Bears to be regular sight until winter

While the number of bear sightings made to the Petersburg Police Department have gone down, Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said bears will likely be a common sight in town until winter.

Earlier this month, Robbins cautioned the public to secure their garbage cans and put away human and pet food. It is the availability of human sources of food in town that is bringing the bears out of the forests, said Robbins. Since then, he said he has seen an increase in compliance among residents, though there is still plenty of food available for the b...