You’ll soon have to pay to use the restroom at the Mendenhall Glacier. As of May 1, the U.S. Forest Service will start charging fees to use certain areas near the glacier. Fees apply to anyone ages 16 and older.
The daily cost to use the pavilion, Photo Point Trail, Steep Creek Trail, restrooms, the bus shelter and the visitor center is $5. Regular users can purchase a $15 season pass, which will allow the pass holder and a guest to use the areas. Fees apply through Sept. 30.
Visitor Center Director John Neary said he expects some Juneau residents to be upset about the new charges.
“They’re not used to paying a fee for a trail, we get that. But what we hope is that they’ll see the logic that the fee will go toward improving trails, improving infrastructure, making the experience better,” Neary said.
Trails that will continue to be free to access include Nugget Falls Trail, East Glacier Trail, Powerline Trail, Moraine Ecology Trail and the Trail of Time, as well as all trails in the Dredge Lakes and West Glacier area. There will be no parking fees.
The fees were proposed in December 2014 and approved June 2015. Neary said the impetus to start charging stems from Congress allocating less and less money to the visitor center’s budget. Plus, he said costs continue to increase as the number of visitors goes up every year.
Neary said the new fees are expected to bring in about $2 million dollars this year. Eighty percent of that will be collected by tour operators, shuttle busses and taxis.
“They will be collecting the lion’s share of that for us,” Neary said. “They have to do it under permit.”
A small portion of what’s collected will go to the Tongass National Forest and other national forests in Alaska, but ninety percent will go back toward the visitor center’s operational costs.
“Paying for clean restrooms, paying for the interpreters that are out there on the platforms talking to people about salmon,” Neary said. “If we need new restrooms, where are we going to come up with the money for that? Part of it will come from that fee.”
Those arriving to the glacier on their own can purchase day or season passes from the visitor center bookstores or from vending machines in the parking lots, which will be installed in June.
All federal lands passes will also be accepted, including America the Beautiful, Senior, Military, Volunteer, Access, and Every Kid in a Park passes. The pass holder and three guests are permitted with these passes.
Neary said Forest Service law enforcement will perform random checks of passes. He said people should look at paying the fee in the same way they would consider paying for a state fishing license.
“I’ve been fishing for 30 years in Alaska and I have yet to be asked to show it, but I do get my license every year just in case. I also know that the money is going toward a good cause — salmon conservation and fish habitat,” Neary said.
Planning efforts for how to use the fees will begin later in the year along with invitations to the public to share ideas for future improvements.
About 550,000 people visited the Mendenhall Glacier from May through September last year, Neary said, and that number is expected to increase 3 percent this year.
• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.
Visitors to the Mendenhall Glacier Vistor Center walk to and from Nugget Falls in September 2014.
