It’s application time for 2020 permits to visit state game sanctuaries to see Alaska Peninsula brown bears at McNeil River, on the northeastern Alaska Peninsula, and walrus at Round Island, near the north shores of Bristol Bay.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game manages a guided bear viewing program each summer at the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary for visitors to watch brown bears feasting on wild salmon returning to their natal streams. It is a four-mile roundtrip hike to and from the actual viewing area, a trek requiring hip boots.
Visitors are selected by lottery, and if drawn, Alaska residents pay a $225 permit fee, while nonresidents by $525. Lottery applications, which include a nonrefundable $30 application fee, must be submitted by midnight on March 1.
Find more information of the McNeil River bear viewing program and application process online at mcneilriver.adfg.alaska.gov.
ADF&G also manages a campground and viewing program at the Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary for hearty campers at Round Island, where hundreds to thousands of Pacific walruses haul out to sun themselves between feeding forays at sea. There are also hundreds of Steller sea or $20 for a day use permit.
More information on the Walrus Islands sanctuary and that application process is online at adfg.alaska.gov.
Those planning to visit either of these sanctuaries should come fully repaired with everything they need, including rain gear and other outdoor apparel suitable for layering and the cold.
They should also be prepared with enough provisions in case weather conditions prevent aircraft coming to pick them up are delayed by inclement weather conditions.
