The steady melting of Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier, with its face retreating eight football fields between 2007 and 2021, is causing uncertainties for both its ecosystem and local tourism.
The Mendenhall Glacier, glimpsed from along the West Glacier trail, on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska.
The glacier pours from rocky terrain between mountains into a lake dotted by stray icebergs. Its face retreated eight football fields between 2007 and 2021, according to estimates from University of Alaska Southeast researchers. Trail markers memorialize the glacier’s backward march, showing where the ice once stood. Thickets of vegetation have grown in its wake.
A group of people take in the views of the Mendenhall Glacier on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The glacier in the summer is accessible by kayak or canoe, by foot on a challenging trail or by helicopter. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people.
Cruise ships are shown near downtown Juneau on June 7, 2023, along the Gastineau Channel, in Alaska. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people. Other sites offer a cautionary tale. Annual visitation peaked in the 1990s at around 400,000 to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, southeast of Anchorage, with the Portage Glacier serving as a draw. But now, on clear days, a sliver of the glacier remains visible from the center, which was visited by about 30,000 people last year, said Brandon Raile, a spokesperson with the Chugach National Forest, which manages the site. Officials are discussing the center’s future, he said.
The city, nestled in a rainforest, is one stop on what are generally week-long cruises to Alaska beginning in Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia. Tourists can leave the docks and move up the side of a mountain in minutes via a popular tram, see bald eagles perch on light posts and enjoy a vibrant Alaska Native arts community.
The Mendenhall Glacier, rear, is seen from the glacier visitor center, on June 30, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. Pictured at right is Nugget Falls. Estimates suggest that by 2050, the glacier may not be visible from the visitor center. As the Mendenhall Glacier continues to recede, tourists are flooding into Juneau. A record number of cruise ship passengers are expected this year in the city of about 30,000 people.
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