KAKTOVIK, ALASKA — Alaska Native leaders from Kaktovik are in talks with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to potentially restart polar bear boat tours in the village as early as 2027. In 2021, federal regulators halted the tours over concerns about tourist impacts on bear behavior and the village.

Kaktovik, the only settlement in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, sits along a stretch of coast where polar bears gather late each summer to feast on whale carcasses left by hunters and to wait for the sea to freeze. The gathering once drew 1,000 or more tourists each year to a village of about 250 people during a six-week viewing season. Local leaders say renewed tourism could be worth millions to the economy and provide residents another source of income if guidelines protect village life and the bears.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the discussions aim "to ensure that any future opportunities are managed in a way that prioritizes visitor safety, resource protection, and community input."

In the early 1980s, anyone in Kaktovik with a boat and knowledge of local waters could take tourists out to watch polar bears on barrier islands or feeding on bowhead whale remains. Tourism increased after federal officials declared polar bears a threatened species in 2008, as Arctic warming melted the sea ice the animals use to hunt seals. The phenomenon is sometimes called "last chance tourism," referring to seeing sights and creatures before climate change renders them extinct.

As visitation grew, federal regulations requiring permits and insurance squeezed local operators out as larger out-of-town companies moved in, flying tourists from Fairbanks or Anchorage for day trips. Kaktovik's two hotels and restaurants lost some business. Residents complained that tourists gawked at them or walked through their yards, and limited small plane capacity forced some residents to compete with visitors for flights to medical appointments in larger cities, sometimes leaving them stranded overnight.

When the pandemic began, Kaktovik paused tourist visitation. The federal order halting boat tours then largely ended the industry. Kaktovik leaders now want to limit how long boats can stay near polar bears, because extended exposure can make bears accustomed to humans and lead them to wander into town seeking food. The Kaktovik Inupiat Corp, headed by president Charles Lampe, owns 144 square miles of land around the village.

Sherry Rupert, CEO of the American Indigenous Tourism Association, suggested that Kaktovik market itself as a two- or three-day experience. Roger MacKertich, a professional wildlife photographer based in Sydney who visited with Sonia MacKertich in September 2019, described boat tours on which bears paid no attention to visitors. "That's nearly as good as it gets," he said.