Agency seeks to balance ‘exponentially’ growing visitation with guidelines to improve safety, limit overuse
The federal Bureau of Land Management has signed-off on a recreation-management plan for the Castner Glacier. The number of people visiting the glacier and its ice cave south of Delta Junction has grown exponentially over the past few years. And BLM hopes the rec plan will provide a balance between accommodating visitors and preserving the site from overuse.
Tourguide Tim Beale had a day off earlier this month, so he grabbed his cross-country skiis and headed out to the Castner Glacier. After a few minutes on the trail, he ran into a group of folks who also wanted to see the glacier and its ice cave – but had no idea how to get there.
“And the one guy asked me, he says, ‘Do you know where we go?’ ” Beale said. “And I just, I felt sorry for him, you know, so I told him to follow me,” Beale said.
Beale is a Delta Junction-based guide, and he often brings small groups back into the site a little over a mile off the Richardson Highway at milepost 217, about 50 miles south of Delta. So he knows the territory well.
“They were visitors from the Southwest and, uh, Chicago. None of them had a clue.”
He’s also accustomed to encountering people there who don’t know how to get into that area in the eastern Alaska Range and back out, safely.
“There'd been several cases I'd gone out there in the wintertime and I saw people that were in an area that wasn't anywhere near the glacier,” Beale said.
It happened again last week, when a 58-year-old woman and her 2-year-old grandchild got separated from the group they were with and wandered away. Members of the group called Alaska State Troopers, who along with local emergency responders launched a search and rescue effort that was called off when they got word that the grandmother and child had been located.
“It's just kind of amazes me that people are going out there not knowing really anything about a glacier or where it is.”
BLM spokesperson Scott Claggett says that’s one of the problems that will be addressed by the agency’s newly adopted Castner Glacier Recreation Area Management Plan.
“I'm really, really thankful that, you know, no one was hurt,” Claggett said. “And I'm glad that law enforcement stepped in.”
The plan includes improved signage at the trailhead and around the glacier. Claggett says the signs are intended to help people find their way around – and also will remind people that they’re headed into the backcountry and should be prepared.
“We always encourage people that when you're out on public lands to be careful,” he said. “Recreating in Alaska comes with its inherent set of risks.”
The plan also calls for trail maintenance and improvements and other provisions like regulation of tour groups and off-road vehicle and snowmachine use. Claggett says the idea is to improve safety and preserve the area from overuse by the growing number of people who visit the site. BLM says about 12-thousand people visit annually, and that number is expected to grow.
“Visitation and use of the Castner Glacier area has increased exponentially in recent years,” he said.
“… We're glad that people want to recreate on our shared public lands. But we want to make sure that we're doing so in a safe and sustainable way.”
Explore Fairbanks Executive Director Scott McCrea says most people who go back into the backcountry appreciate the kind of management that the BLM plan calls for.
“Having guidelines like this, especially with how it's going to really improve access there, I think it's something visitors will embrace and be glad to see,” he said.
McCrea says plan will likely appeal to people who want to visit places that are accessible and safe, and managed in a way that preserves the natural appeal of the area.
“This has definitely been a growing trend in the last few years, of interest in I think what can best describe as sustainable tourism.”
He also appreciates provisions for access into the area by off-road vehicles and snowmachines.
“That's important for both residents as well as visitors,” McCrea said, “because some visitors are looking to experience using motorized transportation.”
Claggett says the agency will monitor the nearly 4,700-acre Castner Glacier management area to ensure its natural wonders are preserved so they can continue to be enjoyed by both the locals and visitors.
