Late every summer, polar bears gather outside Kaktovik, a tiny Alaska Native village far above the Arctic Circle, to feast on whale carcasses and wait for the sea to freeze. The spectacle once drew 1,000 or more tourists a year to the community — the only settlement inside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

An industry interrupted

That flow of visitors largely ended when the COVID-19 pandemic and a federal order halting boat tours shut down the industry, amid concerns that the small village was being overrun by outsiders.

A revival worth millions

Village leaders now want to bring the tourists back. They estimate a revived, well-managed polar bear tourism industry could be worth millions to the local economy and give residents a new source of income — provided guidelines are in place to protect both the community's way of life and the bears themselves.

Alaska Native leaders are in talks with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to address those concerns and restart the industry, potentially as early as 2027.

A lesson in destination stewardship

Kaktovik's experience underlines a challenge facing remote destinations worldwide, including emerging ecotourism sites in the region: wildlife tourism can transform a local economy, but only when growth is managed on the community's own terms.

Photos by Roger MacKertich via AP