Birds first
Ethical wildlife viewing in Alaska
Respect wildlife, nesting areas, private land, local communities, and the rules of the park, refuge, preserve, or other land manager you're visiting.
Correction to the old site
There is no single statewide distance chart.
Rules and recommendations vary by agency, location, species, nesting status, and activity. National Park Service Alaska guidance, for example, tells visitors in its parks to stay 300 yards from bears; other wildlife and eagle-nest guidance can use different distances.
Use the managing agency's current rule
Identify who manages the land or water and read current wildlife, closure, camping, drone, and access rules. Follow your guide's instructions when they are more conservative.
Let behavior create a larger buffer
If a bird stops feeding, leaves a nest, alarm-calls, changes direction, flushes, or otherwise reacts to your presence, increase your distance.
Protect nests and colonies
Stay out of closed nesting areas, avoid crowding nest sites, and do not use repeated playback around territorial birds or disclose sensitive locations carelessly.
Photography is not an exception
Long lenses, boats, blinds, and hides should reduce disturbance, not justify closer approaches.