Alaska News

Forest Service proposes fee hikes at Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center

JUNEAU -- The U.S. Forest Service is considering raising the fee to enter the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in Juneau.

The agency also is considering expanding the fee area beyond the visitor center to areas popular with tourists, such as the Steep Creek and Photo Point trails and restroom facilities.

It cites as reasons declining budgets and an effort to improve the visitor experience. Visitation has more than doubled since 1999, when the agency began collecting fees.

The proposal would raise the daily fee to enter the center from $3 to $5 for those 16 and older. Season passes would go from $10 to $15.

The agency, in a release, said it planned to continue not charging fees in the winter.

If approved, the fee increase would begin in May 2016.

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