Russian river grinders

[Terry]

Last year the was alot of conversations about installing manual grinders on the russian at the cleaning stations, has anyone heard of this lately. I would donate some cash if it would help. With all these people carrying guns and the recent amount of shootings, we are lucky no one has been shot lately.

Terry

 

[Brian M]

Terry - Good timing. There's a thread going on about this right now. Look for the thread titled "Kenai Peninsula Fish Waste Issue"

-Brian

 

[AlaskaHippie]

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php?t=1735

 

[Marcus]

Russian River a time bomb. . .

Russian River a time bomb. . .

For an intelligent, well-reasoned opinion on the situation at the Russian, see Dr. Stephen Stringham's op ed in today's Peninsula Clarion (www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/region2/areas/kenai/kenaipu.cfm). Dr. Stringham is an acknowledged expert in bear behavior. Here are a few excerpts from his editorial — to read the entire article, go to the url above:

*
Web posted Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Russian River a time bomb: Fish carcasse removal would help reduce bear encounters — Stephen F. Stringham, Ph.D.

Once again, bears are in conflict with people on the Russian and upper Kenai rivers. These bears are so well-fed that theft of a fish, camp cooler or backpack is usually done by bravado, not by force. But that’s small consolation to anyone terrified by a bear or who accidentally spooks a bear, evoking violent defense. Even innocent bystanders like Dan Bigley can be mauled.

So bears have been shot; when mother bears die, their cubs may, too. How long until more bears are killed or someone shares Dan’s fate? How long until this “time bomb” explodes again?

Blaming bears doesn’t help. There are many places where people and bears coexist easily. Failure “here” and success “there” depends less on different bear behavior than on different human behavior, particularly on differences in how people care for the fish they catch and the backpacks and coolers they carry.

Most of the Kenai River is so swift and deep that bears can’t catch live salmon — except at the end of a run, when dying fish collect in sloughs. The rest of the year, bears largely would avoid the Kenai were it not for the artificial bounty of countless fish carcasses discarded by anglers. (. . . )

There’s been lots of debate but little action because human safety gets subordinated to a philosophy of doing nothing to restrict angling anywhere at any time, even on a temporary basis. Lest that bureaucratic gridlock continue until someone else is mauled or more bears are shot, it’s time for the public to stand up and demand action. It’s time for you to let each agency know you put safety first.

The sooner carcasses are eliminated and bears are back to foraging away from people, the sooner we will be free to fish where and when we want without worrying so much about close encounters of the furred kind.

Send comments to the Fish and Game Wildlife Division online at [email protected], Sport Fish Division at [email protected]e. ak.us, Forest Service at [email protected] or [email protected], Wildlife Service at [email protected], [email protected] gov or [email protected].

 

[Marcus]

Russian River a time bomb. . .

Russian River a time bomb. . .

For an intelligent, well-reasoned opinion on the situation at the Russian, see Dr. Stephen Stringham's op ed in today's Peninsula Clarion (www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/region2/areas/kenai/kenaipu.cfm). Dr. Stringham is an acknowledged expert in bear behavior. Here are a few excerpts from his editorial — to read the entire article, go to the url above:

*
Web posted Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Russian River a time bomb: Fish carcasse removal would help reduce bear encounters — Stephen F. Stringham, Ph.D.

Once again, bears are in conflict with people on the Russian and upper Kenai rivers. These bears are so well-fed that theft of a fish, camp cooler or backpack is usually done by bravado, not by force. But that’s small consolation to anyone terrified by a bear or who accidentally spooks a bear, evoking violent defense. Even innocent bystanders like Dan Bigley can be mauled.

So bears have been shot; when mother bears die, their cubs may, too. How long until more bears are killed or someone shares Dan’s fate? How long until this “time bomb” explodes again?

Blaming bears doesn’t help. There are many places where people and bears coexist easily. Failure “here” and success “there” depends less on different bear behavior than on different human behavior, particularly on differences in how people care for the fish they catch and the backpacks and coolers they carry.

Most of the Kenai River is so swift and deep that bears can’t catch live salmon — except at the end of a run, when dying fish collect in sloughs. The rest of the year, bears largely would avoid the Kenai were it not for the artificial bounty of countless fish carcasses discarded by anglers. (. . . )

There’s been lots of debate but little action because human safety gets subordinated to a philosophy of doing nothing to restrict angling anywhere at any time, even on a temporary basis. Lest that bureaucratic gridlock continue until someone else is mauled or more bears are shot, it’s time for the public to stand up and demand action. It’s time for you to let each agency know you put safety first.

The sooner carcasses are eliminated and bears are back to foraging away from people, the sooner we will be free to fish where and when we want without worrying so much about close encounters of the furred kind.

Send comments to the Fish and Game Wildlife Division online at [email protected], Sport Fish Division at [email protected]e. ak.us, Forest Service at [email protected] or [email protected], Wildlife Service at [email protected], [email protected] gov or [email protected].

 

[AkHunter45]

They should just close it down at night like they did last year. Someone is going to get hurt or killed down there with all those fools carrying guns like it's the wild wild west. We don't need another wounded/dead bear to leave cubs behind. Something really needs to be done about this situation.

 

[Dirtofak]

Totally worthless post.....

Totally worthless post.....

I think they should put turbo charged high HP grinders in there. They would process the remains more effeciently and as a bonus, they could easily be pointed at my mother-in-law.