A Juneau woman who gave a few of the wild bears along the Glacier Highway cute human names has been charged with interfering with a lawful archery hunt after authorities say she repeatedly honked her car horn to drive a bear away from a group of hunters.
Janet E. Lopez is now facing three counts of obstructing or hindering lawful hunting (one for each affected hunter) after a June 18th encounter north of Peterson Creek. Charging documents were filed last week in Juneau District Court.
Alaska Wildlife Trooper L. John MacDonald wrote that Billy Barker, Matthew Ives and Marshall Mickle were looking for black bears when they spotted several animals in the area. The men were about 300 yards from the highway and began stalking one when Lopez approached, asked what they were doing, and learned that they were in the middle of trying to put one on the ground.
According to the affidavit, Lopez sped off and continually passed the same stretch multiple times while blowing her horn incessantly. Troopers noted that the commotion quickly changed the bear’s behavior, sending the animal far out of reach of the hunter’s stalk. Without letting their frustration get the best of them, the hunters decided to try and find another animal, but as the road warrior refused to relent, they eventually were forced to abandoned the hunt.
The hunters went on to confront Lopez who straight up told them she was trying to save the bears she loved so dearly. In an interview with the State Trooper, she revealed that she enjoys watching the bears along that particular stretch of highway and has given a few of them cute names of their own.
Unfortunately for Lopez, whether the bears have names does not change Alaska’s laws regarding hunter harassment. Without being remotely ambiguous, Alaska’s AS 16.05.790 explicitly states that a person may not intentionally obstruct lawful hunting by creating a visual, aural or other stimulus meant to alter the behavior of an animal being pursued. The statute only applies if the hunt itself is legal, which in this incident (as far as we can tell) looks to be the case.
The charging documents put the hunters just north of Peterson Creek and a close look at the regs restrict the taking of big game along a portion of the Juneau road system south of that point. Black bear season was open in that particular unit (1C) on the day of the incident, further cementing the likely legality of the hunt.
Now three months following the incident, charges have officially been filed and if convicted, each count against Lopez could carry up to $500 and 30 days in jail. Whether those charges get stacked is completely up to the court.
