Following another rough season of tense human-bear interactions along the Chilkoot River corridor, the Haines Borough Assembly on Tuesday voted to put $14,000 toward hiring a seasonal bear monitor to patrol the area from June through September.

The Alaska Chilkoot Bear Foundation will also contribute $2,000 and is seeking additional funds through its members to fund the position, which will be managed through the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks.

“I think all of us know that there are big congestion problems out at the Chilkoot corridor, especially during pink salmon season and bear season,” said Chilkoot Bear Foundation president Pam Randles. “And experience has shown that the best way to deal with that is...having staff people to help our visitors who aren’t used to being around bears...to behave in appropriate ways so they are safe and the bears are safe.”

The borough’s contribution to the position will be in two $7,000 chunks, one for this fiscal year ending June 30 and one for the next. Interim manager Brad Ryan said this year’s $7,000 will come out of the borough’s tourism budget, which is in the black.

It’s undetermined where the next fiscal year’s $7,000 will come from. “We’d like to track it towards tourism,” Ryan said.

Randles said she has been working with the state Division of Parks to determine the monitor’s duties, as the foundation’s contribution is contingent on the position being full-time and dedicated to monitor activities, like informing visitors of state laws, teaching “best practices” in bear country and facilitating safe human-bear interactions regarding fishing, photographing and other recreation.

“We realize that the position will be managed through Division of Parks, and have a concern that it will be used for a technician position as has been done in the past rather than a full-time monitor,” Randles said.

 Division of Parks discontinued the Chilkoot River seasonal bear monitor position in 2013 due to funding and oversight issues. It has continued to hire seasonal technicians, but their positions involve cleaning campground bathrooms and other routine parks maintenance.

Regional parks superintendent Mike Eberhardt said the division will use the funds to hire a temporary seasonal staff member “to monitor public use in the area. Funds may also be used for mileage reimbursement if no state vehicles are available.”

“The state would set up a separate account from which only these expenses would be paid and all expenditures would be easily tracked,” Eberhardt said.

 The Tourism Advisory Board and tourism director Leslie Ross supported the resolution. “The area is severely in need of additional staff during prime tourism and bear season. It is critical bear habitat. Every year the bear-human relationships of the corridor become more challenging, stressful and dangerous. It is imperative that the borough take part in finding a solution and supporting state management of this area,” Ross and TAB president Sean Gaffney wrote in a joint statement.

 In February, DNR officially assumed control of the mile-long Chilkoot River Road from the Alaska Department of Transportation to facilitate construction of riverside bear-viewing platforms that have been planned for years.

 “DNR has expressed that they cannot afford to staff an additional person for the Chilkoot area, however they are very open to a collaborative effort with the Haines Borough and local operators. They acknowledge the importance of having additional staff to help educate and mitigate the bear/human interactions in the area,” Gaffney and Ross wrote.

Assembly member George Campbell cast the lone dissenting vote against the resolution approving the $14,000. Campbell said he didn’t like the plan because it only fixed the situation in the short-term.

For a long-term solution, Campbell proposed charging tour operators $1 per passenger for use of the corridor. That motion failed.

  “If the operators aren’t willing to put that kind of money -- a $1 per person into this -- they don’t want this very bad. They just want the borough to pay for it,” he said.

 Assembly member Margaret Friedenauer said she wasn’t opposed to exploring that idea at the committee level, but amending a resolution to that effect wasn’t proper procedure.

Assembly member Diana Lapham said she was encouraged to see the collaborative effort between the state, borough and a local nonprofit organization. “I believe the borough needs to step up and be the backstop for this,” she said.