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Three Men Charged With Getting Too Close To Bears At Katmai National Park

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By Kurt Repanshek - September 27th, 2021

Three men have been charged with leaving the viewing platform at Brooks River in Katmai National Park to get better photos of brown bears feeding on salmon/Rebecca Latson file

A picture might be worth a thousand words, but for three men who wanted a closer photo of bears feeding on salmon in the Brooks River of Katmai National Park and Preserve the images could cost each a $5,000 fine and six months in prison.

The three -- David Engelman, 56, of Sandia Park, New Mexico, and Ronald J. Engelman II, 54, and Steven Thomas, 30, both of King Salmon, Alaska -- have been charged with illegally leaving the Brooks Falls viewing platform and entering a closed area of the Brooks River at Brooks Falls back on August 9, 2018. The men were all charged with creating a hazardous condition in a closed area and approaching within 50 yards of brown bears, according to federal authorities in Alaska.

As they waded into the Brooks River the three came within 50 yards of the brown bears, a release from the U.S. Attorney's office charges. 

Katmai National Park and Preserve protects more than 4 million acres of land and coastal resources, including the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and the Brooks River area, which is particularly notable for a rich habitat that supports one of the world’s highest concentrations of salmon and brown bears. 

The park and preserve also protects 9,000 years of human history integrated on the landscape and offers unique opportunities to explore vast wilderness and immense volcanoes, watch brown bears, fish for salmon and trout, and many other activities.  

The National Park Service is investigating the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Skrocki is prosecuting the matter.

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