Restrictions are slowly giving way around Alaska and our recreational life is becoming slightly more relaxed. We can now get back together with our friends and neighbors to go on a hike or maybe even for a boat ride on the soon-to-break-up rivers. (How does one “social distance” in a jon boat?)
Still – the summer of 2020 will be quite different from what we have become accustomed to.
Tourists. We will be missing tourists. Before you jump up and down and give a big hoorah, think about what the outdoors will be without them. That’s billions of dollars in revenue and tens of thousands jobs gone. Two million visitors, of which two-thirds participate in some type of outdoor activities, missing.
These are the obvious direct effects.
Tourists keep air carriers in operation. Ravn Air is gone because of COVID-19. Smaller companies have picked up some of the critical infrastructure load, but most of the air charter companies depend heavily on summer tourism for the bulk of their income.
The Bristol Bay fishery funds a good portion of the air travel to the Bristol Bay region. Sport fishermen and hunters plus visitors to Katmai National Park make up the rest. Alaska Air has cut their Anchorage to King Salmon flights to one per day for the month of June. For Alaskans wanting to visit Katmai, good luck on finding a flight. The tentacles of tourism reach far beyond the direct benefits.
I am a commercial fishermen. Tourists eat the fish I catch. The $34.50 tax for every cruise ship passenger keeps the boat ramp open at your favorite campground. Tourists contribute an additional $38 million in auto rental tax and bed tax to the Municipality of Anchorage general fund -- money enough to keep the local parks open for the residents who use them the most. You may never see an out-of-state visitor as you ride your bike on the Coastal Trail, but you ride on the ghost of his contribution.
The Kenai Peninsula will miss out-of-state visitors as much as anyone. Alaskans will have more room on the river banks, but there are some businesses that absolutely must have the tourist trade to keep their doors open. The lack of those businesses will mean less services for everyone. The Homer Spit may feel the loss of tourism revenue more than anyone on the peninsula.
Sled dog tours and glacier tours that helicopter folks take up to a camp in the snow for a sled dog ride will be out of business for the summer. How are mushers going to feed all of their dogs? There are a fair number of kennels which absolutely depend on that summer income. What is the fate of the unneeded dogs? “Dogwood ain’t cheap.”
Flying out to more remote places isn’t cheap either. However, the price is less when there are more folks going. There are no scheduled flights to the Bristol Bay region at this time. Charter companies have picked up some of the slack -- at nearly $500 each way. There is only one scheduled daily flight into Nome. It is going to be tough to get to the Seward Peninsula to catch the new world-record grayling, isn’t it?
Denali National Park draws more than 600,000 visitors every summer. The good news -- Alaskans will have the shuttle buses to themselves. The bad news -- there will be five rangers on every bus and the Glitter Gulch fudge shop will likely be closed.
There will be a lot of changes to our favorite recreational activities because of the lack of outside visitors. Pick a location and you can immediately see the impact. The Chitna personal-use dipnet fishery may be one of the few spots where Alaskans see little change.
Businesses will take a hit, especially camper parks, charter operators and tours. The Alaska outdoors will be quieter this summer, without a doubt.
Old-timers say, “Why, I remember when you could go fishin’ and never see a tourist. Now wherever you go, folks are elbow to elbow!”
Yes. Be careful what you wish for.
John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and a two-time winner of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
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