Bearable
Just when you thought nature was completely on the ropes, here’s a sight of the kind of abundance the world is supposed to contain. It survives to the present day, remarkably.
Salmon on Sandy Bottom
In a world of overfishing, where bears are killed for their gall bladders, here is a different kind of place. It’s a place where bears are protected, fish swarm, the air is filled with eagles, and people can watch it all at extremely close quarters from a very nicely managed and relatively safe viewing platform and blind.
Salmon Throng
Bear In Salmon
Black Bear Catching Salmon
Eagle Landing With Salmon
The place is southeast Alaska. Access is controlled and protected by the U.S. Forest Service but private guides can get you in to see this ancient miracle at work on a daily basis. Our guide was Brenda Schwartz, 907-874-4157.
“In wildness is the preservation of the world,” Thoreau wrote famously. With sights like these, we can take the measure of humanity and can understand just how much has been lost elsewhere and how much can be maintained or regained, if and when and where we decide to share the world.
Black Bear With Cubs
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- Bear with Salmon
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- Salmon on Sandy Bottom
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- Bear In Salmon
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- Black Bear Catching Salmon
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- Eagle Landing With Salmon
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- Black Bear With Cubs
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- Salmon Throng
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- Bear at Fall
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- Eagles in Creek
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- The Forest at the Creek
Isn’t amazing what 100 years of multiple use management can do for a forest. The Tongass National Forest contains three fantastic bear viewing sites- The one you picture is Anan Creek, one of the few sites in the world where brown and black bears feed together. Another is Pack Creek, a site co-managed by the Forest Service and State of Alaska, which is about 25 miles southwest of Juneau, Alaska. The third is Hyder bear viewing area, the only area reachable by a mainland road through Stewart, British Columbia, Canada.
There are two national forests in Alaska- the Chugach and the Tongass. Respectively, the second and first largest in the nation. neither of them have and threatened or endangered land species, and some say salmon fisheries that outstrip the volume of fish that was present when the US purchased the area from Russia in 1867.
As managers of this great land we plan to make sure this country will stay literally unchanged for the next 100 years.
Thanks for the pictures. It’s great to see that people do enjoy and respect the natural settings we make available to them.
Ray Massey, Alaska Region Forest Service
wonderful!
Amazing photos it is nice to see that there are still places like this in the world
Hi Carl, I’m the senior editor at Oceana. We haven’t met but I’m sure we will eventually. Just wanted to say hi. These photos are incredible. Hope you’re having a great time, can’t wait to see more pictures!
awesome pictures