Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center operates on a skeleton crew

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - One of Juneau’s most popular tourist sites is running this season with limited staffing and hours.

“They currently have a skeleton crew out there of staff they have been able to move over from other functions,” Alexandra Pierce, City and Borough of Juneau Visitor Industry Director, said about Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier visitor center. “Somebody who may be a biologist or something like that in their day job, may be staffing the front desk of the glacier.”

The visitor center is operating with limited staffing after all but one staff member was laid off in February due to cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency.

Back in March, federal staffers were slated to return to the visitor after all laid-off employees were offered their jobs back.

However, all staff members who accepted their job back have since been offered a buyout.

“All those employees who were brought back took that offer,” Pierce said.

Pierce said the visitor center has adequate staffing at the moment to be open six days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the past, from May to September, the center would be open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., seven days a week.

“Which is a reduction, about half the hours they are typically are open during a given day during the season,” Pierce said.

It’s been an all-hands-on-deck approach to keep things running, so far, this season. According to Pierce, tribal employees, Discovery Southeast employees, and tour operators have all been helping the center during its operating hours.

“It’s kind of tentatively working,” Pierce said. “Of course, we’re seeing a lot of complaints with the reduced hours. People showing up on buses to a glacier, to a visitor center that isn’t open.”

Pierce said, despite the season just starting a few weeks ago, the center has already seen frustrated visitors who had booked their tickets in advance with the assumption that the center would be open.

“They’re still paying their full permit fees despite not getting the service that they expect with that,” Pierce said. “We’ve had people who have just gotten off the bus. We have had people demanding refunds. It’s been a real crunch for the operators so far, and we are not at full capacity.”

Starting in May, Juneau will hit the peak of its cruise ship tourism season. During May to September, Pierce said, Juneau could see five ships docking a day.

Pierce said she is concerned that these challenges will continue, creating an impact on small businesses and potentially increasing congestion in the city. However, Pierce said it is too early to tell if there will be an impact.

The City and Borough of Juneau is considering appropriating $200,000 of funding from the Marine Passenger Fee to be used to help entities that are currently assisting in keeping the visitor center staff. That proposed funding will be voted on by the City and Borough of Juneau assembly on May 19th.

Alaska’s News Source has reached out to Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Dan Sullivan, and Representative Nick Begich for comment.

Alaska’s News Source has only heard back from Sullivan’s communications team, who said that Sullivan worked with the Trump administration and the U.S. Forest Service to ensure that the center was operational. Additionally, his team adds, Sullivan was not aware of any recent staffing issues.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.