[2][needs update] In September, a smaller number of bears (maximum about 18 at one time[not verified in body]) can be seen at the falls to feast on the later salmon runs.
Since hunting was allowed, bear numbers were lower and salmon and sport fishing was the primary attraction to the falls.
A controversial "stream improvement" was implemented in 1920 by the United States Bureau of Fisheries, when they cut a 10 foot gap on the south bank of the river, which was widened to 15 feet the next year.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game opposed a 1987 NPS proposal to dismantle the ladder, and the structure remains, though not used.
The bureau, renamed the National Marine Fisheries Service, transferred ownership of the weir to the NPS in 1978.