After crash, Kodiak Island berries appear to be on their way back

Daysha Eaton/KMXT

Last year was not a good year for berries on Kodiak Island, to put it mildly.

Low berry production was a bummer for human berry pickers. But the bad berry year also affected wildlife, including the island’s iconic brown bears that rely on the fruit to put on fat to survive the winter.  

Bill Pyle, Supervisory Wildlife Biologist with the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, is studying the impact of climate change on berries and bears to learn more. Daysha Eaton with KMXT talks with Pyle about his work and this year’s berry forecast, which he says may make up for what happened last year.