OpportunityTitle: Polar bear patrols 2014-2018
CategoryExplanation: Community Safety
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Local government with the responsibility and authority to provide wildlife-related safety for North Slope Borough communities, and with the infrastructure to implement a polar bear detection/deterrence program.
Description: This project involves: 1) implementation of a polar bear deterrence program in North Slope villages, and 2) hosting a meeting in 2014 to identify strategies for assisting the village of Kaktovik with reducing human-bear conflicts associated with ongoing meat handling practices and an increasing level of tourism/commercial filming. The project will provide public safety in communities visited by polar bears. It will also support polar bear conservation through use of non-lethal means for responding to bear encounters, as well as involve Alaska Natives in polar bear co-management, as called for under section 119 of the of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Service&#191;s Native American Policy.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Katherine_Smiley@fws.gov
GrantorContactText: Katherine Smiley, 907-786-3412&lt;br/&gt;Katherine_Smiley@fws.gov&lt;br/&gt;