This summer's traffic at the Anan Wildlife Observatory totaled 2,905 bear-viewing visitors with a U.S. Forest Service permit - the most in the 20 years of the permit system.
A record number of people visited Anan Wildlife Observatory this season - the largest amount since 2004, when the permit system was implemented.
Of the 2,905 visitors who came through the observatory in 2023, 548 were independent or unguided and 2,357 were commercially guided. Guide companies used nearly 80% of their available permits - only 610 commercial permits were unused.
The visitor count was slightly higher than the pre-pandemic peak in 2013 and much higher than the lowest recorded visitor count in 2020, which was just under 1,000. The number of used permits has been increasing steadily since then.
District Ranger Tory Houser is pleased that "the capacity strategy ... we are using seems to be working," she said. "We were able to get higher numbers of folks out to Anan, but still within our capacity. We're always working to meet that capacity and not exceed it."
The site is limited during the peak bear viewing period of July 5 through Aug. 25 to 60 commercially guided visitors a day and 12 independent travelers who get there on their own.
Houser believes that the facility's new observation deck, combined with good weather, high numbers of fish in the area and larger cruise ships coming through town, made for good bear viewing and drove Anan's attendance numbers up. "All of those things came together" this year, she said.
One particularly busy season does not necessarily indicate a trend, however. Houser believes the site is "leveling back out to pre-COVID numbers," since the visitor levels are "slightly higher but not massively higher" than they were in the past.
And even if Anan was experiencing a popularity boost, the Forest Service would still limit visitors for the sake of the area's wildlife and environment. "The area and the wildlife and the recreation experience can all handle this level of use," she said. "Economically, I want to get it so we are getting to that level, (but) I don't want to exceed it because we don't know what the impacts would be. We are consistently assessing our bears and all the wildlife in the area."
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