ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Late every summer, hulking white bears gather outside a tiny Alaska Native village on the edge of the continent, far above the Arctic Circle, to feast on whale carcasses left behind by hunters and to wait for the deep cold to freeze the sea.

It’s a spectacle that once brought 1,000 or more tourists each year to Kaktovik, the only settlement in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in a phenomenon sometimes called “last chance tourism” — a chance to see magnificent sights and creatures before climate change renders them extinct.

The COVID-19 pandemic and an order from the federal government halting boat tours to see the bears largely ended Kaktovik’s polar bear tourism amid concerns that the tiny village was being overrun by outsiders.

But Kaktovik leaders are now hoping to revive it, saying it could be worth millions to the local economy and give residents another source of income — provided the village can set guidelines that protect its way of life and the bears themselves.

“We definitely see the benefit for tourism,” said Charles Lampe, president of the Kaktovik Inupiat Corp, which owns 144 square miles (373 square kilometers) of land. “The thing is, it can’t be run like it was before.”

Visitors overwhelm a tiny village

As far back as the early 1980s, anyone in Kaktovik with a boat and knowledge of the waters could take a few tourists out to watch the bears as they lumbered across the flat, treeless barrier islands just off the coast or tore into the ribs of a bowhead whale left by subsistence hunters.

Tourism in Kaktovik soared in the years after federal officials declared polar bears a threatened species in 2008. The rapid warming of the Arctic is melting the sea ice that the bears use to hunt seals, and scientists have said that most polar bears could be wiped out by the end of the century.

As visitation boomed, the federal government imposed regulations requiring tour operators to have permits and insurance, and that began to squeeze locals out of the industry, Lampe said. Larger out-of-town operators moved in, and before long, crowds of tourists were coming to Kaktovik — a village of about 250 people — during the six-week viewing season.

The town’s two hotels and restaurants lost out on some business when large operators began flying tourists in from Fairbanks or Anchorage for day trips. Locals complained that tourists gawked at them or traipsed through their yards.

Small plane capacity became an issue, with residents sometimes battling tourists to get on flights to or from larger cities for medical appointments, forcing those left stranded in the cities to get expensive hotel rooms for the night.

Renewing polar bear tourism, with changes

When the pandemic struck, Kaktovik paused visitation. Then in 2021, the federal government, which manages polar bears, halted boat tours, mostly over concerns about how tourists were affecting bear behavior and overrunning the town.

Alaska Native leaders are now in talks with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address those concerns and reignite the industry, perhaps as early as 2027. The agency told The Associated Press in a statement that it’s working with Kaktovik “to ensure that any future opportunities are managed in a way that prioritizes visitor safety, resource protection, and community input.”

Among the changes Kaktovik leaders want to see is a limit on how long a boat can sit in the water near the bears. Too long, Lampe said, and the bears get used to humans — making for a dangerous situation when bears wander into town looking for food.

During the height of the tourism boom, it became tougher to haze bears out of town, even with the town’s bear patrol shooting at them with nonlethal rounds. The patrol had to kill about three or four bears per year, compared with maybe one per year before the boom, Lampe said.

“Our safety was at risk,” Lampe said.

In 2023, a 24-year-old woman and her 1-year-old son were killed in a polar bear attack in Wales, in far western Alaska. It was the first fatal polar bear attack in nearly 30 years in Alaska, the only U.S. state home to the species.

Since the boat tours in Kaktovik were halted, the bears once again seem more fearful of humans, Lampe said.

Encouraging respectful visits in the Arctic

Polar bear tourism coincides with Kaktovik’s subsistence whaling season. When a crew lands a whale, it’s usually butchered on a nearby beach. While the community encourages visitors to watch or even help, some were recording or taking pictures without permission, which is considered disrespectful, Lampe said.

Sherry Rupert, CEO of the American Indigenous Tourism Association, suggested that Kaktovik market itself as a two- or three-day experience.

Native communities that are ready for tourists “want them to come and be educated and walk away with a greater understanding of our people and our way of life and our culture,” she said.

Roger and Sonia MacKertich of Australia were looking for the best spot on the planet to view polar bears in the wild when they came to Kaktovik in September 2019. They spent several days in the village, took a walking tour led by an elder and bought souvenirs made by local artists, including a hoodie featuring a polar bear.

For Roger MacKertich, a professional wildlife photographer based in Sydney, the highlight was the boat tours to see bears roaming on the barrier islands or taking a dip in the water. The bears paid them no attention.

“That’s nearly as good as it gets,” he said.

WASHINGTON — National Democrats are investing in Alaska’s U.S. House race, hoping to unseat Congressman Nick Begich III.

House Majority PAC, affiliated with Democrats, announced Thursday it is reserving fall ads worth $272 million in House races around the country. More than $2.4 million of that is intended for television and digital ads in Alaska, the group said by email.

Begich, a Republican, will no doubt buy campaign ads of his own. He has raised $4.3 million for his reelection.

His best-funded challenger is independent Bill Hill. He has raised almost $800,000 since entering the race early this year.

Democrat Matt Schultz, who began campaigning last year, has taken in contributions of nearly $600,000.

The House Majority PAC has not endorsed either of the challengers. Its initial nationwide ad reservation is much larger than in past years. Its selection of Alaska among a few dozen battleground districts suggests Democrats believe Begich is vulnerable.

Their Republican counterparts aren’t making the same bets. Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC affiliated with Speaker Mike Johnson, announced an ad reservation Thursday of $153 million. Alaska is not on its list.

Ad reservations aren’t firm commitments but they are an early signal of strategic intent. They also allow political groups to lock in lower rates. Both groups say they’ll seek to place more ads as the election nears.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The first day of digital integration for Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines services brought few major problems for travelers.

A new app was launched, and now travelers can find all the support on one platform.

“We successfully transitioned over to our new single passenger service system, which for guests, it means that you can book on the same system, you can manage and check in on the same system,” Hawaiian Airlines Hawaii Marketing Managing Director Alisa Onishi said.

Customers are being told to get their boarding passes on the app before arriving at the airport. And when you do get there, checked bag tags can be printed at the kiosks.

“Ninety percent of our guests already were checking in, before they got to the airport, but just a few that it’s new to them, arriving to the airport with your boarding pass is the best way,” Onishi added.

The company says the separate brands are being maintained. Aside from a few travelers who struggled with checking in online, overall, it was a smooth transition.

“It works. I usually fly Alaska and Hawaiian, so it works the same way as the Alaska did,” New York-bound passenger Kelsey Dean said. “We checked our bags. It only took a minute or two.”

Visiting sisters Gonna and Lara Severin from Holland required additional assistance, but didn’t mind the extra step.

“Not very big troubles. We weren’t able to check in online. Maybe it was because we have some extra bags, so maybe that was the problem and because we did some shopping, so maybe it’s our own fault,” they said. “We’re OK with it. It’s not a long line. People are here to help, so yeah, we really enjoyed our holiday.”

For customers who require additional help, agents are available in the terminals.