Kodiak takes its landfill bear problem behind closed doors

Bear management at the Kodiak Island Borough landfill is headed behind closed doors. At its Sept. 3 meeting, the Assembly will weigh going into a closed session to discuss legal advice and financial risks tied to bear management at the landfill.

The landfill is out of compliance with state rules on bear access. The state approved the borough's Bear Management Plan on July 15; its goal is to eliminate bears, in coordination with Fish and Game. But even as the borough meets the plan's requirements, Borough Manager Aimee Williams wrote this month, a constant attractant keeps the bears coming.

A Fish and Game biologist said the borough could be fined for negligently feeding wildlife, and officials have weighed a $250,000 interior electric fence, with materials from Defenders of Wildlife. Two blank state forms are attached to the closed-session item: an application to haze, relocate or destroy animals, and a kill report for black or brown bears.

The borough has not said publicly what the privileged discussions or the financial risks involve.