Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
February 2009

Fact versus Frenzy
Bear Program Burns Biologists

“Bear Feeding Frenzy,” a new television wildlife documentary, presents Alaska bears as aggressive man-killers hungry for trouble.

Grizzly bears are unpredictable and will eat anything from human food to human flesh, says host Chris Douglas in the show's introduction, adding that black bears are smaller, but equally dangerous. “We'll learn why humans sometimes appear on the menu,” he says.

In the program, bears smash a tent, break into a vehicle and rip it up, and dismember a life-like ...   Fact vs Frenzy ArticleContinued

Mariculture in Alaska
A Young Industry

In Alaska there is big talk of mariculture farming. The state is basically making tidelands available for a ten-year lease for people to apply for and raise shellfish. The Department of Fish and Game is hoping that the industry continues to expand to help increase revenue in depressed coastal communities.

To apply for this program the applicant goes through a multi-agency application and review process that can take between four months and one year to complete, depending on the proposed ...   Mariculture ArticleContinued

Partnership Creates Prime Habitat
For Ruffed Grouse

Some dreams take a while to realize. But after more than 20 years, there is now a growing population of ruffed grouse in the Mat-Su area.

The project is a partnership between the Ruffed Grouse Society and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The first step was to introduce birds to the region. Ruffed grouse are not native to Southcentral Alaska. The birds' natural habitat is north of the Alaska Range in aspen forests, in hardwood forests along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and in the Taku ...   Habitat Enhancement ArticleContinued