Mist from Nugget Falls has a prism-like effect in September 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Mist from Nugget Falls has a prism-like effect in September 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Our future depends on what we say about MGRA plans

Submit your comments by Feb. 21, 2023.

  • By Laurie Craig
  • Friday, February 3, 2023 1:41pm
  • Opinion

In an unusually responsive action by a federal agency, the U.S. Forest Service listened to 400 commenters and added proposals for Mendenhall Glacier and the surrounding recreation area. We now have three new complicated alternatives to evaluate.

The challenge is to balance 1 million guests spending one hour each at the glacier without destroying what they come to see. The plan must also accommodate residents. This is a place we use year round and love intensely. The existing historic visitor center would remain in all plans.

The location of the massive welcome center drew many objections because it would block the view of the lake and glacier. Responding to public concerns, there are now two important changes for this building. Alternative 6 sites the welcome center against the hillside which will have less visual impact. However, the building is still oversized. Alternative 7 moves the welcome center to the present bus parking lot and creates a seasonal facility that can be shut in winter when cruise ship visitors are absent. This is a practical solution.

One of the best proposals is for all tour buses to load and unload in an improved bus lot, build a welcome center there, and create an electric circulator shuttle to quietly and cleanly move guests closer to the front. This idea relieves the dangerous congestion, loud diesel engines and unhealthy exhaust from concentrating at the grand vista of the glacier, lake and surrounding mountains. The experience would be improved for everyone. Private vehicle parking would be similar to now. Sensitively developing trails from the welcome center to the front will encourage many visitors to walk rather than ride a shuttle.

Motorized tour boats and docks have been the most controversial aspect of expansion plans. In the Forest Service webinar on Jan. 26 the staff noted that of the 400 public comment letters received in 2022, only 10-12 favored motorized boats. The proposal would allow several 49-passenger boats crossing the lake as often as every 15 minutes. This would require major construction for docks on the shoreline and at the glacier’s terminus. “Chasing the ice” as the glacier retreats is foolish, costly and hazardous. Veto this.

Mendenhall has much more to offer. Two exceptional features are Nugget Falls and Steep Creek. Both are easily walkable from any of the new alternatives. Nugget Falls is a powerful destination in itself. Plans to create miles of trails, some paved and 14 feet wide, overwhelm the area and threaten bears and other wildlife. I oppose the paved shoreline trail that would be overbuilt for commercial tours, including bicycle tours. Some new trails look good, however.

Steep Creek, with its two runs of spawning salmon, provides the classic Alaska “bucket list” view of wild bears catching red fish. Protecting this outstanding feature at Mendenhall should be the most important goal of any proposal. Therefore, we should limit platforms or trails that surround the mouth of the creek and force wild bears to become encircled by humans.

The biggest threat to people from bears is allowing bears to get human food. For that reason, I favor no food or beverage service in any of the proposals. People have intentionally or unintentionally fed bears in the past. At least one bear was removed for that reason. These animals are smart; they can associate humans with food, even coffee, and quickly become problematic. It’s not worth losing a bear or person so someone can snack.

We can achieve fair compromise by making good comments and giving the agency the backbone to choose a reasonable future for Mendenhall. No single proposal is perfect, so select options as if it was an a la carte menu. Our future depends on what we say.

Even if you commented last year, please send written comments about the new alternatives. Submit yours by Feb. 21, 2023. You can find documents at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=53780. You can submit comments there also.

• Laurie Craig has lived in Juneau over 50 years and retired as a park ranger after serving from 2004-2018 at Mendenhall. Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire. Have something to say? Here’s how to submit a My Turn or letter.

More in Opinion

Web
Have something to say?

Here’s how to add your voice to the conversation.

Juneau Assembly members cast a 6-3 informal vote on Nov. 6 in favor of the city’s tourism director exploring a strategy for 2026 and beyond that results in fewer annual cruise visitors. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Assembly vote to reduce cruise ships risks sending taxes even higher

During a Nov. 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, Assembly members voted… Continue reading

A by-mail ballot asks voters in 2020 to approve a measure calling for rank choice voting, which was approved. A petition is now circulating calling for another ballot measure to repeal rank choice. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Failed election shows why Alaska should repeal ranked-choice voting

Most Americans just want elections where it’s easy to vote, hard to… Continue reading

Visitors take a selfie on the downtown cruise ship docks in July. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Know who you’re sitting with at the table

As a professional who has sat at many a negotiating table, I… Continue reading

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers remarks at the Rolling Back Regulations to Help All Americans event Thursday, July 16, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo | Joyce N. Boghosian)
Opinion: A constitutional defense of the administrative state

In the summer of 2020, then-Vice President Mike Pence told an audience… Continue reading

Former Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch in 2018. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Assembly needs to retreat

We might not be privy to what the Assembly’s agenda is, but… Continue reading

The Stikine River Flats area in the Tongass National Forest is viewed from a helicopter on July 19, 2021. The Stikine River flows from British Columbia to Southeast Alaska. It is one of the major transboundary rivers impacted by mines in British Columbia. (Photo by Alicia Stearns/U.S. Forest Service)
Opinion: Facing transboundary mining, Alaskans shouldn’t buy industry rhetoric

“Rest assured,” writes Michael Goehring, president of the British Columbia Mining Association,… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire File)
Letter: Attorney general’s letter to libraries are an abuse of office

Earlier this month Treg Taylor, Alaska’s attorney general, published a letter to… Continue reading

An aging outhouse overlooks Tenakee Inlet. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
My Turn: Murkowski’s bill will dramatically change map of public land in Southeast Alaska

There has been very little reporting on federal legislation that would greatly… Continue reading

Most Read