Anyone interested in visiting the Anan Bear Observatory this summer can now enter the lottery system for passes. KSTK’s Shady Grove Oliver has more.
Click here for iFriendly audio.
Matt Jurak is the Anan Site Manager for the Forest Service. He says people who are interested can go online and enter the lottery.
“And it’s just basically the time you can go in and request your days that you’d like to come to Anan for this coming summer. It is a lottery request so it’s not an official reservation, but you put in the days that you’d like to come,” says Jurak.
Jurak says because Anan can only accommodate a certain number of visitors per day, the lottery is a good way to try for a pass before the online reservation system opens up.
“You put your name in the hat because it is so competitive. It’s limited to 60 per day. It’s a very competitive process to get a day pass to go to Anan. So this is kind of a way to even the field,” says Jurak.
There are about 18 passes per day open through the lottery system. After that, there is a smaller amount that can be reserved online a shortly before a visit.
“After that it is somewhat limiting. We hold 12 passes for each day which are released three days prior to the day. So, say you wanted to go on July 5th, three days before July 5th those 12 passes open up on the reservation system and are essentially open to first come first serve,” says Jurak.
So, Jurak says, the lottery is especially useful if you already know this far in advance when you’d like to visit the observatory.
Passes are required to visit Anan from July 5th through August 25th. The final day of the lottery is February 28th and the names will be drawn March 3rd.
For more information, call Matt Jurak at 874-7520. You can also contact Anan program manager Dee Galla at the Forest Service at 874-2323.
