Voters living in the capital city of Alaska could pass a measure that would severely limit the entry of cruise ships, a potential win for locals who have long been upset over the never-ending flood of tourists.
The measure, if passed on October 1, would ban cruise ships with 250 or more passengers from docking in Juneau on Saturdays, stopping throngs of visitors from seeing wonders like the quickly melting Mendenhall Glacier.
It would also ban ships on July 4, a day when locals flock to a popular parade in downtown.
The ‘ship-free Saturdays’ initiative qualified for the ballot this week, though there is an outside chance the local assembly enacts it before it goes to voters.
Many of the 32,000 residents of Juneau, a city accessible only by water or air, are simply fed up with increased traffic, congested hiking trails and the frequent buzz of sight-seeing helicopters transporting visitors to the Mendenhall and other glaciers.
Cruise ships are shown near downtown Juneau on June 7, 2023, along the Gastineau Channel, in Alaska. Voters in Alaska’s capital city could decide in October whether to ban large cruise ships on Saturdays starting next year
Longtime resident Deborah Craig supports ship-free Saturdays because she’s particularly affected by the tourism hustle and bustle, living across the channel from where the ships dock.
Almost every morning, she hears their fog horns and passenger broadcast announcements.
She said the ‘overwhelming’ number of visitors diminishes what she and others who’ve lived in Juneau for decades love about it.
‘It’s about preserving the lifestyle that keeps us in Juneau, which is about clean air, clean water, pristine environment and easy access to trails, easy access to water sports and nature,’ she said of the initiative.
‘There’s this perception that some people are not welcoming of tourists, and that’s not the case at all,’ Craig added.
‘It’s about volume. It’s about too much — too many in a short period of time overwhelming a small community.’
The current cruise season runs from early April to late October.
The opponents of the measure say restricting tourism on a peak day like Saturday will harm local businesses with decreased foot traffic, adding that if it is passed, the city could be sued.
A group of people take in the views of the Mendenhall Glacier on June 8, 2023, near Juneau
Expansive view of downtown Juneau, which sits on the waterfront of the Gastineau Channel
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They pointed to when just last year, a voter-imposed limit on the number of cruise passengers in Bar Harbor, Maine, was challenged in federal court.
Laura McDonnell, who owns gift shop Caribou Crossings in downtown Juneau, said she makes 98 percent of her revenue during the summer season.
Tourism is about all the ‘local businesses that rely on cruise passengers and our place in the community,’ said McDonnell, who is involved in Protect Juneau’s Future, which opposes the initiative.
At a time when regional economic challenges are rampant and schools are closing because of declining enrollment, McDonnell said voters in favor of the measure should really rethink their position.
‘I think that as a community, we really need to look at what’s at stake for our economy,’ she said. ‘We are not in a position to be shrinking our economy.’
The cruise industry accounted for $375 million in direct spending in Juneau in 2023, most of that attributable to spending by passengers, according to a report prepared for the city by McKinley Research Group LLC.
The face of Mendenhall Glacier is seen from along the Mount McGinnis trail in Juneau on Sunday, August 20, 2023. The glacier spills out into Mendenhall Lake
A cruise ship departs from downtown Juneau, on June 7, 2023, along the Gastineau Channel
After a two-year pandemic lull, cruise passenger numbers rose sharply in Juneau, hitting a record of more than 1.6 million in 2023.
Under this year’s schedule, September 21 will be the first day since early May with no large ships in town.
The debate between people like Craig who want to maintain the quiet beauty of Juneau and people like McDonnell who have a business to worry about will likely rage on in the months leading up to the vote.
As such, the city has been trying to find a middle ground, said Alexandra Pierce, Juneau’s visitor industry director.
She added that a regional solution, not just one tailored to Juneau, must be found.
She explained if the Juneau resolution passes, it will impact smaller towns and cities in southeast Alaska because the ships, generally on trips originating in Seattle or Vancouver, Canada, will have to go somewhere if they can’t dock in Juneau on Saturdays.
But some smaller communities like Sitka, which is south of Juneau and home to a volcano, have also expressed support for limiting cruise ships.
The middle ground Juneau has attempted to strike involves making deals with the large cruise liners to cut down on the sheer number of boats.
Close up view of downtown Juneau. A Harley Davidson shop is visible
The city and Carnival, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Group, agreed to a limit of five large ships a day.
That limit took effect this year.
They also recently signed a pact, set to go into force by 2026, limiting the number of cruise passengers to 16,000 on Fridays and 12,000 on Saturdays.
Pierce said the overall goal is to keep total cruise passenger visitation around 1.6 million for the summer, and to even out daily numbers of visitors that can spike to about 18,000 on the busiest days.
Peak days in the past have felt ‘a bit suffocating,’ she said.
Renée Limoge Reeve, vice president of government and community relations for the trade group Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, said the agreements signed between the city and the cruise companies were the first of their kind in Alaska.
Cruise ships are docked on June 9, 2023, in downtown Juneau
Protect Juneau’s Future, led by local business leaders, said the success of the ballot measure would mean a loss of sales tax revenue and millions of dollars in direct spending by cruise passengers.
The group was confident voters would reject the measure, its steering committee said in a statement.
Karla Hart, a sponsor of the initiative and frequent critic of the cruise industry, said the threat of litigation has kept communities from taking steps to limit cruise numbers in the past.
She pointed out the defendants had some major legal wins this year in the ongoing lawsuit from businesses over the similar measure passed in Bar Harbor, a popular destination near Maine’s Acadia National Park.
Hart believes the initiative will pass in Juneau.
‘Every single person who is going to vote has a lived experience and knowledge of how the cruise industry impacts their lives,’ she said.