In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Lynne Lewis, currently a professor of economics at Bates College and an incoming professor of agricultural and resource economics at Colorado State University, about brown bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska. Lewis discusses the fan base for the brown bear population in Katmai, which is connected to the Fat Bear Week tournament held every October; surveys that indicate the amount of money people would be willing to pay to protect the brown bears in Katmai; the relationship between an animal’s perceived individuality and the value people place on the conservation of that animal or its local population; and potential problems associated with visitors overcrowding Katmai and other national parks in the United States.

References and recommendations:

“Getting to know you: individual animals, wildlife webcams, and willingness to pay for brown bear preservation” by Leslie Richardson and Lynne Lewis; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ajae.12249

“The charisma premium: Iconic individuals and wildlife values” by Christopher Costello, Lynne Lewis, John Lynham, and Leslie Richardson; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069623000906

Live cam of brown bears at Katmai National Park in Alaska; https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

“The Bears of Brooks Falls: Wildlife and Survival on Alaska’s Brooks River” by Michael Fitz; https://wwnorton.com/books/9781682685105

“The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music” by Dave Grohl; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-storyteller-dave-grohl