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Kaktovik Plans 2027 Polar-Bear Tours After New Safety Rules

4/24/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Kaktovik leaders will relaunch polar-bear tourism only after safety and wildlife-protection rules are adopted.
The village is negotiating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to permit boat tours by 2027.
In the 2010s the town hosted over 1,000 summer tourists, yet federal permit rules later forced many operators out.
Bear patrol limits boat time near bears to keep them wary after a 2023 fatal bear attack in Wales, Alaska.

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Story summary

Kaktovik leaders will relaunch polar-bear tourism only after safety and wildlife-protection rules are adopted.
The village is negotiating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to permit boat tours by 2027.
In the 2010s the town hosted over 1,000 summer tourists, yet federal permit rules later forced many operators out.
Bear patrol limits boat time near bears to keep them wary after a 2023 fatal bear attack in Wales, Alaska.