The Fortress of the Bear is a non-profit bear refuge and education center in Sitka, Alaska. It was established in 2003 by Les and Evy Kinnear at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park, which previously housed the Sitka Pulp Mill. Sitka conservation organizations opposed the Kinnears' plan to open a refuge, believing that wild bears should not be confined in tanks and shown to the public. To convince the authorities that they could properly care for animals, the Kinnears started raising pigs and other farm animals at the location. After several years of work, the refuge received all the necessary state and city permits. The sanctuary began housing its first brown bear, Killisnoo, in 2007, and its first black bear, Smokey, in 2013. The refuge was visited by 20% of cruise ship passengers who docked in Sitka in 2016. By its 10th anniversary in 2017 of housing bears, three black bears and five brown bears lived there. By 2017, it had 30,000 yearly visitors and made $1million in annual revenue. History Conception and preparation Fortress of the Bear founders and husband-and-wife duo Les and Evy Kinnear became acquainted with each other in Portland, Oregon. She had previously been a Los Angeles middle school teacher in math and science before becoming her mother's caretaker in Portland. Having been for numerous years a hunting guide, he had gone bear hunting and killed other large quarry in the Alaska Range. Having been an Alaskan resident starting in 1978, he had planned to relocate to Portland. Les Kinnear decided to stay in Alaska in Sitka after Evy saw the bear sanctuary as a venture worth doing and pledged her support. In 2002, the couple began making arrangements for opening a bear refuge. In 2003, Les Kinnear created Kootznahoo, a non-profit organization, to serve as a sanctuary for bears from Southeast Alaska. He received approval from the City and Borough of Sitka whose Sitka Assembly presented Kootznahoo with $25,000 to implement the proposal. The money came from federal funds allocated to Sitka in the 1990s with the aim of spurring economic growth. The city owned Gary Paxton Industrial Park, the land that used to house Sitka Pulp Mill, a pulp mill that had been closed in 1993, and had trouble finding leaseholders for the vacant property. Located on Silver Bay, the mill is a six mile-distance from Sitka's downtown. In 2003, the city signed a lease