Tourism

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is updating its marine management plan and environmental assessment for the first time since 1984. The document guides decision-making for park management and sets rules for visitors.

Superintendent Philip Hooge said a lot of work went into the draft, but the public shouldn’t expect huge changes at the park. He called the changes “tweaks.”

“I think Glacier Bay is one of those kind of amazing parks where we found the right tool,” he said. “We’ve dealt with a 6% increase (in visitors). But yet, at the same time, you can have the same experience you had in the ‘90s.”

Management at Glacier Bay is unique because visitors mainly experience the park from the water, and the majority of visitors stay on cruise ships. He says the park’s contract system with the cruise ship industry results in some of the strongest environmental standards in the world — so the existing quota system won’t change.

But the park is proposing changes for private vessels. That’s because it says visitor patterns and the environmental conditions have changed since 1984.

“We were having challenges with private vessel permits,” Hooge said.

He said it’s easier for locals to get permits, and some people have figured out ways to game the current system.

“So we did want to try to make those kind of more equitable, you know — still provide recreational opportunities for local people, but provide kind of a more level playing field for people who’ve never been to the park.”

The number of permits per day is proposed to stay the same, but the permit season will be lengthened by two months.

Travis Mingo works for Alaskan Dream Cruises and Allen Marine. He checked in at a public hearing in Juneau this week to see if his company would be affected.

“I don’t think it will,” he said. “It’s good. It doesn’t mean we have to change how we do our business.”

Steve Box is a commercial halibut fisherman who has one of the few remaining licenses in the park. He came by to see how it might change his livelihood.

“The more traffic, the more detrimental it is to the bay overall. So I’m just curious on what their plan was,” he said.

The document is a long one, but park officials say that Chapters 2 and 3 should give the casual reader enough information to understand the changes. The public comment period runs through Dec. 30.

Also, mega-yacht owners should take note that anything longer than 79 feet won’t be counted as a private vessel anymore. They’ll be in the same class as cruise ships.

Ironman Alaska has canceled plans to hold events in Juneau over the next two years. 

Liz Perry, president and CEO of Travel Juneau, said the Ironman Alaska triathlon organizer called her to say that the decision arose from economic concerns like inflation and the potential for a recession. 

“We have not burned any bridges with them,” Perry said. “They are ever so grateful to the community of Juneau for everything that we did for them, and they want to keep that door open for the possibility of a future event.”

This summer’s Ironman event was the first of its kind in Juneau, according to Perry. About 850 athletes from around the country arrived and competed in driving rain. 

While that was fewer than the original estimate, the event did end up bringing in an estimated $8 million to the local economy between the hotels, food and other things paid for by visitors who came to town for the event. 

Housing for all the visitors was a concern leading up to the race. Some athletes also struggled to get their bikes to Juneau in time for the race, but locals stepped up to help. 

Perry said she’s disappointed about the decision, but the possibility remains for Ironman to return in the future once the economy improves. The fact that Juneau proved it can host an event of this scale also means there’s potential for similar events. 

“It kind of opens the door for us to keep an eye out for, you know, similar events. And whether they are athletic events or other kinds of events that the town has the capacity to put on,” she said. 

Travel Juneau paid $50,000 for licensing for this year’s event. Perry said they had a contract with Ironman for the 2023 and 2024 races but had not made any payments yet.

Juneau residents got to see huge, color posters of what future development on the city’s waterfront might look like. Not at a municipal meeting, but at a local bar during Gallery Walk.

In August, Huna Totem Corporation — a Juneau-based village corporation that represents Hoonah shareholders — announced an agreement with Norwegian Cruise lines to develop what’s known as the subport, next to the U.S. Coast Guard Station downtown.

HTC is calling the development Aak’w Landing. Large, full-color conceptual designs for what it could look like lined the walls of a back room at The Crystal Saloon on Friday night.

Organizers of the event said the goal was to allow more of the public engage with the plans. Huna Totem CEO Russell Dick credited Mayor Beth Weldon with the idea.

“Not everybody tunes in to the Assembly meetings,” said Dick. “So getting out here and experiencing it in this fashion and listening to folks talk about it — things they like, things they don’t like — it’s a good way to do it.”

Bluegrass concert-goers from the other room meandered through the images, with cocktails. Some chatted with Huna Totem leadership or one of the architects behind the drawings.

The event pulled John Hillman and his wife off the street while they were enjoying Gallery Walk.

“Walking by, we saw the Huna Totem sign here. We didn’t know it was gonna be here,” he said.

Hillman and his wife are shareholders, so they popped inside.

“Well, it’s exciting,” said Hillman. “Finding out for the first time what it’s going to look like and all that, and meeting with the guy that’s planning it and knowing Russell since Russell was a little young man himself, and now he’s leading the charge.”

They sipped wine and toured the images with Corey Wall of Juneau design firm Jensen Yorba Wall. Wall said the firm has been working with Huna Totem for nearly two years.

He said the current design will include elements from Norwegian Cruise Lines’ original plan for the lot.

“I think a lot of people are just trying to see now, with Huna Totem taking it over, if it’s still going to be a similar project,” he said. “And I think people are very happy to see that we still have the below-grade bus parking, and we’ve got the park over the top of it.”

Huna Totem aims to complete construction on a 10,000-foot visitor center and a new cruise ship berth with a curved trestle by 2025. Wall said cruise ship infrastructure and parking will be hidden by retail and landscaping. There’s also room in the plans for 35,000 feet of what the company calls “flex space,” which could be anything from apartments to an ocean center that could be constructed later.

That’s the plan, but there are many steps to go in the public process. There will be more opportunities for feedback on a project of this magnitude.

“The Juneau waterfront is complex,” said Alexandra Pierce, CBJ’s Tourism Director. “We need to make sure that all the uses on our working waterfront are accommodated.”

After Huna Totem Corporation submits its request for a conditional use permit, the project will begin the public process. City meetings will determine if the plans comply with code, then Assembly meetings will determine if the project serves the whole community. The Assembly will have the final say over whether the project can make use of the city’s tidelands property or build a new dock.

“It’s exciting to see the possibility of something happening there,” Pierce said. “And it’s our duty at the city to make sure that if that site’s developed, it’s developed in a way that is positive for the community.”

Huna Totem Corporation estimated that more than 450 people filtered through Friday’s event. Architect Corey Wall looked around the room at his designs.

“I think people are really excited about the park, and the idea that that’s gonna be something for Juneau,” Wall said.

More than a dozen images show intricate plans to keep tour buses out of view and scenic outlooks from big-windowed buildings.

“It looks probably far more finished than it is,” he said. “It’s still very, you know, malleable, depending on the feedback we get.”

 

This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Juneau design firm Jensen Yorba Wall.

Federal safety investigators are calling for new, more restrictive regulations on flightseeing tours in the Ketchikan area after a series of crashes.

The National Transportation Safety Board says previous approaches focused on voluntary compliance have proven ineffective at addressing the unique hazards of flying in the area.

The agency’s 20-page report calls on the Federal Aviation Administration to impose specific regulations for Ketchikan air tours above and beyond what’s normally required.

The NTSB says it’s looking to prevent pilots being caught in clouds unexpectedly without the equipment necessary to navigate them. Large commercial airliners carry specialized instruments that allow them to fly in low-visibility conditions, but small flightseeing planes typically operate under so-called “visual flight rules” — that is, they rely on what pilots can see out the window.

The report highlights seven fatal flightseeing crashes in the Ketchikan area since 2007 that killed a total of 31 people and injured another 13. Three of those involved flying into poor weather conditions and crashing into terrain, including the most recent crash in Misty Fjords National Monument Wilderness last year. Those three crashes resulted in 20 deaths.

Current regulations on air tours require visibility of at least two miles when clouds are less than 1,000 feet above the ground. Pilots must also fly at least 500 feet above ground level.

But Ketchikan is more complex. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a news release that the area’s fast-changing weather and mountainous terrain present “unique — but well-understood — safety hazards.”

The report asks the FAA to work with the National Weather Service to come up with more conservative weather standards for flightseeing tours in Ketchikan and require specialized training.

The board also asks the FAA to require air tour operators to comply with a 2009 agreement that standardizes tour routes, provides alternate flight paths on poor weather days, and encourages pilots to relay poor conditions. That agreement is voluntary — and even though the air carrier involved in last year’s crash had signed on, the pilot was not following the designated route at the time of the crash, according to the NTSB.

A ProPublica report last year highlighted that Alaska makes up a growing share of the country’s crashes involving small commercial aircraft. The NTSB says specific regulations issued for other high-risk locales, like the Grand Canyon and Hawaii, have improved flightseeing safety.

“Special federal aviation regulations have effectively reduced air-tour accidents in other areas, saving untold lives. We need the same safety leadership now — before there’s yet another tragedy in Ketchikan,” NTSB Chair Homendy said.

The NTSB investigates crashes, but it doesn’t have the power to issue binding rules. That’s why it’s calling for the FAA to impose new regulations.

In a statement, the FAA said it takes the safety board’s recommendations seriously and will respond “within an appropriate timeframe.”

The FAA said improving aviation safety in Alaska is one of the agency’s top priorities. The agency highlighted what it called a “sweeping examination of safety issues” in Alaska aviation conducted last year. That includes better weather data and forecasting, expanded satellite-based air traffic control coverage, improved navigation charts and new GPS-guided routes that allow pilots to fly at lower altitudes to avoid dangerous ice buildup.

The agency said it meets every spring with air tour operators to discuss lessons learned and recommendations and reminders ahead of the coming season.

But the NTSB says those actions fall short of what’s necessary to protect pilots and passengers.

One Ketchikan aviation heavyweight, Taquan Air, offered support for stricter regulations.

In a statement, Taquan executive Christa Hagan said the airline “supports the concept of a rulemaking process as a focused effort to enhance safety.” If the FAA decides to take action, Hagan said the airline would “welcome the opportunity to actively participate in the rulemaking process.”

Other Ketchikan flightseeing operators said they were reviewing the NTSB’s recommendations.

In March, Goldbelt, Inc. offered to invest in the gondola system the City and Borough of Juneau bought from Austria for Eaglecrest Ski Area. At an assembly meeting this week, Goldbelt and the assembly hashed out what that deal would look like.

What they’re working on is a revenue sharing agreement. The city has spent over $2 million so far. Goldbelt will contribute $10 million to the project and would get between 10-25% of gross revenue the gondola makes. 

The deal lasts 25 years, and Goldbelt will take a share of the profits of ticket sales over that time, with a goal of getting $20 million back from their investment. If that takes longer than 25 years, the city and Goldbelt can extend the agreement. 

The agreement says the opening day for the gondola will be May 31, 2027. If that doesn’t happen, Goldbelt can back out.

The proposal aims to have 75,000 visitors to the gondola in the first year. That’s about 750 tourists a day during the summer months. Juneau city manager Rorie Watt said he thinks having a partnership with Goldbelt would help reach that number.

“If it was CBJ going it alone, I would not be very comfortable,” he said.

He referenced Goldbelt’s experience operating the tram and said, “I think [it’s] quite plausible, and small, really, in the context of the number of visitors that come.”

McHugh Pierre, Goldbelt’s president and CEO, said the gondola at Eaglecrest offers future visitors something the current Mt. Roberts tram does not: more access to outdoor sports.

“We’re not going to have mountain bikes on Mount Roberts. Goldbelt Tram is never going to authorize that,” Pierre said. “But we could see in the future where you might be riding a mountain bike down Eaglecrest. And so those are some of the things that we’re excited about.”

Pierre said he believes this partnership will pan out.

“We think this is a really great opportunity to participate,” he said. “And we believe 75,000 visitors in the first year is acceptable and doable.”

Pierre predicts tickets will cost around $100.

The next step on the gondola project is to formally introduce an ordinance to the assembly on Dec. 12, followed by public commentary in January.

The longtime manager of the program that sets Juneau’s tourism standards is stepping down from his role as the go-between with local residents. 

At Monday’s Assembly meeting, members praised Kirby Day for his leadership of Tourism Best Management Practices — or TBMP — for the last 25 years. 

Mayor Beth Weldon read a proclamation thanking Day and acknowledging the work TBMP has done to address concerns like noise, crowds and pollution related to Juneau’s cruise ship industry and tour operators. 

Weldon said TBMP has become a model for managing cruise tourism impacts in other communities in Alaska and around the world. 

The program is paid for with cruise ship passenger fees and has a hotline where locals can leave questions and concerns. 

Day, who also served as director of shore operations for Princess Cruises while managing TBMP, thanked the Assembly and acknowledged the many meetings and conversations that have taken place to create a better relationship between the cruise industry and the community, especially as the number of tourists arriving each season has grown. 

‘We don’t solve 100% of the problems for 100% of the people 100% of the time,” he said. “But I think we’ve made an impact.”

Travel Juneau, the private nonprofit focused on promoting local tourism, will now manage TBMP. Travel Juneau’s Elizabeth Arnett will take on Day’s role coordinating between the cruise industry, the city, local tour operators and the public.