Haines committee moves to form working group for Chilkoot Corridor management and tour-permit reforms

Haines Borough’s GAS committee moved to pursue a stakeholder working group and strategic plan to address congestion and management in the Chilkoot Corridor after tourism director Reba Hilton described a new visitor-education video and staff reported gaps in permit rules and enforcement.

Reba Hilton said she has gathered footage and audio for a visitor-education video that will be reviewed by State Parks before wider release and used at the visitor center to brief guests on safe behavior around bears. "We got all of the video footage for it now... it's currently being edited and put all together, and it'll go back to state parks first to make sure that it gets their stamp of approval," Hilton said, adding that the tourism office will train visitor-center staff and volunteers to present consistent messaging.

Committee members and local stakeholders described the corridor as at or near capacity for tour permits and expressed concern that current code addresses only commercial tour permits while multi-day tours and independent operators also produce congestion. Staff said some code language (referred to in the meeting as section 5Dot18015 and related Title 5 provisions) is subjective and difficult to administer—particularly an "expanded tours" provision that depends on legacy permit application numbers that the borough does not consistently have on file.

Participants discussed potential tools including reinstating a moratorium, adjusting permit terms at renewal, creating day‑use fees or an MOU with the state to fund increased on‑the‑ground management, and changing the code to fold multi‑day tours into the permit system. "Most of the money from state parks went into a general fund for the state of Alaska," said Sue Rakes, who recommended an MOU or other local funding arrangement to ensure money supports corridor management.

Members agreed a working group of on-the-ground stakeholders, state partners (State Parks, Fish & Game), tour operators and borough staff should draft a Chilkoot Corridor strategic plan with goals, actions, timelines and assigned responsibilities. Staff will bring a working-group proposal to the Oct. 28 assembly meeting for formal consideration and said many proposed code changes would phase in over 2–3 years as existing permits cycle to renewal.

The committee took no binding regulatory action tonight but identified specific next steps: staff outreach to partners for recommendations during permit review, clearer language to make the impact clause administrable, and a proposal to the assembly to form a working group and produce a strategic plan.