It could be that only two commercial tour operators that brought customers to the Petroglyph Beach State Historic Site this summer bothered to purchase the state permit required to provide tours.
This was the first year the state directly asked operators to acquire the mandatory permit and collect the $6 fee.
Though it had not been enforced in Wrangell, the law regarding commercial use of public property has applied to the Petroglyph Beach since it was designated a state historic site in 2000.
Tour operators would be more open to buying the annual $350 permit and collecting the fee if they knew the money would be reinvested in the local attraction, said Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director.
“The community wants to know” that the state is going to address maintenance needs, she said Friday, Sept. 27.
The state and borough plan to resume working toward a new joint-management agreement for the property, and the borough wants the state to commit to increased maintenance and improvements at the popular viewing platform just north of the ferry terminal.
“We’re eager to get an agreement,” Thomas said.
However, the Alaska Division of Parks does not have the authority to designate where permit fees are spent — that is determined by the Legislature as part of the annual state budget process.
But having a count of the number of visitors to the Petroglyph Beach would help the Division of Parks in justifying any request to spend state money on improvements at the site, according to the division’s Southeast superintendent.
“One of the main concerns for Petroglyph Beach is to address maintenance issues, but it is difficult to secure funding for the park unit when there is no documentation demonstrating park use or the number of commercial tours and clients that visit and enjoy the park each year,” Preston Kroes said in an emailed statement Sept. 26.
“One of the benefits to issuing commercial-use permits and receiving the reported client numbers is to provide us the park visitation statistics to demonstrate the park use and value, both economically and intrinsically to the community, and help find and secure the funding for maintenance and improvements,” the Southeast superintendent explained.
The division collects about $5 million a year in fees statewide from commercial operations, cabin rentals, campsites and parking fees. It’s not enough for all the work needed around the state, and it’s a competitive process among park advocates to win legislative approval for specific projects.
Kroes hopes for more compliance from Wrangell tour operators next summer.
“Alaska State Parks will be providing a final public notice during this upcoming off-season for all companies that have or want to do business in the future at Petroglyph Beach State Historic Site as a reminder that a commercial-use permit is required (under state law),” he said.
The state sent a similar notice to businesses a year ago.
“We’ll send it to every company we know about,” Kroes said. Earlier this year he said there could be as many as half a dozen commercial operators in town who take paying customers to the site to see and learn about the ancient stone carvings.
Without any crew in Wrangell, the small Alaska Division of Parks staff did not publicize the permit requirement when the historic site was designated in 2000. It appears no one at City Hall or in the tour community was aware of the commercial permit requirement until a complaint about beach access brought the site to the attention of state officials in 2023.
Jim Leslie, who operates Alaska Waters, purchased the permit this summer. His company brought more than 1,000 customers to the site this visitor season.
Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic, which operates small tour boats in Southeast, also bought a permit. The ships need one to take their passengers to the beach.
Kroes said he is not aware of any other Wrangell operators who have bought a commercial-use permit this year.
Under the 1988 management agreement, the borough is responsible for trash pickup and light maintenance at the six-acre site, with the state taking on major improvements.
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