Company Policy for Guides

Background

Safety in the backcountry is paramount to a good trip.

Backcountry travel comes with responsibility, and each member of the group accepts that responsibility.

Most wilderness emergencies could have been averted with better evaluation and decision-making. Safety depends on good judgment, on preparation, and constant monitoring and assessment. Be aware.

Safety involves contingency planning and requires both well-informed and critical decision-making. To that end, pre-trip planning, and detailed analyses of potential risks and their mitigation is vital. Thorough reviews after trips, via trip reports and client/guide feedback, have a role in fine-tuning and improving the systems in place.

Communicating clearly and accurately with clients is critical.

A clear outline of authority is vital.

Safety First

Safety first means YOUR safety first. It means you, the individual, being responsible first and foremost for yourself. Everything else comes after that. Do not endanger yourself, or the group, to manage someone else’s risk without critically evaluating the situation.

Prevention

The single best tool we have in the backcountry is prevention. Evaluate and know your limits, and avoid potential problems.

Little Things ARE the Big Things

The likelihood is MUCH greater that you will get tired, you will dehydrate, you will get cold, or hot, or hungry. You will get sore feet and blisters. All those things are manageable. Left untended, they can quickly become unmanageable, and potentially, disastrous. Tend to the little things. They should never reach a stage where they’re apparent to the guide or someone else.

a) Hypothermia – you WILL get cold. Manage it before you get cold. It’s FAR easier to stay warm than it is to get warm.
b) Hydration – drink before you think you have to. If you’re not peeing, you’re dehydrated.
c) Blisters – your feet are your only carriage, look after them. Tend to hotspots BEFORE they blister.
d) Eat up – Calories keep you warm. And happy.

Communication

Communication is key to a successful trip; let each other know how you’re doing, what problems you’re having, what you might like to change, etc.

Clients, tell your guide that you need a break, or you need to lose some weight, or you need to stop and hydrate.

Clients: If you’re uncomfortable with any aspect of the trip, communicate it to your trip leader. If you need to stop and check your feet for a blister or hot spot, say so. If you need to lose or add a layer, say so. If you need the group speed to slow down, say so.

Stick To Your Plan

Don’t change your plans without informing the guide. If you say you’ll be back from a dayhike by 7, be back by 7. If you say you’ll stay in camp instead of the group dayhike, stay in camp. No exceptions. Nobody can guess where you’ll otherwise be.

Speed of the Slowest

The trip will move at the speed of the slowest person on the route. There is no ‘meet halfway’ when it comes to group speed. The slowest person/s can only travel at the speed they travel.

Get Lost – Stay Put

Instruct clients the following

“It’s contextual, for sure, but virtually always, if you get lost, or are unsure where the group/your guide is, stay put.

When you realize you’re lost, stay put.

Under some circumstances this might not be the best decision, but those are few and far between.”

Bear Briefing

Be aware; don’t run; clean camp; group travel; context and situations.

Clients: Follow the directions of your guide.

Guides: See “Bear Safety Plan” for detail.

Gear

The guide will have a BLS first aid kit handy. Ideally, a secondary first aid kit is available for minor concerns and management. Identify both the BLS and 2ndary kit to the group and inform them where you keep those items in your pack and in camp.

A Sat Phone & inReach is available, and inform group members where you keep it, along with appropriate emergency phone #s to call, and instruct them how to use it.

It is recommended that all group members have some form of first aid kit with them.

Carry some form of fire starter, insulation/rain gear and food/water. If possible, communication device, bear spray and a map.

HYOH but the guide has the final say

Hike Your Own Hike – The guide will defer to client requests more often than not. We’ll stop for lunch if you need to, or a break if you want to, or camp somewhere you want to. However, in any emergency situation, or potential emergency, or any other issue where safety says otherwise, the guide makes the decisions. No questions, no debates, no arguments.

The guide is not there to defend his or her decisions, but to make them. Afterward, in an appropriate context, a conversation may ensue about why decision X was made.

Camp safety

Safety in camp includes the kitchen, take caution around stoves, hot water and fire. Assess camp location for potential hazards such as wildlife movement, rock fall, flooding and storms, and other environmental considerations.

River crossings

River crossings are a potential hazard on a number of trips. The guide will evaluate the options for crossing and make the decision on how, where, when and/or if, to cross. There is no single “best method” to cross a river, and those decisions will be made on a contextual basis.

Options include “one-by-one”, side-by-side couples, a trio (pyramids work well) or larger group. Trekking poles are useful and their use is strongly urged.

Footwear of some kind is critical; no flip-flops. Crocs are good, must should be tied or strapped on. River sandals or camp shoes are OK, or hiking boots.

Criteria for good river crossing locations include entry and exit points, potential pitfalls downstream, potential hazards coming downstream, water depth, speed and strength of the current.

If necessary, the group may have to wait a day or 2 to cross, for lower water levels, or turn around and either hike out or find an alternative route.

Landing strips

Safety around plane landing strips is important. No camping within 50 yards of a designated strip, and no standing within 50 yards when a plane comes in to land. No exceptions.

Summary

Safety comes largely through caution and sound decision-making. Prevention is worth a lot more than a cure in the backcountry. Tending to the smaller concerns, such as getting cold, sore feet, or hungry and tired, are typically overlooked and underestimated in their gravity; pay attention to small things so they don’t become big things.

Communication, judgment, and caution go a long way to providing a safe trip.

The guide should be aware of any relevant medical history of all group members. Contact info for all trip members is available, either through EX AK or the local air taxi used for backcountry service.

Carl Donohue – Guide
Dec, 2015.
Updated Jan, 2022

Background

Business: Expeditions Alaska
Owner: Carl Donohue
Trip Locations: Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, Katmai National Park, Gates of the Arctic National Park, ANWR, Denali National, Chilkat State Park and Eagle Preserve and Chugach State Park.
Trip Activities: Photo tours, backpacking, snowshoeing, xc skiing, rafting, packrafting, sea kayaking.
Trip schedule: year round.
Guide-Client Ration: 1:5

Guide experience: min. 3 years field experience, WFR certification.

Scope

More than 20 years of backpacking trips and photo tours in the Alaska backcountry, in wilderness environments from southeast Alaska to the Arctic. No first year guides and no interns working in senior guide positions, no outsourced contracted guides without a prior and direct previous working relationship. Land management agencies we work with include National Park Service, Alaska State Parks, US Fish and Wildlife.

Most trips are ‘fly in’, and air taxis are local to the operating area. They provide the primary support network for assistance, as do the relevant land management agency. Other local guiding services, other backcountry travelers and our own group and any possible local inhabitants of the area might similarly provide assistance.

Operating in remote Alaska backcountry environments requires attention to safety. Careful assessment of potential risk triggers and identification of sound controls. Consistent specific methodology is difficult to identify, due the subjective nature of wilderness environments. Risk and management policy is assessed accordingly.

Where possible and requisite coordination with standard recommended land management agency and industry protocols are followed. Examples of this might be the park regulations for bear viewing found in the Katmai NP Compendium. Or this page on Wrangell – St. Elias NP River Crossings.

Policy

Triggers

1. Navigation
2. Accident Injury
3. Medical
4. Environment
5. Preventable injury

1. Navigation

Due to the remote nature of Alaska backcountry travel, the consequential risk of navigational error is rated high. Includes group separation, poor navigation resulting in time loss, as well as becoming ‘lost’.

2. Accident Injury

Covers major injury and trauma, such as a fall, burns and cuts at camp, etc (lightning strikes, wildlife bites, etc are addressed under “environmental”). Injuries from minor trauma to major trauma requiring immediate evacuation are possible. Most commonly injuries might result from a stumble on rocky or slippery terrain. River crossings are another source of potentially high risk triggers.

3. Medical

GI infection and other digestive problems are perceived among the highest potentially occurring medical triggers. Personal and camp hygiene are strong triggers in the backcountry.  

Water purification is not identified as a problem on virtually every Expeditions Alaska backcountry trip. Ears and eyes are also vulnerable, and assessed as potential risks. 

Respiratory problems such as asthma and sinus infection or bloody nose are cited as possible as well. Circulatory and nervous system problems such as heart attack and stroke, etc, are unlikely, but possible. Past medical history of clients are a strong potential trigger.

4. Environmental

Hypothermia is deemed the number environmental risk in Alaska’s backcountry. Even mild hypothermia is a potential problem. Lightning strikes are possible, on a trip by trip basis (depending on the location, Sanford Plateau is one such trip where lightning is identified as occurring). Dehydration, wilderness toxins, allergic reactions, sun exposure and burns are also identified. Wildlife injuries are identified as environmental factors, though treated as Injuries.

5. Preventable Injury

The greatest triggers we see are largely preventable and manageable. Blisters, hypothermia, dehydration, and fatigue receive extra attention here (overlap with environmental factor) because they’re the most common. Potentially, each of these are known to end trips, and so treated with seriousness belying their apparent gravity.

Evaluation

1. Navigation

Experience in the field with standard backcountry navigation is critical. Experience with a given route is the primary control mechanism. Our aim is, wherever possible, to have guides hike the route before leading a specific trip, unless the route is an exploratory trip. Map/compass reading skills are another control mechanism. GPS and similar technology based controls work better in some situations that others, and now our primary navigation resource. These tools are used on exploratory trips, as well as the arctic coastal trip and any water-based trips.

A map of the route, with repaper or digital, clearly marked with alternative route options, and 2 compasses are brought on each trip. Google Earth satellite imagery is also used to identify and provide route beta for guides.

Expeditions Alaska encourages at last 2 copies of a route map on every trip; the guide carries one and a client another.

2. Accident Injury

Sound judgment is identified as the number control mechanism to avoid this trigger.

Experience of the guide is priority #1.

Similarly, vetting clients is done before all trips in an attempt to ensure clients are not outmatched by trip logistics. 

Trips are planned with a time cushion to avoid being rushed and pushed for time; fatigue and stress are prevalent causes of backcountry injury.

River crossings are generally avoided, unless the clients are vetted as preferably experienced-intermediate hikers at a minimum.

River crossings are always conducted together, with maximum caution. The guide scouts the crossing, and assists all clients across. Backpacks are unbuckled, removable in case of emergency.

Trekking poles are almost always required on backpacking trips. Trekking poles have proven to be a primary source of control to avoid hiking accidents.

Medical

Careful sanitary food prep and kitchen management is the primary control mechanism to avoid GI risks. Food leftovers are avoided. Hand sanitizer is brought on each trip.

Issues like heart attack, asthma, allergic reactions are dealt with primarily through a rigid medical history examination and screening; doctors certificates required for any client potentially at risk. Epi pen or epinephrine vials and syringes are part of the medical kit (see refs).

Environment

Combined with Preventable Injury, the greatest potential risk trigger.

1. Wildlife

Bears are the strongest trigger; we maintain strict adherence to current protocols for dealing with wildlife with the appropriate land agency. Issues include keeping a clean camp, use of approved BRFC or other method of keeping food safe from wildlife, etc.

Basic behavioral patterns to heed include maintaining a group presence, do not run or act in such a way that might excite bears, if necessary and appropriate, stand up and speak out loud enough for the bear to hear and identify the group as people, or move cautiously away from the bear and the area.

For photography, we approach only under specific circumstances and do not breach agency regulations.

Staying alert is primary, and remaining aware that we’re in bear country at all times is a must. All clients receive a ‘bear safety’ talk prior to their trip. Other wildlife identified as warranting care are moose and wolves; they are not identified as a problem on the majority of trips, so are not dealt with here.

While most environmental factors, such as the temperature and weather, are beyond our control, we do control how we deal with them.

2. Preventable injury

Hypothermia, blisters, fatigue, dehydration, sun exposure, etc are all potential triggers that are identified as strong. They rate high on exposure risk, and potentially high on consequential risk if mis-managed.

Every trip starts out with a comprehensive Prevention is the Key to Safety discussion. 

All clients are informed of the need to carefully monitor their own situations and contexts.

Management involves frequent monitor and assessment of factors that might indicate incipient problems. Instruction on the importance of frequent and diligent layering clothing and protection from the elements, and the potential consequences if these things begin to unravel.

Rest breaks are maintained regularly, though depend on the nature of the trip, the clients and the context.

Repeatedly stress to clients that “it’s easier to stay warm than it is to get warm”.

General

Expeditions Alaska stress that safety first starts with self-responsibility.

First aid is a secondary control mechanism.

In order to maintain our highest standard in risk aversion and safety, Expeditions Alaska follow a standard process of vetting and matching clients to appropriate trips. Screening and assessing clients, screening and rating trip levels is the beginning of the process.

Clients are then thoroughly briefed prior to a trip on what is expected and required of them. Clients are given instructions on the importance of sticking together, and of sticking to plans.

Other instruction topics include how to stay in contact with one another, the role and hierarchy of authority on the trip, and the decision making procedures for the trip help avoid pitfalls.

We stress the importance of prevention; “if you’re not sure, you ask”. If a river crossing or a steep traverse appears unsound, we go back.

A current Wilderness First Responder certification is requisite of guides (unless extenuating circumstances exist, and will only be considered on a case-by-case basis). When possible, even our cooks have been WFR certified. A low guide to client ratio is important to maintain our safety record. Intern and junior guides are NOT given trip leader roles.

A BLS kit is carried on all trips, meeting standard protocols in wilderness First Aid kits.

We also employ satellite phone technology to assist in any possible evac. Expeditions Alaska also provide one alternative emergency messaging safety device, such as Garmin inReach or PLB.

Clients are instructed at the beginning of each trip on the route, potential ‘hotspots’ and places known to confuse navigation.

Clients are also shown how to contact the air taxi, land management agency or other relevant emergency contact on a trip by trip basis.

All insurance and permit requirements are met or exceeded for our safety and risk management.

Review

Yearly reviews of specific trip RMPs are a part of this plan. A 5 year comprehensive review of all safety record, policy and training is important. Review of industry standard protocols and technology advances, along with ongoing guide training and instruction keeps Expeditions Alaska both current and well-positioned to maintain our Safety Record. Land Management Agency protocols are met.

Sound Wilderness Leadership policies are integral to sound safety practice.

 

*Updated and review Jan, 2022. In 2027 this Backcountry Risk Management Plan will be reconsidered and reviewed for assessment.

Summary

Trip leadership greatly impacts group dynamics & relationships, individual & group satisfaction, safety and happiness. Provide the best service we can to maximize those outcomes.

Overview

Sound leadership can play a vital role in the overall trip success; for the clients, for the guide and for the business. Touching on a few of the concerns that seem to play the most prominent roles is important. From trip planning and preparation, considering the route and alternative route options, safety plans, operational procedures and active decision making processes are relevant.

Planning & Preparation

Route and alternatives: the first concern for any trip is where the trip goes. Guides are expected to have, whenever possible, experience on the chosen route, and a thorough review of any relevant trip beta as well, including relevant topographic maps, google earth satellite imagery and notations, GPS waypoints, as well as first hand notes from other guides.

All trips require alternatives; both for route finding and general trips operations, as well as compensation for unforeseen occurrences and safety choices. Choices such as nearby landing strips, alternative routes for easier, or harder, hikes, campsites, water sources, and so on are all important steps in trip planning.

Relevant client history: All clients are required to fill in a detailed questionnaire before a trip, and the guide is required to have reviewed the form. Pertinent medical history notes should be made for each client and taken on the trip. (I typically keep these with the medical kit)

Gear: gear is a part of the planning and preparation stage of the trip. All clients will have received a detailed gear checklist on their reservation, and should have all requisite gear on hand for the beginning of the trip. Do a brief check before leaving Anchorage that clients have made all final purchases, haven’t forgotten anything, etc. It is wise, when possible to review gear choices for clients before leaving for the backcountry (typically in McCarthy for W-St. E trips. I try to do this the on arrival in McCarthy).

It is important to note that some clients may not be comfortable with you going through their personal belongings, so always ask politely. I definitely recommend a review of their gear before final packing, however.

Operation

Monitor the group: During the course of the trip, it’s important to frequently monitor the group and see how everyone is doing. I find it useful to stop and check after maybe 30 mins of hiking to confirm that people’s packs fit well, feet aren’t blistering, rain gear works well, and so on. 

Role Modelling: typically, clients, particularly males,  are not good at asking for help or assistance. The best way to get trip members to stop and check their feet, or hydrate adequately, is to do the same thing for yourself first. More often than not, someone in the group will point out some issue they’re having. This is possibly the most useful tool I’ve found to get people in the mode of “looking after themselves”. For the first day or 2, it’s almost always a necessity.

Fluidity & Flexibility: The backcountry is an extremely subjective world, and the objective plans we set very likely won’t pan out as hoped for. The best recommendation here is be fluid and be flexible. Plans change as situations change. 

Situational changes can be as simple as the weather, or more threatening such as high water levels on a river crossing, or increased bear activity. They can also be client-based, where someone’s gear fails, or is inadequate, or the person is injured or otherwise unable to follow the planned itinerary. 

Be fluid and be flexible. Rigidity does not work here.

Decision Making and Consideration

Independence: I like to have clients be as independent as possible. I like for clients to be involved in decisions when they want to stop for lunch, where to put their tent, and so on. Do your best to offer them the best reasonable and available information, and allow the trip members to voice their opinion and ideas and make decisions where possible.

Individuals and Groups: Some decisions work best for some individuals, and some decisions work best for the group as a whole. The guides’ job is to identify when the priority should be the group as a whole, and when one or 2 individuals should take priority. Things like the speed at which the group hikes might hinge largely on one or 2 slower hikers. Things like how fast it takes to pack up and break camp in the morning, or when to stop in the evening for camp or lunch, etc, might be choices made with the group as a whole in mind.

Your call: There are several situations and ways in which this applies.

Safety. In any matter that the guide sees fit as urgent or critical, the guides’ decision/s are final. There is no need to defend or answer to questions about your decisions in any matter of urgency, particularly where safety is concerned. Be open to input, of course, but be ready and able to make a decision promptly, clearly and in the best interests of the trip and the trip members.

Micro-managing. I’m not one to micro-manage your job. You’re hired on with me and Expeditions Alaska as a guide and trip leader, and I wouldn’t offer you that role if I didn’t believe you are capable of making good decisions for yourself. I trust in you to make the best decision at the time and will stand by your decisions to do so.

Group dynamics. These can be difficult. At times it’s easier to avoid involving yourself. At times it’s critical that you involve yourself in any group conflicts or potential conflicts. Be firm and clear that everyone needs to work together to make this happen when you feel the need to do so and be respectful and courteous to trip members. No one’s hiking solo to the landing strip.

Safety and Backup Plans

Individual Safety: Stress, and re-stress “self-safety”. In your safety talk with the trip members, be clear and emphatic about the need for clients to assume their own responsibility, and look after themselves. Emphasize that your #1 priority will be your own safety, the safety of the group, and then the safety of anyone potentially in trouble. Their approach should be the same,

Stress the small things, blisters, dehydration, hypothermia, etc. Outline the need for all trip members to take care of these ‘little things’ while they’re only little things, and avoid any of them becoming ’big things’.

Repeat the need for clients to tend to those things BEFORE they become problematic.

Stress prevention

Group Safety: Group safety comes before the safety of someone in trouble. If a trip member falls in a river, for example, the priority is to make sure no one else falls in the river or gets hurt. Group safety makes individual mishaps manageable. 

Evac options: have some kind of outline plan of possible evac options in the event of emergency. This will typically involve a call to outside assistance, such as 911, State Troopers, NPS or other agency. 

Evacuation may be via a plane, which means getting the evacuee to a landing strip, or may be via a helicopter. Be sure to reinforce the need for safety in the case of an emergency, for example, with the group. 

Do not approach a helicopter from the rear or where the pilot cannot see you or the group. Always wait until the pilot motions for you to approach before approaching the chopper.

NB: in virtually any medical situation you’ll face, you have more time available than you think you do. Use it.

Consider. Plan. Decide carefully.

Making good sound decisions, communicating clearly and documenting everything helps avoid the “unraveling” that so typically occurs in these situations.

In planning, try your best to consider all the various options and potential pitfalls of each before engaging that plan. If need be, remove yourself even briefly from the group, or at least give yourself a little space from the group, to think clearly and leave behind some of the frenetic energy that comes with being part of a group in an emergency; you’ll make better decisions.

Odds and Ends

– a few notes that are useful to remember.

People will generally do pretty well at avoiding injury; they’ll hike at the right speed across a moraine to not fall down, they’ll not cross a river that’s too fast for them, and so on. Be their guide, but not their ruler.

People like to laugh. Good spirits come with having a good time. Though a backcountry trek in Alaska is hard work, it’s important that’s it’s fun, and that you’re fun.

I don’t want you to have to use your medical kit, or your bear spray, or your sat phone, etc. More often than not, making the right decisions earlier will avoid any of those situations.

Sometimes there is no “right decision”, and things happen. When those things happen, assess the situation as clearly as you can, and consider the importance of situational management; what’s out of control and out of hand can always get MORE out of control and out of hand. Stay calm and keep your cool, and make good decisions.

Keep control of what you can control.

Learn from yourself and your experiences. I highly recommend taking the time after your trip, or during your trip, or after a particular event or situation, to review and consider your choices and your actions.

Summary

Leadership is a difficult and often thankless task. I don’t take the importance of that lightly. Nor should you.

Give due diligence to your job and all that comes with it. Remember your group members are here for their trip, not yours, but your experience and knowledge can greatly assist them in that experience.

Prepare and plan for all that you can, but understand the natural world rarely works as planned. Be fluid and flexible. Stress trip members take care of themselves, and pay attention to the little things. Consider alternative options for your trip, and, above all, stay calm when you need to make critical, and particularly emergency-related, decisions.

I want all trip members, including you, to enjoy this trip. As I suggest to my clients in endless emails and phone calls, if you have any questions or concerns about any of this, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Carl Donohue – Guide
Dec, 2011
Updated Jan 12, 2022

Black Bears

Though typically not aggressive toward humans, black bears attacks are well documented in the US and Canada, including Alaska. Black bears are seen as a predatory species towards humans and should be respected as such.

Grizzly Bears

Grizzly bear attacks are more frequently seen as defensive rather than aggressive attacks, and caution should be taken to avoid provoking a grizzly or brown bear.

Polar Bears

Polar bears are viewed as a predator and should be avoided in the backcountry. Only in the safety of a vehicle or motorized boat should polar bears be approached.

Backcountry Trips

Our primary control mechanism to avoid bear-human conflict is awareness. Remaining vigilant at all times, scanning for wildlife and sign of bear, as well as any potential attractant, such as carcasses and other food sources, trails, etc, is a priority. Avoid surprises as much as possible.

Maintaining a “clean camp” is the second most critical control mechanism; camp is set up according to the Golden Triangle standard.

Keep a minimum 100 yard distance between tent sites, the kitchen, and food/container storage sites.

All food is to be kept in approved Bear Resistant Food Canisters (BRFC).

Other potential attractants such as detergents, toothpaste and all other scented toiletry items, cookware, fuel, stoves, etc are to be kept away from camp.

Clients are instructed on standard travel protocols in bear country

Do not run when you see a bear.
Do not approach bears.
Make noise when appropriate.
Stay as a group around bears, etc.
Stay alert in bear country. Be vigilant.

Be diligent and disciplined with your food and kitchen practices. Do not “slack” because of bad weather, you’re tiredness, etc.

Select campsites and break/rest stops in areas with good visibility, away from well-traveled game trails.

As you approach new territory (over a ridge, into a valley, entering or exiting brush, etc), stop and scan for signs of bears.

We will also discuss likely scenarios in which moving away from, or conversely toward, a bear might be the best choice. Primarily, we discuss the subjectivity and situational context that shape our interaction with the bear/s.

Environmental and circumstantial assessment is a more useful tool than any preset notion of what to do or not to do.

Clean Camp

No food in camp. This includes BEFORE setting up camp.

No food wrappers in camp.

No ‘smellies’ in camp, including toiletry items, detergents, soaps, deodorants, shampoos, etc. Lip balm, gum, sunscreen lotion, etc should ALL be kept safely away from camp (“Camp” being defined here as the sleeping area where tents are set up).

Kitchen is the area we cook and eat dinner and breakfast (and lunch if basecamping). After dinner (breakfast, lunch), all food, containers, cookware, etc, will be removed from the immediate vicinity of the kitchen and stored a distance away; we adhere to a standard of a minimum of 100 yards wherever practical.

Containers, cookware, etc are thoroughly cleaned.
Any fish cleaning/cooking/consuming is done far from camp.
Do NOT dispose of leftover food in the backcountry. Pack out what we pack in.
Fuel is a potential bear attractant and stored away from the kitchen as well.
All food is to be kept in BRFCs and any surplus in Ursacks, tied correctly as directed.

Leave No Trace standards for clean camp are adhered to.

Don’t Run

Running is viewed as a potential trigger for bear attacks and advised against.

If we see a bear approaching, the typical response is to slowly move into a group. Stand and remain aware. Alert the guide/s and do as instructed. An appropriate response will depend on circumstantial assessment.

Whether or not we alert a bear to our presence depends on the situation. As a general rule, we’d rather NOT, and prefer to give the animal a clear birth. When circumstances warrant, we make the bear aware of our presence. Calmly defer to the bear and it’s travel or behavioral pattern.

Movements are generally needed to be slow and cautious, making every effort to not excite or disturb the animal.

If a bear does approach and shows signs of aggression or defensive posturing, it is critical that the group act cohesively; all clients are to do as the guide says with no or absolutely minimal hesitation disagreement.

Decisions here are the guide’s and guide’s only. This is important to stress to all clients in the pre-trip safety briefing.

Bear Spray

All groups in bear country will carry bear spray, unless it’s impractical (eg, locations such as Kaktovik). All trip members are instructed in safety protocols and use of bear spray.

Bear spray is largely viewer as a necessary liability. Bear stay maintains a significant risk factor for the group’s well-being. Extreme care is required with bear spray at all times. Any discharge, accidental or otherwise, is to be reported by the guide to your manager in your trip report.

Expeditions Alaska Bear spray SOP doc is here

Instructions for Expeditions Alaska Bears Spray Safety Talk are here.

Bear Attack

As a general rule, playing dead is a better option than fighting back if a physical conflict arises. As always, exceptions apply (eg, polar bear attacks, any predatory attack, etc).

Any bear attack will be reported asap to the appropriate land management agency. Injuries are assessed and dealt with accordingly, following standard Wilderness First Aid protocols; assess, stabilize and evacuation (if necessary).

Wildlife

Safe travel in bear country and strict adherence to ‘clean camping’ protocols. In addition to this, a polar bear safety plan is submitted to US F&WS. Clients are given a thorough ‘bear safety’ talk at the beginning of the trip, as per EABCRMP. Approved BRFC canisters are used to store all food. All food and ‘smellables’ are kept a minimum of 100 yards from camp, and separate from our camp kitchen.
Awareness is identified as the #1 safety mechanism available to the group. Stay alert.

Wolves, wolverines, moose and muskox are present, but not identified as likely potential factors.

Review

Bear danger is perceived to be low risk, but likely highest on bear photo tours, including polar bear tour in Kaktovik, the coastal brown bear tour to the Katmai Coast and Grizzlies in the Fall to Katmai NP. All backpacking trips involve potential bear encounters, while front country and winter trips, such as aurora tours, snowshoe trips, etc, are very unlikely to encounter bears.

Awareness at all times is the most primary control mechanism available.

Bear safety is primarily contextual; circumstances shape our response and interaction with bears above all else.

Carl Donohue – Guide
Jan, 2022

Educates guests about impact

All trips begin with a safety and protocols talk, informing participants of the many ways our travel might impact the environment. Informing participants about such ecological factors as edible plants, traditional and medicinal uses of local plants, and traditional subsistence use of native wildlife help provide a foundation that strengthens the ‘travel quietly’ standard. 

Illustrating how carefully we must choose campsites and rest breaks is important. All guests read the Leave No Trace backcountry travel protocols booklet, as well as literature from the relevant land management agency (where available) on low impact travel.

Consideration of contextual conditions

Expeditions Alaska understands that impact is not going to be resolved via a one size fits all policy. The natural world is a subjective one, and we stress attention to the context in our decision-making. Bears in many places in Katmai National Park are far more tolerant and less easily disturbed than, say, a bear on the coastal plain in the high arctic. Knowing the context drives our behavior. Informing participants of the relevant details is more useful than providing a blanket policy that leaves no understanding of local detail.

Leave No Trash

This is repeated in policy and practice. I pride myself on the perfect record we have for low impact travel. Leave No Trace camping and travel starts with leave no trash; every rest break, lunch break, camp break is preceded by at least 2 ‘dummy checks‘ to ensure nothing is left behind. A clean camp is maintained, no food is available to wildlife, no trash is left behind, and we carry out whatever trash we find (that we’re able to remove) along the way.

Not too close

Understand the direct impact of approaching and harassing wildlife too closely. Maintain as little direct impact on species as possible. I inform all guests of any land management agency regulations before the trip and work closely with the appropriate land management agency to make sure we understand both the regulation and the intention of the regulation.

Educate on ecology

I believe education is an ongoing process, and a critical one to encourage people to travel quietly. Pretrip discussion involves a short talk on local species, plant and animal.

We carry a guide book or app on all trips, and practice species identification with all clients. To encourage active participation, we offer incentives such as snacks, etc, for those folks who can best identify different plants and animal tracks on a given day. This motivates participants to learn about the environment, and become participants in the place, rather than spectators.

Identify non-native species

Introduced non-native species are identified and removed, when possible. Land management agencies, such as the NPS are contacted and informed if any potential problems are assessed.

Trip dispersal

I realize that by marketing and promoting the places we visit, and the wildlife we photograph, we increase impact beyond our own immediate effects. As such, we make an effort to disperse trip travel year to year, and regularly lead exploratory hikes to new areas we haven’t yet been, in order to resist wearing out the landscape on a few heavily visited areas. This single effort is probably the strongest factor we have assessed in lowering our ecological impacts.

A concerted effort is an ongoing one, and I regularly update and review the situation. I stay in touch with other local guide companies, air taxi services, accommodation and lodges, as well as land management agencies to keep abreast of current concerns and developments.

In an effort to both monitor and lower ecological impact, I engage and participate in the decision-making process of the land management agencies such as F&WS and NPS in their public comment period for their yearly compendium.

Author: Carl Donohue
Jan 2022

I support local business. I prioritize the hiring staff locally. Local air taxi travel, accommodations, and marketing consultants. Local graphics artists and web design. In 2009 I adopted a completely paper-free marketing program and moved away from resource-intensive brochures, magazine ads, etc.

We have a “Tread Lightly” page on the website promoting the importance of sound environmental work. We donate 5% of all annual profit to a combination of local and inter/national environmental organizations. These include Alaska Conservation Foundation, Alaska Wild Renewable Resources Coalition and the Alaska Center for the Environment, The Nature Conservancy and Friends of the Earth.

Expeditions Alaska also make an effort to help provide balance to the public discourse on environmental legislation and activism. I’ve written for Alaska Dispatch, Alaska Outdoors Journal, Naturescapes.net, NaturePhotographers.net among others on various environmental situations.

Expeditions Alaska is also a member of Adventure Green Alaska and Sustainable Travel International.

Economic Sustainability

Sustainable business requires sustainable economic environment.

Through careful financial consultation and marketing programs, I’ve adopted a strategy to maximize efficient resource management of Expeditions Alaska’s financial resources. We promote a synergistic business environment with colleagues and complementary industries. Expeditions Alaska works closely with other local businesses to promote Alaska, Alaskans, Expeditions Alaska, and the environment.

With a strong return client business, Expeditions Alaska also generates a strong word-of-mouth marketing program. Previously we’ve run free trips to further promote Alaska and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Waste reduction is both an environmental and economic factor. Working with Patagonia, I’ve adopted the Commons Threads Initiative. Promoting a gear use policy of “Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle”, we minimize waste where possible.

Expeditions Alaska recently moved web hosting services to a new server that utilizes green energy, further reducing our footprint, economically and environmentally.

Recently we’ve adopted a strategy of running the business from home, rather than a 2nd building, which has greatly lowered Expeditions Alaska footprint and contributed to a stronger sustainable practice.

Other strategies for enhancing a sustainable business model include

* Maintaining a strong safety ethic and record

* Ongoing environmental awareness promotion, at the local, national and international level

* Continued involvement in Alaska land management agency policy

* Education and courses in environmental and economic business

* Networking with local Alaska business and environmental organizations to promote Alaskan wilderness

* Alaska Adventure Green certification to learn about and promote standards of economic, environmental, and social sustainability

* Education and communication with subsistence board members about sustainability and land use issues

* Further review and assessment of ways we might reduce our environmental footprint.

Annual review and assessment help target areas we might improve. Feedback from clients and employees, as well as a continued discourse with agencies like the NPS, help identify possible improvements in our policy and strategy.

Carl Donohue
Feb 2022