Tourism

Federal officials are asking cruise ships, tour boats and kayaks to stay far away from harbor seals in Alaska’s glacial fjords.

The marine mammals rest, sleep and birth their pups on floating ice. NOAA Fisheries says new research shows the marine mammals are much more likely to dive into the water when vessels approach the current legal limit.

NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle says that stresses the animals and lowers their chance for survival.

“They expend far more energy when they are flushed off the ice floes and that uses up their energy reserves and that’s very important if you’re an animal that lives in that icy environment,” she says.

The federal Marine Mammals Protection Act requires ships to stay about 100 yards away. New guidelines, which are voluntary, call for about 500 yards, if it’s safe to do so.

They also ask ships to be as quiet as possible, avoid causing wakes and make no abrupt course changes. They suggest vessels schedule tours for the early morning or evening, when fewer seals haul out.

“At this point, because they’re voluntary, we will be monitoring the vessel and seal interactions to see if these new voluntary approach guidelines provide sufficient protection for the seals,” she says.

NOAA Fisheries says its research shows about three-quarters of seals on ice dive into the water before an approaching ship reaches the current legal distance. Other studies found different numbers, but they still document significant disturbances.

The most popular fjords, in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, see multiple visits a day.

Speegle says the new guidelines, if followed, should help protect young seals.

“We certainly want to do all that we can to ensure that pups are not separated from their mothers during the nursing stage,” she says.

Calls to several companies offering fjord tours were not immediately returned.

Hoonah will soon be getting more cruise ship passengers as it nears completion of a new dock at Icy Strait Point.

The town currently receives as many as 4,000 tourists a day on cruise lines like Celebrity. But arriving ships have to anchor offshore and tender passengers over with smaller boats.

Tyler Hickman, vice president of Icy Strait Point, says some vessels can’t accommodate that.

“For instance, I know that Disney doesn’t carry tenders on their ships so they don’t carry any tender ports. And so it certainly opens the door where it was completely closed to them in past. So I think it sparks interest on all the cruise lines,” he says.

For example, the Disney Wonder already has ports of call in Southeast and can carry up to 2,700 passengers.

Huna Totem Corp. owns Icy Strait Point, a historic cannery turned tourist attraction with a museum, gift shop and zip line.

Hickman says funding for the dock came from a public-private partnership.

“The city has brought $14 million that was a grant from the state and Huna Totem Corp. is putting another 8 million into it,” he says.

The dock is expected to be completed in October in time for next year’s tourist season.

The parent company of Alaska Airlines reported its highest quarterly profit in its history Thursday despite stiff competition in the Northwest skies.

Delta Air Lines continues to expand on Alaska’s home turf. Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden told Wall Street analysts his carrier is “doubling down” on service to hold its rival at bay.

“As we pause to take a look at how we’re doing midyear and two and a half years into the biggest competitive incursion we’ve seen in a while, I am happy to share that we are thriving. Our operation is firing on all cylinders.”

Alaska Air executives said they’re maintaining market share at SeaTac Airport, which both Alaska and Delta now claim as a key hub.

Delta has begun flying to Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan, which had only been served by Alaska Airlines.

The brisk growth by both carriers seems to be coming at the expense of other airlines serving the Northwest such as United and Southwest.

Delta executives said they’re bullish about the performance of their new Pacific gateway during their own earnings conference call a few days ago.

The U.S. Forest Service is allowing commercial operators to bring more visitors on the lake and trails in the popular Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area. Later this month, companies can compete for visitor spots through an application process.

Commercial operators have been allowed to bring about 462,000 visitors to the area. That number isn’t changing. Instead, the federal agency is shifting more spots to be used by visitors being guided on the trails and lake versus simply visiting the glacier by bus.

Jennifer Berger is in charge of special uses on the Juneau Ranger District. She says there’s more demand to bring visitors on guided trips than spots available.

“What we’re hearing is that people would like to engage in some active hiking, biking, and lake and river activities, and also get a little further afield from the immediate visitor center which can on certain days be rather crowded,” Berger says.

There are currently 28 permit holders for the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, most just provide transport. The bidding process will allow new and existing guide companies to bring more visitors to the glacier.

“We are going to advertise the prospectus far and wide because we know that there may be business from across the state, there may be businesses from outside the state, and we would want all of them to have an opportunity to apply,” Berger says.

About 200,000 visitor spots will be up for competition. It’s been 19 years since the Forest Service has made so many spots available.

The Forest Service plans to open the bidding process later this month and companies will have 60 days to turn in an application.

Fifty Southeast Alaska business-owners are asking Congress to give more money to the Tongass National Forest recreation program. Funding for trails, cabins and wildlife-viewing sites has declined in recent years, and tour operators worry the Forest Service will not be able to maintain the attractions they depend on.

Much of the visitor industry in Southeast Alaska depends on the Tongass National Forest for sightseeing, hiking, camping and wildlife-viewing opportunities. And with tourism growing, companies that lead visitors through the Tongass worry federal funding for the biggest national forest is declining too quickly.

“The recreation program for the Tongass is so key to the tourism industry here that once the dollars started to drop, it became an issue that a lot of both small and large companies started to take note of,” said Laurie Cooper of Trout Unlimited, a national conservation organization active in Alaska.

Cooper also works as a guide in Juneau and said she started to notice a decline in trail maintenance and assistance with permitting issues.

“As funding has dropped, the Forest Service has basically said they’re not going to be able to provide the same services they have in the past,” Cooper said. “And with 80 percent of the land base here in the Tongass National Forest, a good majority of the tourism industry relies on being able to have access for visitors to take them into the Tongass safely and just to operate their businesses.”

Cooper said the recreation budget for the U.S. Forest Service has been in decline across the country, but the Tongass is facing cuts that are 30 to 40 percent deeper than in other states.

According to a letter a coalition of Southeast businesses sent to Congress, the amount spent on recreation in the Tongass does not match up with the proportion of revenue it brings in.

Ten percent of the Tongass budget goes to recreation, but half of the forest’s revenue comes from recreation.

Wrangell District Ranger Bob Dalrymple said his recreation program budget was cut in half over the past two years.

He said he could only afford one seasonal worker this summer. The district usually hires four. It also has a hiring freeze, so vacant positions cannot be filled.

“Two of those are key. One of them is the Anan manager, and the other one is our recreation lead person that coordinates all of the cabin maintenance, trail maintenance and developed recreation, so that had a pretty big impact on the program,” Dalrymple said. “We’re still trying to keep things going.”

The Anan Wildlife Observatory is a popular bear-viewing site on the mainland between Wrangell and Ketchikan.

Dalrymple said he does not have enough employees to provide firewood at cabins and campgrounds anymore.

He said trails and cabins in the Wrangell Ranger District are in good shape, but anything can happen.

“I know there’s some blowdown now on the Kunk trail, and it has damaged the trail. So we’re having a hard time responding to those kinds of fixes,” Dalrymple said. “As those things happen we’re going to have to close those access routes until we can come up with some way to get it fixed.”

He said the Forest Service may have to partner with other organizations and increase fees to maintain recreation sites on the Tongass.

Fees at Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier Forest Service viewing area are already slated to go up.

 

The Alaska Marine Highway System has canceled this summer’s sailings between Petersburg and northern Prince of Wales Island. But they’ll happen next year.

The state ferry system announced the new route last year. It was supposed to connect terminals at South Mitkof Island, about 25 road miles from Petersburg, and Coffman Cove on northeast Prince of Wales.

Spokesman Jeremy Woodrow says the route was a funding decision, not based on passenger need.

“We used federal funds to construct both the Coffman Cove terminal and the South Mitkof terminal and there could be a potential to have to pay back those federal funds if we actually don’t use those terminals for ferry service,” he says.

The ferry docks were built last decade for routes that no longer exist. Together, they cost about $15 million.

Woodrow says the small ferry LeConte was scheduled for this summer’s monthly sailings. But it was docked for repairs in May and June.

“Now the Malaspina is actually being late coming out of the yard. And the Malaspina is not expected to be delivered until the end of July. And because of that, the LeConte now is picking up service where the Malaspina normally would sail,” he says.

Few people made reservations for the August and September sailings, so they were canceled too.

Woodrow says the ferry system will try again next summer, but with a different approach.

It will hire the Inter-Island Ferry Authority, which has a backup ship, to sail the route. The IFA, which is separate from the state system, used to run a ferry between Coffman Cove, Wrangell and South Mitkof Island.

“We’ve worked with the federal highway system and they say that would meet the needs to show that we are trying to use those terminals,” he says.

The IFA sails a ship between Hollis, on eastern Prince of Wales Island, and Ketchikan year-round.

Woodrow says the state will pay about $200,000 for the Coffman-Mitkof service. The money is left over from a road and bridge project on the Kenai Peninsula.

IFA’s general manager could not be immediately reached for comment.

The ferry system posted August and September’s cancellations on its schedule changes web page. Woodrow says it did not announce the earlier dropped sailings.

“We usually make large announcements when there’s a lot of travelers affected. And when there’s only maybe one or two reservations, we just call those passengers and let them know what the change in the schedule is,” he says.

A different ship, which is not part of the state ferry system or the IFA, is scheduled to begin sailing much the same route by the middle of this month.

The Rainforest Islander will link Coffman Cove, Wrangell and South Mitkof Island four days a week. But it’s a much smaller landing craft and will not use the federally-funded terminals.