Staff are reaching out to the Bristol Bay public for help designing the 2017 bear pin, a popular souvenir given to Brooks Camp visitors upon completion of bear etiquette training.
KDLG: This spring, the staff at Katmai National Park and Preserve are reaching out to the public for submissions on the 2017 Brooks Camp bear pin design.
Bear pins are given out by rangers at Brooks Camp upon completion of a mandatory bear etiquette training course, often called bear school. The short course features a video presentation and a ranger discussion about the correct behavior when observing and encountering bears at world famous Brooks Camp.
Katmai rangers think their creative neighbors in Bristol Bay will come up with something great.
"I have been so impressed in the few months that I have been here with the creativity and positive energy of the community," said Cathy Bell, Katmai's Chief of Interpretation. "I am really looking forward to seeing what some local artists and creative people come up with for this year's bear pin design."
More than 10,000 visitors earned their pin last year alone, and Bell said aside from being a good souvenir, they can help when things get crowded in the summer at Brooks Camp.
"Anyone who is wearing one is readily identifiable to all the rangers present as having gone through this bear orientation," she says. "It prompts them to remember what they learned during bear etiquette training. "
The contest is open to Bristol Bay residents. The deadline for submissions is 4:00 p.m. on April 7. Designs can be dropped off in person at the Park Visitor Center in King Salmon, mailed in, or emailed as a PDF. Contact the staff at Katmai for more details.
Reach the author at lawrence@kdlg.org or 907.842.5281.