Black Bear Management Report of survey-inventory activities 1 July 2007–30 June 2010 Patricia Harper, Editor Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation ©2010 ADF&G, photo by Stephen Bethune, Funded through Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Grants W-33-6, W-33-7, and W-33-8; Project 17.0 2011 Black Bear Management Report of survey-inventory activities 1 July 2007–30 June 2010 Patricia Harper, Editor Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation Funded through Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Grants W-33-6, W-33-7 and W-33-8, Project 17.0 2011 Any information taken from this report should be cited with credit given to authors and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Authors are identified at the end of each unit section. If this report is used in its entirety, please reference as: Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 2011. Black bear management report of survey-inventory activities 1 July 2007–30 June 2010. P. Harper, editor. Juneau, Alaska. Please note that this report was released as a complete set in 2012, but is part of the 2011 set of species management reports. We encourage referencing this report as a 2011 report to maintain understanding of when reports were written and ease of locating this particular set of reports. STATE OF ALASKA Sean Parnell, Governor DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME Cora Campbell, Commissioner DIVISION OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION Doug Vincent-Lang, Acting Director For a hard copy of this report please direct requests to our publications specialist: Publications Specialist ADF&G, Wildlife Conservation P.O. Box 115526 Juneau, AK 99811-5526 (907) 465-4176 [email protected] Acknowledgment: The editor thanks Tom Paul for his excellent editing assistance with this report. Please note that population and harvest data in this report are estimates and may be refined at a later date. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) administers all programs and activities free from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, or disability. The department administers all programs and activities in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility please write: • ADF&G ADA Coordinator, P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526 • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042, Arlington, VA 22203 • Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW MS 5230, Washington DC 20240. The department’s ADA Coordinator can be reached via phone at the following numbers: (VOICE) 907­ 465-6077; (Statewide Telecommunication Device for the Deaf) 1-800-478-3648; (Juneau TDD) 907-465­ 3646; (FAX) 907-465-6078. For information on alternative formats and questions on this publication, please contact the following: Publications Specialist, ADF&G/Division of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526, or call 907-465-4176. Cover Photo: A black bear cub climbs a spruce tree near Thorne Bay on Prince of Wales Island. ©2010 ADF&G, photo by Stephen Bethune. BLACK BEAR MANAGEMENT REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Unit Map .......................................................................................................................................... i Unit 1A – Unit 1 south of Lemesurier Point, including drainages into Behm Canal and excluding drainages into Ernest Sound ...........................................................................................1 Unit 1B – Southeast Alaska mainland from Cape Fanshaw to Lemesurier Point ........................21 Unit 1C – Southeast Alaska mainland between Cape Fanshaw and the latitude of Eldred Rock, including Berners Bay and Sullivan Island, excluding drainages into Faragut Bay ..........34 Unit 1D – Southeast Alaska mainland north of Eldred Rock, excluding Sullivan Island and the drainages of Berners Bay .................................................................................................51 Unit 2 – Prince of Wales Island and adjacent islands south of Sumner Strait and west of Kashevarof Passage ......................................................................................................................67 Unit 3 – Islands of the Petersburg, Kake, and Wrangell area .......................................................96 Unit 5 – Cape Fairweather to Icy Bay, eastern Gulf of Alaska Coast ........................................118 Unit 6 – Prince William Sound and the northern Gulf of Alaska Coast .....................................130 Units 7 and 15 – Kenai Peninsula ...............................................................................................143 Unit 11 – Wrangell Mountains ...................................................................................................149 Unit 12 – Upper Tanana and White River drainages, including the northern Alaska Range east of the Robertson River, and the Mentasta, Nutzotin, and northern Wrangell Mountains ....155 Unit 13 – Nelchina Basin ............................................................................................................167 Units 14A and 14B – Upper Cook Inlet ......................................................................................174 Unit 14C – Municipality of Anchorage .......................................................................................185 Unit 16 – West side of Cook Inlet ..............................................................................................194 Unit 17 – Northern Bristol Bay ...................................................................................................206 Units 19, 21A, and 21E – All drainages of the Kuskokwim River upstream from the village of Lower Kalskag; Yukon River drainage from Paimiut upstream to, but not including, the Blackburn Creek drainage; the entire Innoko River drainage; and the Nowitna River drainage upstream from the confluence of the Little Mud and Nowitna Rivers. ......................................215 Units 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20F – Central–Lower Tanana and middle Yukon River drainages ..225 Unit 20D – Central Tanana Valley near Delta Junction .............................................................240 Unit 20E – Fortymile, Charley, and Ladue River drainages, including the Tanana Uplands and all drainages into the south bank of the Yukon River upstream from and including the Charley River drainage ...............................................................................................................249 Unit 25D – Upper Yukon River Valley .......................................................................................257 175°E 180° 175°W 170°W 165°W 160°W 155°W 150°W 145°W 140°W 135°W 130°W 125°W 120°W 115°W Legend ! Community ! Area Office ^ Headquarters # Regional Office Subunit Boundary (1A, 1B, 1C ...) Inuvik GMU Boundary (1, 2, 3 ...) 65°N Region Boundary (I, II, III ...) Hunting Restrictions Trapping Restrictions Management Area 65°N Controlled Use Area Effective July 1, 2010 60°N Whitehorse 60°N 55°N Prince Rupert 55°N 175°E 180° 175°W 170°W 165°W Nikolski 52°N ­ 52°N Atka 010020050 0 75 150 300 Miles Miles 175°E 180° 175°W 170°W 50°N 165°W 50°N 170°W 165°W 160°W 155°W 150°W 145°W 140°W 135°W U:\WC\AKMap\AK Maps\8.5x11.mxd 8/10 skt i WILDLIFE Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation (907) 465-4190 P.O. BOX 115526 MANAGEMENT REPORT JUNEAU, AK 99811-5526 BLACK BEAR MANAGEMENT REPORT From: 1 July 2007 To: 30 June 2010 LOCATION 2 GAME MANAGEMENT UNIT: Unit 1A (5,300 mi ) GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION: That portion of Unit 1 lying south of Lemesurier Point, including all drainages into Behm Canal and excluding all drainages into Ernest Sound. BACKGROUND HABITAT DESCRIPTION Unit 1A includes portions of the Cleveland Peninsula and Misty Fjords National Monument on the mainland, and Revillagigedo (Revilla), Gravina, Annette, and Duke Islands. Most high quality mainland black bear habitat in Unit 1A is confined to a relatively narrow band of forested landscapes between saltwater and the high elevation peaks and ice fields of the coastal mountains. An exception is the broader bays and lower peaks of southern Cleveland Peninsula. Revilla Island has many productive salmon streams, large tracts of young age clear cut stands, and productive forest that provides high quality habitat. Gravina, Annette, and Duke Islands generally have lower-quality black bear habitat. A few large mainland river valleys, such as the Unuk, Chickamin, Blossom, Wilson, Keta, and Marten, as well as many Revilla Island stream systems, support salmon and other anadromous fish. Black bears compete with coastal brown bears for foraging opportunities along most of the productive salmon streams in the area. Portions of Revilla, Gravina, and Annette Islands have been logged and have clear-cuts with habitats in various stages of regeneration. As is the case elsewhere in Southeast Alaska, habitat changes continue to occur from clear-cut logging. Although early successional stages (3–20 years after logging) provide black bears with an abundance of plant foods, later stages result in the disappearance of understory plants as conifer canopies close and sunlight does not penetrate to the forest floor. Second-growth