Forest Service asks for ideas on glacier plans

Published 8:01 am Tuesday, September 6, 2016

There will never be a casino at the Mendenhall Glacier, but Juneau residents interested in what could be built at the capital city’s backyard glacier have been invited to a design meeting Wednesday evening.

The meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Forest Service offices on Mendenhall Loop Road, is the first step in redesigning the visitor facilities in the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area.

“We look forward to designing recreation facilities that meet our burgeoning demand for access to the Mendenhall Glacier” said District Ranger Brad Orr in a prepared statement. “We need smart solutions that balance an overwhelming demand to see the glacier by people with varying levels of ability with the needs of salmon, bears, birds and other sensitive resources that require protection.”

The number of visitors to the glacier has soared in recent years, and it remains the No. 1 destination for many of Juneau’s 1 million annual cruise-ship visitors. According to figures provided by the Forest Service, the visitor center building alone has been visited 550,000 times this summer.

John Neary, director of the glacier recreation area, has previously said he wants to emphasize sustainability at the visitor center, but Wednesday’s meeting is about the entire recreation area, not just the visitor center.

That means changes could come to the west side of the lake and the Dredge Lakes Area, but no plans have been confirmed or finalized.

Forest Service landscape architect Eric Ouderkirk said in a prepared statement that Wednesday’s meeting and a followup planned for next week are part of “a collaborative effort to look far ahead, even 50 years out, at a vision for this very popular recreation area.”