{"id":1967,"date":"2021-04-01T17:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T01:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2021-04-22T19:43:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T03:43:58","slug":"slip-sliding-away-ii-visitor-access-to-rapidly-retreating-mendenhall-glacier-proposed-by-us-forest-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/alaska-news\/slip-sliding-away-ii-visitor-access-to-rapidly-retreating-mendenhall-glacier-proposed-by-us-forest-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Slip Sliding Away, II|<\/strong> Visitor Access to Rapidly Retreating Mendenhall Glacier Proposed by US Forest Service<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to a recent report by the U.S. Global Change Research Program<\/a>, Alaska is among the fastest warming regions on Earth. In fact, 2019 was the hottest summer ever recorded in Alaska. I can attest to that as 2019 was the first of my five summers in Juneau that heat exhaustion was a concern.

In the winter edition<\/a> of this newsletter I wrote how Juneau\u2019s Mendenhall Glacier<\/a> is receding. Its rapid retreat concerns Juneau\u2019s city leaders and U.S. Forest Service (USFS<\/a>) administrators because about a million tourists visited the center in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center<\/a> is within the Mendenhall Recreation Area of the Tongass National Forest<\/a>. USFS administrators anticipate the glacier will recede out of sight from the visitor center by 2050. Now, this is a problem. Those million visitors, they support Juneau\u2019s tourism industry as well as the Tongass National Forest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mendenhall Glacier, 1926: Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Library<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anticipating the negative economic and sociological impact of the glacier disappearing from sight, the USFS has a plan to ensure visitors will be \u201cable to touch the ice\u201d in years to come. But, the glacier\u2019s recession is not the only issue facing the visitor center. Overcrowding, traffic congestion, vehicle exhaust, insufficient visitor facilities and more are degrading the visitor experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mendenhall Glacier, 2019 : Photo by Aleta Walther<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


The USFS\u2019s plan to address the above issues should ensure current and future visitor demands are met. Still in the exploratory stage, the Mendenhall Glacier Master Plan<\/em><\/a> is a 25-year development plan within a larger 50-year vision to improve the visitor experience, including:

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Improving visitor facilities<\/li>
  2. Building a new welcome center<\/li>
  3. Expanding the current visitor center<\/li>
  4. Improving wildlife viewing access<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n


    These plans are well and good, but what intrigues me is the plan to give visitors the chance to actually touch Mendenhall Glacier. To reach the glacier today requires hiking over gnarly terrain or kayaking about two miles across Mendenhall Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cDirect access to the Mendenhall Glacier is currently challenging and time consuming,\u201d the plan states. \u201cVisitors want to \u2018touch the ice\u2019 and the lack of formal access creates safety concerns\u2026 .  As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, both visual and physical access to the glacier will become more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The plan proposes building a remote visitor center across the lake from the current visitor center. Boats will transport visitors across the lake to the remote visitor center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Concept drawing of the remote visitor center, Mendenhall Glacier Master Plan<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cCreating a water-based glacier access system across Mendenhall Lake will help to meet long-term user needs for safe and efficient access to the glacier from the Visitor Center,\u201d the plan states. \u201cThe remote glacier facility will be composed of structures that can be relocated as the glacier recedes.\u201d

    Admittedly, the overwhelming humanity that swarms the visitor center dampens my enthusiasm for leading interpretive programs through the recreation area. Therefore, I look forward to the improvements outlined in the Mendenhall Glacier Master Plan – for future guides. I will be retired long before 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Concept drawing of a boat dock, Mendenhall Glacier Master Plan<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    ***<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    According to a recent report by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, Alaska is among the fastest warming regions on Earth. In fact, 2019 was the hottest summer ever recorded in Alaska. I can attest to that as 2019 was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,106,205,104,103,220],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1967"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1995,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1967\/revisions\/1995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}