Bears and Pipeline Construction in Alaska

• Published in: Arctic 1990, Vol.43 (2), p.103-109
• Main Authors: Follmann, Erich H., Hechtel, John L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal feeding; Animals; Bears; Black bears; Construction; Fences; Food; Grizzly bears; National parks; Natural gas pipelines; Pipeline construction; Pipelines; Ursus americanus; Ursus arctos
• ISSN: 0004-0843; 1923-1245
• DOI: 10.14430/arctic1598

Serious problems were encountered with bears during construction of the 1274-km-long trans-Alaska oil pipeline between Prudhoe Bay and Valdez. This multi-billion-dollar project traversed both black bear (Ursus americanus Pallas) and grizzly bear (U. arctos L.) habitat throughout its entire length. Plans for dealing with anticipated problems with bears were often inadequate. Most (71%) problems occurred north of the Yukon River in a previously roadless wilderness where inadequate refuse disposal and widespread animal feeding created dangerous situations. Of the 192 officially reported bear problems associated with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) (1971-79), about 65% involved the presence of bears in camps or dumps, 13% the feeding of bears on garbage or handouts, 10% property damage or economic loss, 7% bears under and in buildings, and only 5% charges by bears. Remarkably, no bear-related injuries were reported, suggesting that bears became accustomed to people and did not regard them as a threat. Following construction of the TAPS there have been proposals for pipelines to transport natural gas from Prudhoe Bay to southern and Pacific-rim markets. Based on past experience, some animal control measures were developed during the planning phase for the authorized gas pipeline route in Alaska. Fences installed around 100-person "survey" camps were found to be effective in deterring bears in two traditionally troublesome areas. /// Au cours de la construction de l'oléoduc trans-alaskien réalisée sur une longueur de 1274 km entre Prudhoe Bay et Valdez, de sérieux problèmes sont survenus, dans lequels des ours étaient impliqués. La totalité de cette ligne coûtant plusieurs milliards de dollars traversait des zones fréquentées par l'ours noir (Ursus americanus Pallas) et le grizzly (U. arctos L.). Les plans permettant de faire face aux problèmes qui avaient été prévus avec les ours se sont souvent révélés inadéquats. La plupart des problèmes (71 %) sont survenus au nord du fleuve Yukon, dans un région sauvage où il n'existait pas de route auparavant et où l'élimination inadéquate des déchets jointe à la pratique courante d'offrir de la nourriture aux animaux, créèrent une situation dangereuse. Des 192 rapports officiels concernant les problèmes dus aux ours en rapport avec la construction du Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) de 1971 à 1979, 65 % environ impliquaient la présence d'ours dans des camps ou des déscharges, 13 % le fait que les ours venaient