Glacier Bay Management and Protection Act of 1997

Summary

Glacier Bay Management and Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a contractual relationship with the Glacier Bay Lodge in Bartlett Cove, Alaska, for purposes of making improvements to the Lodge and related visitor facilities. Directs the Secretary, before entering into a cooperative agreement for alteration or expansion of National Park Service facilities in or near Gustavus, Alaska, to provide a report that includes a cost-benefit analysis of such activity to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Resources (the Committees). Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations to increase the number of Glacier Bay entry permits available to tour boats during June, July, and August to a level consistent with demand for entry. Directs the Secretary to submit a plan for conducting a survey of Glacier Bay National Park users to the Committees to determine the extent to which: (1) users consider the activities of other Park users as having an adverse impact on their enjoyment of the Park; and (2) user expectations for the Park are being satisfied. Provides for submission of survey results to the Committees as well as recommendations to reconcile competing Park uses or to satisfy visitor access needs. Allows subsistence fishing and gathering by local residents of the Park. Bars construction of permanent structures associated with such activities. Authorizes commercial fishing in the Park using specified methods in use during 1980-1996. Makes commercial fishing in the Park subject to Federal and State laws. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) request the State fishery management authority to initiate remedial action if a significant adverse impact is occurring to a resident population of fish or shellfish as a result of such commercial fishing; and (2) promulgate regulations to protect threatened resources during an emergency where such fishing poses an immediate threat to a Park resource, including fish or shellfish. Designates the waters of Glacier Bay as the Glacier Bay Marine Fisheries Reserve. Requires the Reserve to remain open to fishing. Permits closures or restrictions on times, areas, methods, or means of access to the Reserve under certain conditions. Closes the waters of the Beardslee Islands managed as wilderness to commercial fishing, with specified income-related exceptions for Dungeness crab fishing. Establishes the Glacier Bay Fishery Science Advisory Council to: (1) report on the status of knowledge about fishery resources in the Park; (2) prepare a fisheries management plan for the Reserve; and (3) provide additional recommendations on fishery research and management priorities and needs in the Reserve, as appropriate.

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Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 24 July 1997

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• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 24 July 1997

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 24 July 1997

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