A Guide to Juneau

The information presented here is from a July 2001 Forest Service Environmental Impact Statement,
Helicopter Landing Tours on the Juneau Icefield 2002- 2006

Recreation areas and recreation uses are an important component of tourism in the Juneau area. Existing recreation areas are managed by the federal, state, and local governments for a variety of uses, particularly including icefield visits, hiking, hunting, and boating. Recreationists include both residents and tourists, including tourists who participate in the helicopter tours to the icefield. The following sections present the areas and uses potentially affected by all alternatives.

Areas Managed by the Forest Service

Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area

The MGRA is a regional, national, and international attraction. It contains 5,815 acres and includes parts of McGinnis Mountain, the terminus of the Mendenhall Glacier, Bullard Mountain, Mendenhall Lake, Mendenhall River, and uplands bordering the lake and Mendenhall River areas.

The MGRA is located next to the Mendenhall Valley, one of the most densely populated areas in the CBJ.  Elevations through much of the recreation area are less than 100 feet above sea level.On either side of the recreation area, mountains rise abruptly to more than 4,000 feet. From its source 12 miles north in the Juneau Icefield, the Mendenhall Glacier flows between Bullard Mountain and McGinnis Mountain to Mendenhall Lake. The glacier face is approximately 0.5 mile wide near Nugget Falls and stretches to almost 2 miles wide higher up the valley. The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is located less than one mile from the face of the glacier.

MGRA is a popular destination for people pursuing many recreational activities such as hiking, photography, bicycling, off-road vehicle (ORV) use, sightseeing, camping, picnicking, boating, hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing.

The following facilities meet public needs within the recreation area:

• Mendenhall Campground is located along the southwest corner of the recreation area; it has 69 overnight units, including 17 RV/trailer units and 7 backpacker units.
• Skater’s Cabin consists of a day-use cabin, two vault toilets, and three picnic sites on the western shoreline of Mendenhall Lake.
• The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center is on the eastern shoreline of Mendenhall Lake. It received 273,488 visitors in 1999 (Forest Service, 1999).

Forest Service Trails Approximately 25 miles of trails are located within the MGRA, and many more trail ends are near the toe of some glaciers, where there are existing and proposed landing sites. Table 3-1 summarizes the estimated annual use on area trails.

Eagle Beach Recreation Area

Eagle Beach Recreation Area receives approximately 5,000 visitors annually. Most of this use occurs in the summer months. Facilities include a picnic shelter, barbecue pit, fire pits on the beach, and two vault toilets. Some boating also occurs in this area, which is accessible by a limited-maintenance road.

Forest Service Cabins

The eight Forest Service cabins in the Juneau area are very popular with local residents. Each year, the reservation lists fill up quickly, and popularity continues to rise (Table 3-2). Users are varied in their pursuits, some hiking, some hunting, some interested in photography. Several of these cabins are accessible only by boat or plane. Total cabin use is estimated to have reached more than 4,600 visitors in 1999, reflecting an overall average annual increase of 6 percent since 1994.

Berner’s Bay Area

Although not a designated “recreation area,” the Berner’s Bay area is a popular weekend destination for Juneau residents for wildlife viewing, exploration, hunting, and fishing. Access is typically by kayak, motorboat, or floatplane. Most activities are water based and some overnight camping occurs along the shoreline. The NFS lands here are congressionally designated as LUD II.

Gilkey River The 1997 Forest Plan recommended to Congress a “Wild & Scenic River” designation for 9 miles of the Gilkey River, as provided for under the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Unless otherwise changed with a Forest Plan revision or until otherwise acted upon by Congress, the Forest Service will continue to manage for the protection of the Gilkey River's remarkable geologic and scenic values. The Gilkey River is a popular route for both fixed-wing and helicopter flightseeing tours. Hunters, anglers, and other recreation enthusiasts access the river by boat and plane.

Areas Managed by Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation

Point Bridget State Park trail system use has increased by 50 to 75 percent over the past 5 years to an estimated annual use of 3,000 people, including approximately 1,000 users each at Blue Mussel and the Cowee Creek cabins. Sheep Creek trail receives an estimated 500 users annually. Perseverance trail system (including Granite Creek and Mt. Juneau) use has increased 25 to 30 percent in the past 5 years to an estimated 35,000 users annually. An estimated 125,000 users visit the Mt. Roberts upper terminal area annually, and approximately 50 percent use some part of the trail system.

Areas Managed by the City and Borough of Juneau

Trails

CBJ conducted a trail survey in 1995 on the Boy Scout Camp, Lemon Creek, Salmon Creek, and Thunder Mountain trails. Based on the survey, estimated use ranged from 150 to 600 users annually on the four trails. These are conservative estimates, and their accuracy is unknown. However, no other figures for CBJ trail use are available at this time (CBJ Parks and Recreation, 2000).

Echo Cove Boat Ramp

This area, just south of Berners Bay, is used primarily by boaters and kayakers seeking water-based recreation. Most of the use occurs in the summer season. This is a primary access point for boaters going to Berners Bay, especially kayaking enthusiasts. On the weekends, approximately 40 to 50 cars, trucks, and trailers use the ramp. Trends show that more kayaking activity is occurring at this launch site. Use has increased approximately 15 percent in the past 5 years (CBJ Parks and Recreation, 2000).

Amalga Harbor Boat Ramp

Most use occurs in the summer season. On weekends, approximately 75 to 85 cars, trucks, and trailers use the ramp. The area is used primarily by powerboaters and some kayakers. Use is exceeding capacity and has increased by approximately 50 percent over the past 5 years (CBJ Parks and Recreation, 2000

Other Recreation User Groups

As noted above, area recreation includes both land-based recreation and water-based activities, such as pleasure boating, sport fishing, and kayaking. It also includes the helicopter flightseeing tours. The following describes recreational activities that may be affected by this decision.

Juneau Icefield Backcountry Users

The Juneau Alpine Club consists of 25 to 30 active outdoor enthusiasts who trek and adventure in the backcountry of the Juneau Icefield. Small groups of five to ten individuals participate in Juneau Icefield trips three to four times a year. In addition, during the winter, spring, and summer, the club organizes weekly group activities on the nearby ridges and peaks.

A handful of other individuals, not associated with the Juneau Alpine Club, participate in ice and snow travel/trekking activities on the Juneau Icefield. At least one group of four people planned to trek from Juneau to Atlin in 1999. One couple reportedly attempted the trek from the Gilkey area to Atlin, but did not complete the tour due to poor snow conditions. Small groups of icefield trekkers have conducted similar activities in the past, and the activity is becoming more popular.

Backcountry use on and adjacent to the Juneau Icefield also includes other uses that do not require permits, which entail nontour-related flights (strictly charter flights) to the icefield and adjacent sites. These activities include non-outfitter-guided icefield weddings, heli-skiing, heli-hiking, photo shoots for commercial ventures, wildlife viewing, heli-fishing, and similar activities.

TEMSCO Helicopters, Inc.

TEMSCO is currently permitted to operate on the Mendenhall, Herbert, Taku, Norris, Lemon, and Gilkey glaciers, as well as various locations in the backcountry zone, and is authorized a maximum of 8,800 landings. TEMSCO also has two assigned sites on Mendenhall Glacier for a temporary, portable shelter with a port-a-potty. Most of TEMSCO’s landing tours and associated activities occur on the Mendenhall Glacier.

In 1999 and 2000, TEMSCO, in partnership with Alaska Icefield Expedtions, offered the Icefield Flightseeing and Mushing Tour which included one landing on the Mendenhall/ Herbert glacier saddle. Passengers departed the aircraft for a 1-hour, guided, dogsled mushing experience. The tour consisted of one to three helicopters flying together with approximately 1 hour between tours. Helicopters use a west departure to Auke Mountain to the Mendenhall Glacier or up the west side of the Mendenhall Valley over the Back Loop Road. The Heintzleman Ridge and Lemon Creek routes may be used when and if there are no opposing traffic conflicts.

TEMSCO currently offers icefield flightseeing tours combined with one or two glacier landings, as well as guided hiking and dogsled mushing tours. Glacier guides commute daily to the assigned sites to guide tour passengers dropped off for their glacier activity.

TEMSCO also offers a Pilot’s Choice Tour which, weather permitting, flies from TEMSCO’s heliport west to the ferry terminal then north to the icefield. After landing on two different glaciers, helicopters return along the same route or return through the Lemon Creek area or Taku Inlet, and up Gastineau Channel. The Pilot’s Choice Tour consists of one or two helicopters flying together with approximately 1.5 hours between tours for up to eight tours per day. Some of these tours also depart to the east, flying along Douglas Island, and following the same routes as Era up Sheep Creek or around Point Bishop. The return route for TEMSCO is via Lemon Creek Glacier or from the west.

TEMSCO also offers the Mendenhall Glacier Tour, which flies from its heliport to the Mendenhall Glacier. This tour generally consists of five helicopters in a group flying every 25 minutes. The preferred route, weather permitting, is up Heintzleman Ridge and back. Other flight routes used during low cloud ceiling conditions are either up the west side of the Mendenhall Valley, over the Back Loop Road, or over Auke Bay and up the eastern edge of Auke Mountain to Mendenhall Glacier. Of these two latter routes, the route up the eastern edge of Auke Mountain is TEMSCO’s preferred route because they believe it creates less noise and visual impact to the residents of Mendenhall Valley. If weather permits, this route is flown first, with the Mendenhall Valley route as the last choice. 

TEMSCO’s Guide’s Choice Extended Glacier Tour includes one glacier landing on the Juneau Icefield. Passengers are outfitted with hiking equipment and spend 2 hours exploring glacial features. This tour consists of one or two helicopters flying together, with approximately 2 hours between each tour. Helicopters use a west departure to Auke Mountain to the Mendenhall Glacier, or up the west side of the Mendenhall Valley, over the Back Loop Road. The Heintzleman Ridge and Lemon Creek routes may be used when and if there are no opposing traffic conflicts. All tour flights generally follow routes identified in the LOA, as discussed in Chapter 1 under the heading Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances.

Coastal Helicopters, Inc.

Coastal is currently permitted to operate on the Gilkey, Herbert, Lemon Creek, Norris, and Taku glaciers, as well as various locations in the backcountry zone. Coastal is authorized a maximum of 1,217 landings. Most of Coastal’s landing tours and associated activities occur on Herbert Glacier, and involve walking on and experiencing the glacier environment, photography, and weddings.

Coastal’s standard tour is the Icefield Excursion Tour, usually consisting of a single helicopter, but occasionally it flies a group of two helicopters. The tour is about 1 hour long, with one-fourth of the time spent on a glacier. Coastal also offers an Adventure Tour, which departs the airport to the west or north toward Gilkey Glacier and backcountry areas. This tour is approximately 1.5 hours long with one glacier landing. All tour flights generally follow routes as identified in the LOA with the FAA. 

Era Helicopters, Inc.

Era is currently permitted to operate on the Norris, Taku, Lemon Creek, and Gilkey glaciers, as well as various locations in the backcountry zone. Era is authorized a maximum of 7,235 landings. Most of Era’s landing tours and associated activities occur on the Norris Glacier.

Era has one site assigned on Norris Glacier where it is authorized to occupy up to 3 acres and place temporary facilities for dogsled mushing activities. These facilities consist of eight to ten temporary housing facilities for the guides, as well as approximately 180 sled dog houses and other structures designed to blend in with the glacier environment. The dogs and guides live at the assigned site for the duration of the tourist season. 

Many of Era’s tours leave its heliport on the west side of Gastineau Channel, fly up Sheep Creek to Norris Glacier, and return via Salmon Creek. Flights generally follow routes identified in the LOA with the FAA. Era typically leaves every 30 minutes with two tours consisting of four helicopters in each tour. Other tours, predominantly the dogsled tours, leave in groups of three from a heliport site at the Juneau International Airport near the Wings of Alaska cargo area. All tour flights generally follow routes identified in the LOA with the FAA.

NorthStar Trekking, LLC

NorthStar is currently permitted to operate on the Mendenhall, Lemon Creek, Taku, Norris, and Gilkey glaciers, as well as various locations in the backcountry zone. NorthStar is authorized a maximum of 1,787 landings. Most of NorthStar’s landing tours and associated activities occur on the Mendenhall Glacier, but the other sites are regularly used when weather, snow, and ice conditions allow.

NorthStar offers four different flightseeing and glacier landing tour packages. The Glacier Discovery Tour involves one glacier landing and is approximately 2 hours long. The Glacier Trek Tour involves one glacier landing combined with a glacier trek that is 2, 4, or 6 hours long. NorthStar sets up a floorless expedition tent on the glacier surface for gearing up clients with glacier trekking gear. This tent is set up and taken down on a daily basis. The Icefield Explorer Tour involves two glacier landings and is approximately 2.5 hours long. The Overnight Glacier Adventure trek includes time to be outfitted with glacier gear and a flight to and from the glacier trek beginning and ending locations. The multi-day trekking activities take place primarily on the west side of the Mendenhall Glacier or on the Nugget Glacier, with a single camp and loop routes in the vicinity of the camp. Other multi-day trekking tours are conducted between the Lemon Glacier and lower South Branch of the Mendenhall Glacier. Participants set up and occupy temporary camps that they move with them as part of the trekking experience.

The primary flight routes originate from the Juneau International Airport. Arrivals and departures from the Juneau International Airport are conducted under an LOA with the FAA, but may deviate from this at the direction of the air traffic controller because of weather or conflicting traffic. Likewise, routes to, from, and over the glaciers/icefield vary due to weather and traffic conditions.

Flights to the Mendenhall Glacier, west end of the Juneau Icefield, and the Gilkey, Battle, and Thiel glaciers generally depart to the west on a Mendenhall departure, or a west departure, according to the LOA with the FAA. Mendenhall departures fly over the green belt area of the valley to the Rifle Range and either onto the Mendenhall Glacier or up Montana Creek to reach the Herbert Glacier and icefield. West departures fly over Auke Bay to the ferry terminal, then turn north along Spaulding Meadows for either Mendenhall Glacier or Montana Creek, proceeding to the Herbert Glacier and the icefield. Occasionally routes to the west continue further up the coastal area, as far as Berners Bay, to access or return from the west end due to weather.

Flights to the Lemon, Norris, and Taku glaciers generally depart to the east, climb up the Blackerby Ridge side of Lemon Creek, and proceed to the sites at the east end of the Juneau Icefield. When weather conditions do not allow use of this route, the flight path proceeds east along the Douglas side of Gastineau Channel and either through Sheep Creek or around Point Bishop and up Taku Inlet. When weather allows, flights to the east end may depart or return via the Mendenhall Glacier or Spaulding Meadows route. Likewise, the west end trips may use the east route for either the departure or arrival.

Dogsled Mushing Tours on the Juneau Icefield

Several companies, under special use permit by the Forest Service, conduct commercial outfitter-guided dogsled mushing tours on the Juneau Icefield. The landings are included in the total annual authorizations for the permitted commercial helicopter landing tours on the Juneau Icefield. More than 8,000 cruise ship passengers chose to participate in this activity during the 1999 season, and more than 9,000 participated in 2000. Dogsled tour participation grew rapidly from its inception in 1997, and is beginning to settle into a more normal growth rate.

Taku Lodge - Wings of Alaska

Annually, approximately 25,000 people participate in fixed-wing flightseeing tours with Wings of Alaska in the Taku Inlet area. Approximately 50 percent of these individuals elect the tour that includes a visit to the Taku Lodge and use of its amenities.

Alaska Coastal Airlines, LLC.

Alaska Coastal Airlines, under permit to the Forest Service in 1999 and 2000, was authorized to conduct outfitter-guided flightseeing tours that land on Norris Glacier Lake, Antler Glacier Lake, West Fork Lace Lake, as well as other destinations that are not on the JRD. The flights departed from the Juneau Airport float pond. Clients experience a flightseeing tour with a fixed-wing aircraft landing on the destination body of water. Clients walk onto and explore the lakeshore or glacier terminus environment. On Norris Glacier Lake, 50 fixed-wing landings were reported in 1999, and 15 were reported in 2000. No use has been reported at Antler Glacier Lake or West Fork Lace Lake for the past two years. Alaska Coastal Airlines currently has no permits to operate on the JRD.

Alaska Fly ‘N Fish Charters, Inc.

Alaska Fly ‘N Fish Charters, under permit to the Forest Service, conducts outfitter-guided fixed-wing flightseeing tours that depart from the Juneau Airport float pond and have destinations on the JRD and Admiralty National Monument, which are outside of the project boundary. A total of 350 service days (roughly 100 departures) was authorized in 2000, although only one trip or no trip has occurred each year at each site on the JRD.

Gastineau Guides, Inc.

Gastineau Guides, under permit to the Forest Service, conducts outfitter-guided hiking on the trails in the MGRA and on Herbert Glacier Trail. Reported use has averaged approximately 4,000 clients for the past three years, with authorized use at nearly twice that.

Out of Bounds, Inc.

Out of Bounds, under permit to the Forest Service, conducts outfitter-guided heli-skiing on the Tongass National Forest. Their permit authorizes outfitter-guided heli-skiing in the following areas: Antler Glacier and the Antler River Valley; Bucher Glacier; areas in the 1995 EIS Juneau Icefield study area (except for Eagle Glacier, Mendenhall Glacier, Death Valley, and the lower half of Taku Glacier); and areas on the Chilkat Mountain Range south of Endicott River Wilderness. Operations occur primarily from January through April, and for the past 5 years (1996 to 2000), Out of Bounds has averaged 232 clients annually, with an associated 50 round-trip flights from the TEMSCO and Coastal helibases near the Juneau International Airport. 

Non-recreational Uses

The following uses are not recreational. However, they are included here for completeness and because any impacts to these users would be similar to impacts on recreationists.

Juneau Icefield Research Program

Approximately 50 students participate annually in the JIRP. The students hike/trek to the research camps. Activities include icefield research work and study at the camps, seismic data recording, weather monitoring, and study of the Juneau Icefield dynamics and characteristics. Much of the activity is based out of transient, remote field camps that are moved periodically.

Echo Ranch Bible Camp

Located just south of Berners Bay, Echo Ranch Bible Camp is used primarily from May through September each year. The use has been stable for the past 5 years and reaches approximately 3,600 persons annually. This number represents Bible camp students, staff, and campers in the area, many of whom engage in outdoor adventure activities including kayaking, hiking, camping, and horseback riding. Much of the kayaking activity based at the camp has Berners Bay as a destination.

Privately Owned Facilities in the Taku Inlet Area Several privately owned facilities are located on land along the shoreline of Taku Inlet and Taku River. These are under or adjacent to the flight routes of the helicopter landing tours.