A grizzly bear approaches as technician Jacob Blanchard with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game counts salmon at a weir on the Chilkoot River. Weirs can be prime fishing grounds for bears, and technicians are prepared to fend off hungry bruins if they get too close. (Alex Brown/Stateline)
HAINES, Alaska — In the middle of the fast-flowing Chilkoot River, an Alaska state employee sits on a small perch over a narrow, fence-like structure and stares down into the rush of water.
Eagles look on from the trees overhead as the river thunders around boulders nearby. The worker’s back is turned to a female grizzly bear creeping up just a few dozen feet away.
The bear cautiously wades upstream toward the man, then sidles close to a low metal railing stretching across the river, the only structure separating the two. Suddenly, the worker springs up, turns around and strides toward the bear, shouting and stomping on the metal platform. The bear stops and stares. After more yelling, the employee raises an air horn and hits the grizzly with a deep blast of noise. She turns, slips into the current and floats back downstream.