It has not even aired yet but already "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is potentially damaging Alaska tourism and putting both humans and the wildlife in jeopardy.

From the Guardian:

John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, said scenes in an online trailer for the programme appeared to show the former Republican vice-presidential candidate breaking the rules of Wolverine Creek, a famous spot where bears – and humans – come to fish. "It's clear from the video that she violated the guidelines," he said, calling her actions "a travesty".

In a preview of Sarah Palin's Alaska, a part nature documentary, part candid camera of the daily life of one of America's most controversial political families, the former state governor is seen fishing for salmon with husband Todd and family members. She can be seen apparently holding her rod towards brown bears on the river bank, while the party's boat appears to be closer to the bears than guidelines advise. The Alaska department of fish and game says people in a boat must not fish within 30ft of a bear. "It's clearly irresponsible," said Toppenberg. "She is encouraging the violation of important guidelines. Humans can get too close to the bears."

The irony of a right-wing conservative, who boasts of hunting moose and shooting wolves while campaigning for more oil drilling in Alaska, transforming herself into a nature fan for primetime has not been lost on environmentalists.

Large brown bears gather in Wolverine Creek because the fishing is so easy and the animals have, in the process, become a tourist spectacle. But Toppenberg warned that by behaving in an apparently irreverent manner, Palin was doing nothing to foster responsibility among visitors. "She is encouraging the violation of important guidelines that allows tourism to flourish in Alaska. She is inviting future problems with the tourism industry and, in particular, the bear-viewing industry," he said.

This may seem like a minor infraction to people living outside of Alaska, but up here we take the guidelines about the proper way to behave around bears very seriously.

Remember millions of people will be watching this ridiculous program and assuming that the ex-Governor of the state, and a person who self identifies as a "Mama Grizzly", would know the proper way to behave around these potentially dangerous animals.  If even a dozen or more people from the lower forty-eight come up here believing they can interact with the animals in the way that Palin does on television, we could have some very, very dead tourists.

We have seen just how deadly the failure to give these animals proper respect has been to even those who believe they know better. 

Even when people know what to do the animals can be extremely aggressive and unpredictable.



And even those of us who feel relatively safe from bear attacks living in Anchorage have had some very rude awakenings in the last few years.

As an Alaskan I have been stunned, and horrified, at how Palin is misrepresenting our state and how to behave in the wilderness.  From standing up in a boat that might have to beat a hasty retreat, to approaching feeding bears, to the proper way to handle a firearm, the show is one giant steaming pile of mooseshit.

As our Governor, and then as a VP candidate, Sarah Palin has been embarrassing Alaskans, and forcing us to correct misinformation, for almost three years now.  Sadly it looks like she has no plans to stop anytime soon.  I just hope that the foolish example she is setting does not get anybody killed.