taxes on cruise passengers, with the proceeds going to infrastructure support, conservation efforts, and other initiatives.

The latest effort, which would have slapped a $46 tax on every passenger sailing state waters, was defeated in the Alaska legislature in May 2005, but don’t expect deb

The 49th state is one of the top cruise destinations in the world, with about 750,000 people cruising there annually. That may not sound like much in the abstract — after all, Alaska’s a huge state, right? But two facts make it actually a pretty big figure: (1) Even though Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the United States combined, cruise ships sail in only about 20 percent of that area (and really concentrate on about half that); and (2) the cruise season is incredibly short, only lasting from late May to mid-September.

That leads to crowding in the biggest ports of call, and also to some backlash, with local critics decrying excessive pedestrian traffic on their city streets, heavy bus traffic on outlying roads, and environmental damage to the air and seas.

Some towns, particularly Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway, really can get overwhelmed by cruise passengers at the height of high season, with a potential for more than 6,000 people floating in daily.

The delicate balancing act between the resulting congestion and the plain fact that tourism provides the state’s second largest pool of jobs has led to debate in recent years over imposing head taxes on cruise passengers, with the proceeds going to infrastructure support, conservation efforts, and other initiatives.

The latest effort, which would have slapped a $46 tax on every passenger sailing state waters, was defeated in the Alaska legislature in May 2005, but don’t expect deba

ne than the rest of the United States combined, cruise ships sail in only about 20 percent of that area (and really concentrate on about half that); and (2) the cruise season is incredibly short, only lasting from late May to mid-September.

That leads to crowding in the biggest ports of call, and also to some backlash, with local critics decrying excessive pedestrian traffic on their city streets, heavy bus traffic on outlying roads, and environmental damage to the air and seas.

Some towns, particularly Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway, really can get overwhelmed by cruise passengers at the height of high season, with a potential for more than 6,000 people floating in daily.

The delicate balancing act between the resulting congestion and the plain fact that tourism provides the state’s second largest pool of jobs has led to debate in recent years over imposing head taxes on cruise passengers, with the proceeds going to infrastructure support, conservation efforts, and other initiatives.

The latest effort, which would have slapped a $46 tax on every passenger sailing state waters, was defeated in the Alaska legislature in May 2005, but don’t expect deb

, and also to some backlash, with local critics decrying excessive pedestrian traffic on their city streets, heavy bus traffic on outlying roads, and environmental damage to the air and seas.

Some towns, particularly Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway, really can get overwhelmed by cruise passengers at the height of high season, with a potential for more than 6,000 people floating in daily.

The delicate balancing act between the resulting congestion and the plain fact that tourism provides the state’s second largest pool of jobs has led to debate in recent years over imposing head taxes on cruise passengers, with the proceeds going to infrastructure support, conservation efforts, and other initiatives.

The latest effort, which would have slapped a $46 tax on every passenger sailing state waters, was defeated in the Alaska legislature in May 2005, but don’t expect deb

gers at the height of high season, with a potential for more than 6,000 people floating in daily.

The delicate balancing act between the resulting congestion and the plain fact that tourism provides the state’s second largest pool of jobs has led to debate in recent years over imposing head taxes on cruise passengers, with the proceeds going to infrastructure support, conservation efforts, and other initiatives.

The latest effort, which would have slapped a $46 tax on every passenger sailing state waters, was defeated in the Alaska legislature in May 2005, but don’t expect deb

taxes on cruise passengers, with the proceeds going to infrastructure support, conservation efforts, and other initiatives.

The latest effort, which would have slapped a $46 tax on every passenger sailing state waters, was defeated in the Alaska legislature in May 2005, but don’t expect debate to end. On the environmental front, several well-publicized cases of illegal dumping over the past decade have led the cruise industry to institute in-house and industry-wide compliance and monitoring — after all, they can’t sell cruises to pristine Alaska if they’re perceived as making it less pristine.

State and local governments also have a hand in minimizing cruise ships’ impact in some of Alaska’s most famous wild places. Glacier Bay, for example, has a strict permit system that allows in only two large cruise ships and several smaller vessels on any given day.