Aiea, 152
ANILCA. See Alaska National Inteiest Lands
Conseivation Act (ANILCA)
Anton Laisen Bay, 113
Aictic coast, ight along, 171173
Aictic National Wildlife Refuge, 154, 171n, 173
aictic plants, 178
aictic teins, 192
Aigy, Neil, 71
aitifacts, on Simeonof Island, 168169
Atwood, Bob, 132133, 154158
Baade, Bob, 71
Bain, Bob, 11, 14, 1718, 20
Bain, Helen, 11
bait foi biown beais, 76
bald eagle nesting suiveys, 204
Ballengei, Benny, 69
baiabaia sites, 168
Baines, Doiis, 35
bai-tailed godwits, 192, 192, 195
Baitlett, Bob, 73
Batcheloi, Ron, 129
beai-cattle conict, on Kodiak Island, 6768
beai hunting guides, 8990
Beai Lake, 110
beai-people encounteis, 218
beais
accidental cub entiapment, 8182
captuie and tagging, 7682, 83, 8788,
207216

Index
Note: Italicized page numbeis indicate photogiaphs.
244 BEAR WRANGLER
beais (continued)
close encounteis with, 86, 117, 122124,
212213, 216217
counting, 119121
iadio-collaied, 217218
sedation of, 80, 82, 209
shooting in self-defense, 123124
beai-salmon conict, 68, 75
beai suiveys, 115124, 237
beai-viewing platfoim, 218219
beai watching, 97
Beaufoit Lagoon, 178, 178179
beavei, 5556
Bechaiof National Wildlife Refuge, 203
Bell Island Hot Spiings, 3
Belmont Bai and Cafe, 69
Beig Bay, 41
Beiing Sea, biids of, 192, 196
Bethel, iefuge headquaiteis at, 193
Bill (Dick Russells assistant), 237238
biids, 159161, 11, 191198. See also
wildlife, individual species
black beai biologists, 78
black beais, neai Moose Rivei, 146
black-bellied plovei, 194
black tuinstones, 195
boating, in the nude, 5051
boat patiols
commeicial sheiy enfoicement, 1821
neai Piince of Wales Island, 3032
in Teal, 21
in Wiangell enfoicement distiict, 3840, 57
biailing vessels, 2425, 2
Biandboig, Stewait, 201
Bianson, Jim, 71
Biooks Lodge, 211, 219
Biooks Range, 199
Biooks Range campsite, 203
Biooks Rivei, 209, 211, 215, 217, 219
biown beais
captuie and tagging of, 7682, 83, 88,
207216
contioveisial issues aiound, 67
shing on Biooks Rivei falls, 215
neai Moose Rivei, 146
study of, 7588, 205213, 219
See also beais
Buckley, John, 61, 64, 71
Buikholdei, Bob, 71
cabins, 8990, 90, 217, 219, 223
Camp Island, Kailuk Lake, 8996, 90
canneiy opeiatois, 42
canoeing, 137, 138142
canoe systems, Kenai National Wildlife
Refuge, 135143
Cap-Chui guns (dait guns), 209210
Cape Romanzof, 193195
caiibou
along Mancha Cieek, 184
biithing piocess, 224
Mulchatna heid, 221233
newboin and mothei, 225
Poicupine heid, 174177
students conducting ieseaich, 240
Caiibou Hills, 125
Caitei, Jimmy, 158, 203
cattle giazing, on Simeonof Island, 163,
165167
cattle kills, 6768, 75
Cavanaugh, Ross, 237238
Cessna, iescue of, 230232, 232
Chamisso Island, 154
Chickaloon Rivei diainage, 146147
Chignik Bay, Alaska Peninsula, 1819
Chowiet Island, 159160
Chiest, Howaid, 87
Chuck (sheiy management agent), 61
chum salmon, in Stuigeon Rivei, 118
Cissney, Doyle, 3032, 65
Claience Rhode National Wildlife Refuge,
191192
Claik, Kim, 7073
Claik, Shiiley, 7071
Clemmons, Monte, 2728, 39, 42
Cline, Dave, 199
Cold Wai, 179
commeicial sheiy, 17, 37, 42, 9091
commeicial sheiy enfoicement piogiam,
1821, 62
commeicial spoitshing, 142
common teals, neai Muiie Islets, 166
conseivation gioups, and wildeiness
piogiam, 201
conseivations lands, contioveisy ovei,
200201
Coopei Landing, 26
Copstead, Elmei, 5657
couit appeaiances, 20
coyote getteis, 35
Ciosby, Viigil, 71
culveit tiaps, 75, 77
Dall sheep, 148149, 149, 151
dangeis of a wild life
becoming lost, 3334
Index 245
encounteis with beais, 8687, 117,
122124, 212213, 216217
encounteis with outlaw sheimen, 4041
shing injuiies, 212
iafting accident, 235239
woiking alone, 8687
See also plane accidents
dait guns, tianquilizing beais with, 207210,
212213
Dauenhauei, Sandy, 199, 204
daylight, in the Aictic, 173174
deei hunting, 3234, 43, 69
deei-hunting violations, 3132
Demaication Bay, 172173
Denali National Paik and Pieseive, 205n
Denvei, John, 237
Deveau, Pete, 129130, 132
Dick (Biuce Kayes fiiend), 237, 239
Diity Geoige (souidough chaiactei), 57
Diity Yantzee (souidough chaiactei), 5758
Distant Eaily Waining (DEW) site, iemains
of, 178, 179
Dog Salmon Cieek, 115
Dolly Vaiden tiout, in Stuigeon Rivei, 118
Downing, Heib, 69, 112
Diamatic Discoveiy Makes Possible Moose
fiom Seeds foi Kodiak Aiea (Kodiak
Mirror), 130131
diift gill net eet, 38
diownings, at Tonki Cape, 106
Diuckei, Ben, 93
Diuckei, Sandy, 93
Diy Stiaits, 45
duck hunting, 2930
Duncan Canal, 32
Dungeness ciab, 1415
Duiley, Ken, 7682
eagles, 148
Egan, William A., 157
eideis, 192
Eln Cove, 8
elk hunting, 100
elk meat, pieseiving, 101
elk populations, 99100
Ellis, Lee, 3436, 3, 55, 71
Ellis Aiilines, 27
empeioi geese, 192, 195196, 19
Engel, Laiiy, 142
Eiickson, Al, 82
Eiickson, Jim, 236
ethei, 7677, 80
Faii, Cal, 135, 143
Faimen, Daiiel, 94, 113
Fedeial Aviation Administiation (FAA), 10, 241
Findlay, John, 71
ie diill, on Camp Island, 9495
ie ushei, 95
ies, 95, 125
Fiith Rivei aiea, 181189, 185
sh. See individual species
sh, hauling by iail, 10
sh canneiies, 10
Fishei, Jeiiy, 236
sheimen, illegal, 17, 1921, 3841
sheiy management, politics and, 42
shing
with Cal Faii, 135
injuiies, 212
foi lake tiout, 227
foi pink salmon, 4243
foi iainbow tiout, 136, 139
iegulation of, 39 (see also wildlife
enfoicement)
seasons foi salmon, 37
on Situk Rivei, 5, 1214
sh tiaps, 2426, 2, 37, 39
sh weiis, on Situk Rivei, , 11
Fleming, Eail, 7685, 99, 116124
ight instiuction, 108109, 112
oatplanes, 108, 108112
ying
along Aictic coast, 171173
in bad weathei conditions, 113
biushes with death, 239242
with Dick Hensel, 109110
giounded by fog, 101103
joys of, 146
fiom Tuiquoise Lake, 232233
use of helmet while, 242
ovei Yukon Delta, 194, 198
See also plane accidents
ying club, foimation of, 107108
fog, 101103, 176177, 197
foiest ie, and moose population, 125
foiests, 3, 3334, 37, 48
foik-tailed stoim petiels, 162
Fouith of July celebiation, Camp Island, 94
fox faiming, on Simeonof Island, 163
Fiediickson, Stan, 71
fiost polygons, Noith Slope tundia, 172
fui-tiapping season, 32
FWS. See U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice (FWS)
246 BEAR WRANGLER
Gabiielson, Iia, 159
gambiel pack, 33, 48
game patiols, 30, 60. See also wildlife
enfoicement
Gavia Lake, 140
Gavia Lake campsite, 138
gillnetteis, 38
Glaciei Bay wildeiness aiea heaiings, 158
goveinment employees, 7273
goveinment equipment, misuse of, 72
Giaham, Chuck, 71
Giassy Cieek, 8788, 97
gieatei scaup, 192
Grizzly Bear (FWS patiol vessel), 59, 0
Giosnick, Maitin, 207208, 210, 213, 214, 241
Gioves, Cletus, 5960
Giuening, Einest, 132133, 136
guides and guiding industiy, 75, 8990
Gulf of Alaska, 710
Haeitel, Paul, 242
Hakala, John, 127128
Halfway Cieek, 8687
Ham Island Slim (souidough chaiactei), 5556
Hank (Teal engineei), 2122
Hansen, Hank, 71
Haibo, Sam, 71
haiboi seals, 162, 166
hailequin ducks, 227
Harlequin (FWS patiol vessel), 32, 3840, 57
Haiveys Flying Seivice, 69
Hasselboig, Allen, 58
Hatch Act, 73
Haynes, Doug, 99100, 236
helicoptei iescuing Cessna 180, 232
Hensel, Dick
at beai den entiance, 87
and beai ieseaich, 85, 87
on Camp Island, 92, 94
and eld studies, 199
and ight tiaining, 107109
plane ciash of, 111112
and pianks, 96
and wooden aiiplane iamp, 114
Hilsingei, Gomei, 6, 12, 15, 59
Homan, Russell, 64
Holzwoith, John M., 58
homesteadeis season, 126
Hoin Clis, 4549
hoined puns, 14
houses, 24, 69, 128, 243. See also cabins
hunteis, appiehension of illegal, 29, 29, 3132
hunting
deei, 3234, 43, 69
duck, 2930
elk, 100
jump-shooting vs. pass-shooting, 30
mountain goats, 4749
photogiaphic safaiis, 4647, 4950
ptaimigan neai, 110
Icy Stiait, 8
Iliamna Lake, 237
Inupiat Eskimos, 173, 179, 179180
Izembek Lagoon, 196
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, 199
Jack (souidough chaiactei), 5455
Jack (Wiangell maishal), 56
Jago Rivei headwateis, 181182
Jaivela, Gil, 108
Jim (souidough chaiactei), 5455
Jones, Bob, 71
Jude Island, 23, 23
Juneau, Alaska, 59, 65, 73
Juneau enfoicement distiict, 60
Kailuk Lake, 68, 76, 8991, 110111, 114.
See also Camp Island, Kailuk Lake
Katmai National Paik, biown beai studies at,
205213, 219
Kaye, Biuce, 237, 239
Keith, Sam, 222
Kelly, Mauiice, 71
Kenai Mountains, 15
Kenai National Moose Range (Kenai
National Wildlife Refuge), 125133,
147, 154, 156157
Kenai Peninsula, 114, 128129, 242
Ketchikan, Alaska, 13
Ketchikan Pulp Mill, 37
king salmon, 13, 1314
Kittiwake (FWS shing boat), 6, 10
kittiwakes, 162
Klawock, Piince of Wales Island, 52
Klein, Dave, 65, 71
Knapp, Laiiy, 11, 15
Kodiak, Alaska, 6869, 108, 112, 128
Kodiak Aiiways, 69, 99
Kodiak aichipelago, 69
Kodiak Bear (FWS vessel), 8
Kodiak biown beais. See biown beais
Kodiak Island, 68
Kodiak Mirror, 130
Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, 64, 67, 69, 89
Index 247
Kodiak Naval Base, 69
Kongakut Rivei, 177
Kukaklek Lake, 237
lakes, naming, 137138
lamp, stone, 168169
Lapland longspui, at Demaication Bay, 173
Laisen, Holgei, 71
laundiy, 9394
Leachs stoim petiels, 162
Lensink, Cal, 193
loons, in Kenai iefuge, 136, 139140
Lynn Canal, 8
lynx, 148
Madsen, Alf, 90
mail deliveiy, 53
Mancha Cieek, 183
Maiks, Howaid, 2123
Matson, Sandy, 59
Meadow Cieek, 84
medical caie, 52
Mendenhall Glaciei, 1
migiations, 176, 178, 192, 195196
Mills, Wilbui, 181189
Minei, Joe, 71
Mole Haiboi, 58
Monashka Mountain, 113
moose
in Chickaloon Rivei diainage, 146147
on Kenai iefuge, 125126, 140
neai Moose Rivei, 145146
pioposed intioduction of, to Kodiak
Island, 129132
in Riley Cieek diainage, 240
on Stikine Rivei, 36
Moose Rivei, aeiial patiol of, 145
Moiton, Johnny, 90
mosquitoes, 5051, 187
mosquito head net, 180
mountain climbing, above Stikine Rivei, 4551
mountain goats, 4549, 47
Mount McKinley National Paik, 205, 223233
Mount Redoubt, 128
Mulchatna caiibou heid, 221233
Mulchatna Rivei, 226227
Mullins, Ray, 69
Muiie Islets, 166167
muiies, 162, 13
Museth, Hank, 710
music, 22
Myion, Dick, 42
Naknek Lake, 210213, 211
National Paik Seivice (NPS), 205209, 221
National Wildeiness Pieseivation System
(NWPS), 151, 154
Native-made snowshoes, 36, 3
natives. See Alaska Natives
navigation methods, 10
Nelson, Uiban Pete, 71
Nevin, Ray, 73
night opeiations, dangei of, 4041
Noith Slope tundia, 172
NPS. See National Paik Seivice (NPS)
Nunivak Island, 199
oil and oil industiy, 126127, 132133
Olaus Muiie Awaid, 204
Old Chevak eld camp, 194
old-giowth foiests, 37
old-timeis in Alaska, 5358
Old Tom Cieek, Piince of Wales Island, 3
Olson, Gieg, 142
Olson, Sig, 3234, 71
OMalley Rivei, 76, 90
ONeil, Geoige One-Shot Geoige, 1112,
13, 1315
One Mans Wilderness (Pioenneke), 222
One-Shot Geoige. See ONeil, Geoige One-
Shot Geoige
Oicutt, Tuiston, 3234, 39, 57
Oiton (FWS eld employee), 71
Oizinski Bay, 17, 1921
ospiey nests, neai Moose Rivei, 146
outhouses, 92, 96
Pacic black biant, 192, 196
Paiamanof Bay, 99
Peppei Lake, 143
peiegiine falcons, 185
Pete (cook on Kittiwake), 810
Peteison, Bob, 205, 208, 242
pets, 7072, 229
phenobaibital sodium, 82
photogiaphic safaiis, 4647, 4950
Pinkham, Haiiy, 71
pink salmon, 3, 4243
Pinnell, Bill, 90
pintail ducks, 166, 194
Pipei Supei Cub plane, 11
ciash of, 241
and moose census, 125
puichase of, by ying club, 112
stiuctuie of, 241242
and wildlife enfoicement, 99, 113114
248 BEAR WRANGLER
plane accidents
duiing aeiial suivey, 236
Dick Hensel and, 111112
oveiloading and, 104
iescue following, 105106
Tciaft in Kailuk Lake, 110111
wheeled landing on thin ice, 228232
in wind gusts, 240242, 241
plants, 165166, 173, 178
Pleneit, Maiv, 199
poets and poetiy, 54
poison tiaps, 35
politics, 42, 200203
Popof Island, 18
poipoises, in Lynn Canal, 8
pianks, 9498, 130132
piedatoi contiol, 35
Piesnell (FWS eld employee), 71
Piince of Wales Island, 3132
Pioenneke, Dick, 222229, 223
Piudhoe Bay oil discoveiy, 200
ptaimigan hunting tiip, 110
public heaiings on wildlife iefuges, 153
puns, 162
puise seineis, 38
Quein, LuRue. See Tioyei, LuRue (Quein)
iadio collais, 209
iafting accident, Alagnak Rivei, 235239
iailioads, 10
iainbow tiout, 135136
iain foiests, 3
Raleigh, Bob, 93
Raleigh, Pauline, 93, 95
Ralston, Dan, 59, 61, 64, 71
Rampait Dam pioject, 132
Raspbeiiy Island, 99
Raspbeiiy Stiait, 99
ied-necked phalaiopes, 194195
ied salmon, 12, 214
ied-thioated loon, 195
Reed, Nathaniel, 201, 203
Reeve Aleutian Aiiways, 163
ieindeei, 94
Rhode, Claience, 64, 71
Richey, Bob, 141, 148
Robaids, Fied, 64, 71, 204
iock ptaimigan, along Aictic coast, 178
iock spiies, neai Fiith Rivei, 185, 185186
Roosevelt elk, 99
iough-legged hawk, 185
iuddy tuinstones, 193
Russell, Dick, 237238
Russians, and cattle on Kodiak Island, 67
Sablesh (FWS shing boat), 12, 2
salmon
biailing, fiom sh tiap, 2
chum, 118
counting, at Situk Rivei sh weii,
diying, 198
shing seasons foi, 37
king, 13, 1314
pink, 3, 4243
ied, 12, 214
silvei, 15
salmonbeiiies, 118
Salmon Cieek, 80
Sand Point, Popof Island, 18, 21
Schuman, Dick, 68
Scott, Bob, 71
seabiids, 159161, 11
sea-island iefuges, 153
sea lions, 23, 2324, 161
seals, 35
sea otteis, 162, 166167
seaich and iescue, 236
seasickness, 1, 9, 31
seineis, illegal, 41
seines, 38, 118
Sekoia, Palmei, 153, 159161, 199, 202
Semidi Islands, 159162, 1011, 1415
semipalmated ploveis, 173
Seinylan, 209
Sheenjek Rivei, 202
ShellCiackeis, 8485, 97
shoiebiids, 191198
Shumagin Island gioup, 18. See also
Simeonof Island
Sieiia Club, 201
silvei salmon, 15
Simeonof Island, 153154, 163169, 117
Situk Rivei, 515, 11
Situk Rivei camp, 12
skis, 3031, 39
Skilak Lake, 148
skinny-dipping, 5051, 63
Skoog, Ron, 71
Smith, Tailton Tee, 2224
Smith, Teion, 71, 112
Smith (FWS eld employee), 71
snow, along Aictic coast, 177
snowshoes, Native vs. commeicial, 36, 3
snowy owl, 178
social life, on Camp Island, 9396
Index 249
sod huts, abandoned, 174, 179
Soldotna, Alaska, 26
souidough chaiacteis, 5358
Spencei, Dave, 71
and aeiial toui of Kodiak National
Wildlife Refuge, 67
canoeing on Swan Lake, 138139
consultation with, 205206
job oei fiom, 127128
memo fiom Watson to, 202
moose census with, 125
Tioyei as assistant to, 204205
Spoits Lake, 128129
spiing iendezvous, 34
steelhead, 5, 12
Stevens, Ted, 203
Stewait, Loien, 141
Stikine ats, 2829
Stikine Rivei, 28, 35
stone lamp, 168169
stoim petiels, 162
stoims, 101103, 167168, 186, 225226
stiawbeiiies, wild, 14
stieam guaids, 39, 41, 57
Stubb, Gene, 1
Stuigeon Rivei diainage, foot suivey in,
116122
succinylcholine, 82
Sucostiin (succinylcholine), 8283
Suipiise Mountain, 148149
suiveys. See aeiial patiols and suiveys,
wildlife suiveys
Swan Lake canoe system, 137, 137, 138141,
141, 142
Swan Lake Road, 136
Swanson, Dave, 71
Swanson Rivei Canoe System, 142143
Swanson Rivei Oil Field, 151
Swanson Rivei Road, 136
Switzei (FWS eld employee), 71
Tahltan Indians, 36
Talifson, Moiiis, 90
Tayloiciaft (Tciaft) plane, 108, 108112
Tciaft. See Tayloiciaft (Tciaft) plane
Teal (FWS patiol vessel), 1819, 21, 21
telephones, on Camp Island, 9394
Tayei, Ave
consultations with, 148
shing foi iainbow tiout, 139
ight along Aictic coast, 171172
ight to Schiadei Lake, 180
on Kenai iefuge job, 128
and Poicupine caiibou heid, 176
on Swan Lake, 140
Tumb Rivei, 76, 8586
Tonki Cape, 100106
tiappeis, appiehension of illegal, 5960
tiappeis iendezvous, 34
tiapping, 32, 76, 8182, 8788, 97
tiaps
sh, 2426, 2, 37, 39
foot snaies, 83
poison, foi wolves, 35
steel culveit, 7576, 77
steel leg, 7880
Tiemblay, Ray, 71
tiolleis, 37
tiolling vessels, 3738
Tioyei, Eiic
atop Suipiise Mountain, 155
on Camp Island, 9293
canoeing on Swan Lake canoe system, 137
and caiibou heid, 174177
digging clams on Cook Inlet, 127
paddling along Aictic coast, 173
playing in watei, 92
Tioyei, Janice, 92, 93, 106, 137, 150
Tioyei, LuRue (Quein)
biith of Janice, 89
on Camp Island, 91, 91, 9293
canoeing on Swan Lake canoe system, 137
with dead sea lion, 5
digging clams on Cook Inlet, 127
following plane ciash, 106
and home on Spoits Lake, 129
above Mendenhall Glaciei, 1
move to Kodiak, 73
and plane ciash, 241
iole in pianks, 98
iomance with, 5966
suppoit of, 204205
with tiout on Youngs Lake, 2
Tioyei, Teiesa, 9293, 127, 150
Tioyei, Will, 71
above Stikine Rivei, 35
as assistant iefuge supeivisoi foi Alaska,
205
and catch of king salmon, 13
college yeais, 2
counting beais neai Kailuk Lake, 119
disguised as duck huntei, 29
fellowship foi advanced degiee in wildlife
biology, 61
with sh hook, 212
250 BEAR WRANGLER
Will Tioyei (continued)
injuiies, 5152, 241242
as Kenai iefuge managei, 129, 199200
as Kodiak iefuge managei, 64, 6773
love and iomance, 63, 73
maiiiage to LuRue Quein, 66, 74
paddling along Aictic coast, 173
peisonnel iesponsibilities of, 7073
pilot status with FWS, 108, 112
position with NPS, 205206
tempoiaiy assignments, 125126
tiavel iestiictions imposed by Watson, 202
as weii watchman, Situk Rivei, 6
as wildlife enfoicement ocei, 26, 36, 39
Tioyei family, 129, 152
tiumpetei swans, 147, 147
tufted pun, 15
tundia swans, 173, 197
Tuiquoise Lake, 221233
Tustumena Lake, 151
Unimak Pass, 18
U.S. Depaitment of the Inteiioi, 200
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice (FWS)
administiative duties with, 199
campaigns foi change within, 204
eld peisonnel, 71
houses of, 24, 69
pilot status with, 114
and Rampait Dam pioject, 132
wildeiness piogiam, 152158, 199200
wildlife enfoicement eld positions, 17
yeai-end funds, 148
vegetation, 165166, 173, 178
Wainei, Geoige, 71
Waiien, John, 108
wateifowl enfoicement, Stikine ats, 2829
watei skiing, 94
Watsjold, Dave, 142
Watson, Goidon, 201203
Waybuin, Ed, 201
weathei
and ying, 113, 240242, 241
fog, 101103, 176177, 197
stoims, 167168, 186, 225226
Wendlei, Johnny, 71
West, Eail, 5354
Whale Pass, 30
whaleis, 173, 187
Whitesel, Ed, 71
Widgeon plane, 1819, 21
Wildeiness Act, 151
wildeiness piogiam, FWS, 199200
Wildeiness Society, 201
Wild Grizzlies of Alaska, Te (Holzwoith), 58
wildlife
along the Aictic coast, 174178
of Beiing Sea, 192, 196
at Demaication Bay, 173
of Fiith Rivei aiea, 183187
on Jude Island, 23, 2324
on Muiie Islets, 166167
neai Admiialty Island, 8
on Semidi Islands, 159162, 11, 1415
on Situk Rivei, 1215
on Yukon Delta, 197
wildlife enfoicement
at Anan Cieek, 42
appiehensions, 1921, 29, 3132, 5960
and commeicial sheiy, 1819
game patiols, 30, 60
duiing salmon shing seasons, 37
wateifowl, Stikine ats, 2829
wildlife woik vs., 6162
wildlife suiveys
bald eagle nesting, 204
beai suiveys, 115124, 237
on foot in Stuigeon Rivei diainage,
116122
moose, 36, 125126, 240
Mulchatna caiibou census, 228
of Simeonof Island, 165166
See also aeiial patiols and suiveys
Williams, Rex, 148
Willie (Teal cook), 2122
willow ptaimigans, 166, 178, 222
Woewodski Island, 3234
wolveiines, 35, 186
wolves, 35, 187
women, in FWS, 204
Woolfoid, Ray, 71
Wiangell, Alaska, 27, 33, 40, 64
Wiangell enfoicement distiict, 27, 37, 39
Yakutat, Alaska, 610
Yakutat Bay, navigating in, 10
Young Lake, Admiialty Island, 6263
Yukon Delta, 191198, 19
Yupik Eskimos, 194, 197198, 198
Ziglei, Ron, 71
Zoo Countiy (Atwood editoiial), 157158

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