Don’t feed the bears

PALMER — An Anchorage man made famous on Animal Planet is facing 20 misdemeanor counts after Alaska State Troopers allege he fed black and grizzly bears near his Skwentna cabin.

Charles E. Vandergaw, 70, was the subject of “Stranger Among Bears,” an Animal Planet documentary in which he was videotaped interacting with wild bears near his cabin close to Rabbit Lake, a place he dubbed Bear Haven.

Last week he was charged in Palmer District Court along with two alleged accomplices, Carla J. Garrod, 53, and Terry A. Cartee, 62, both of Anchorage.

In charging documents filed with the case, Vandergaw is alleged to have told troopers that he’d been feeding bears at his cabin and “couldn’t immediately stop.”

“Vandergaw admitted to feeding the bears for the past 20 years and stated that it was getting expensive to continue,” Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson wrote in the charging documents.

Peterson, with the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals, also writes, based on Vandergaw’s statements to troopers, that the former school teacher got a bear-baiting permit “in order to justify the possession of dog food at Bear Haven.”

According to Peterson, Vandergaw said he never set up a proper bear-bait station the appropriate distance from his cabin and fed the bears daily at Bear Haven, which Peterson writes is a violation of the permit.

The Animal Planet documentary, according to the charging documents, netted Vandergaw and Garrod, who owns C&C Bear Imagery, $70,000 plus expenses for making the film, Peterson wrote.

Richard Terry, the cameraman who features prominently in the documentary that aired last month, said he was working for Firecracker Films, a British company that Vandergaw said he contracted with to make the film. Terry told troopers they sold the film to Animal Planet.

“Terry stated that Vandergaw fed the bears two times daily an average of 1-2 bags of food,” Peterson wrote. “Vandergaw also expected guests and visitors to bring dog food to the cabin.”

The documentary aired over six episodes from mid-April to May 1 of this year, according to Animal Planet’s Web site. Episodes showed troopers arriving at Bear Haven and, afterwards, Vandergaw reading from a citation he received. Vandergaw is depicted petting and talking to the bears or canoeing with bears swimming nearby. The bears at times loll on his porch or wake him up early in the morning pawing at his door.

Garrod is cited in the charging documents as supplying Vandergaw with dog food.

A search of Garrod’s home turned up receipts for 7,300 pounds of dog food purchased in Anchorage during the summer of 2008 — the summer during which Cartee was living with Vandergaw, Peterson wrote.

Peterson wrote that Cartee bought 58 bags of dog food for a total of 2,800 pounds. Cartee is a licensed big-game guide. One of the counts he faces relates to being a guide aiding or allowing a wildlife violation. According to an Alaska State Troopers press release, Vandergaw’s first court appearance is expected to come next month in Palmer.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.