In An Effort To Shed More Light On The Story:
TravelAge West article:
Alaska National Park Anniversary
Katmai, an Alaska National Park,
celebrates 100 years of beautiful and thrilling nature
By Christopher Batin / November 27, 2011
Full Story: CLICK HERE
Our Response:
After reading the article in the link above, one would be lead to believe that the only way to get to Katmai and see the bears is via King Salmon and Brooks Camp/Katmailand. In most articles of this nature Kodiak, Illiamna, Kenai, Cooper Landing, Sterling, Soldotna and Homer are not recognized by the NPS as access points to the Parks for some reason. I would think the Feds would make a good effort to recognize the communities adjacent Katmai and Lake Clark NP along with their respective CUA operators (NPS permit authorized operators are called Commercial Use Authorizations) accessing these two Parks since those CUA's are creating good numbers of sustainable jobs and driving economic value in new dollars to multiple adjacent communities rather than using tax dollars to create employment.
From the description of NPS services it does seem like the US Government is utilizing tax dollars to compete with the private sector for visitors, of course that is not the case, but I believe it needs to be clarified.
Perhaps our local NGO's, KICVB, HCC, KPTMC, KCVB, APCC, SCC might provide the NPS with a little reality check as to the mission of the NPS and also perhaps remind the NPS that those hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily user fees paid by Kodiak, Homer, Anchor Point, Kenai, Soldotna, Sterling, Cooper Landing and Illiamna CUA operators each year originate from other places than King Salmon.
1) It would be nice to see Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks provide more accurate news articles and potential Park visitor information with regard to all of the adjacent communities providing access to the two Parks.
2) The web pages of the Katmai and Lake Clark NP should at the least include links to the NGO's of the adjacent communities and at least simple maps showing the various access point to the Parks.
Clint Hlebechuk, Owner
Alaska's Hallo Bay Bear Camp
Homer, Alaska
Alaska Time
Posts
Clint,
ReplyDeleteA couple of comments on your writing. The article was by Chris Batin, and not provided by the National Park Service. We suggested a story on the 100th anniversary of the eruption, hence the references to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes accessed via Brooks, not the coast. He took it from there, based in part on his previous visits.
We were glad to see the 2 paragraphs below from the superintendent included:
[While the eruption and steaming fumaroles were the focus of their attention, the park eventually grew to encompass an incomparable landscape of lakes and rivers, high mountains and rugged coastline as well as an incredible array of wildlife.”
According to Moore, Brooks Camp is the park’s best-known destination — made famous by bears and salmon — but he encourages visitors to explore opportunities beyond that small area.]
I appreciate the suggestion on web content; improving our digital offerings is a high priority for us, and your ideas will go into the mix. As a FYI, Katmai's website lists all of its commercial providers and bear viewing hotspots (http://www.nps.gov/katm/planyourvisit/bear-watching.htm)
The Lake Clark site lists nearby attractions (http://www.nps.gov/lacl/planyourvisit/nearbyattractions.htm) and commercial providers (http://www.nps.gov/lacl/planyourvisit/gettingaround.htm)
Feel free to contact me in the regional office or the park staff if you'd like to discuss further.
John Quinley
Assistant Regional Director