The Kenai Peninsula has a new area wildlife biologist.
Nick Fowler joins the Alaska Department of Fish and Game by way of upstate New York. But he’s lived all over the country.
Fowler grew up in central Missouri and majored in fisheries and wildlife science at the University of Missouri. He got his masters degree in Mississippi and has researched on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and in California.
He’s finishing up a doctorate project with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Fowler brings experience working with bears to his new role. When he was studying in Mississippi, he kept track of how black bears were naturally recolonizing there.
“Alaska’s got robust bear populations throughout the state, and certainly is not concerned with recolonization as we were in Mississippi," he said. "However, I do have quite a bit of experience from when I was working with the National Parks Service of managing and mitigating human-wildlife conflict. And as we all know in Alaska, that can be an issue.”
Fowler replaced Jeff Selinger, who held the position since 2002. Selinger is still based at the Soldotna office, but now he’s overseeing the wildlife management program for all of Southcentral, as the department’s Region 2 management coordinator.
Selinger said his most memorable times on the job come from his interactions in the field, with other biologists, pilots and federal and state personnel. He said Fowler’s ability to interact with the public constructively was a big part of why the department picked him for the job.
“Nick brings a personality with him that I think is very conducive to having positive interactions with the public and with the Board of Game," he said.
In Alaska, the Board of Game sets hunting and trapping regulations for the state. The Department of Fish and Game provides information and proposals to the board when new regulations are considered.
Fowler’s experience with bears is also a plus. Selinger says one of the themes that comes up time and again is whether there should be more or fewer brown bears.
It’s an issue that’s currently playing out in the debate over the proposed regulation changes at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Members of the department have advocated for changes, including one that would permit brown bear baiting where black bear baiting is already allowed. Conservationists have decried the proposed changes.
Selinger said the department was excited to get new resource management ideas on the Kenai. But he said it was also good timing for turnover in the position. Wildfires tend to usher in higher numbers of moose for the two decades following an incident. If last year’s Swan Lake Fires are consistent with that trend, that could mean a lot more moose to manage in the coming years.
Fowler said he’s looking forward to following those changes in population and how those changes affect wildlife viewers and hunters.
“I think we’re going to see some interesting responses with the moose populations as we get some of this regenerating moose habitat over time," he said. "So I’m really excited to kind of observe and monitor the ecological response of moose to that. But also that same habitat is going to support bear populations as well and other species also.”
Though he’s worked with a lot of different populations in a lot of states, Fowler said he’s looking forward to working with species, like mountain goats, he hasn’t come across before.
