As of Monday, the American Bald Eagle Foundation had only 17 out-of-towners registered for its November Bald Eagle Festival, well below the 100 registered participants that is typical this time of year, said foundation executive director Cheryl McRoberts.
Organizers don’t expect many more out-of-town attendees since the Alaska Marine Highway System last week released a sparse winter schedule with no service to Haines during the festival until the final day. The 2019 Bald Eagle Festival is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6-9. The first sailing of the month isn’t scheduled until November 9.
“When it was published (last week) we discovered there’s not a single ferry during the festival with the exception of one that departs to Juneau on the ninth which doesn’t really help us,” said foundation raptor program manager Sidney Campbell.
Facing a 31 percent budget cut coupled with increased vessel maintenance, marine highway system officials only scheduled 10 sailings in November.
“(The schedule is) a lot different than it has been in the past,” Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Meadow Bailey said. “All of our ports across the entire system are experiencing less service than they are in the past.”
Bailey said ferry system officials were aware of the festival, but marine highway system didn’t have a vessel available. “(We’ve) heard from people who are supporters and there’s just no way to meet all of the needs. (We’re) trying to balance community needs and maintenance requirements and a budget cut on top of that.”
Campbell said festival organizers grew concerned about attendance when Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced his plans to cut ferry funding earlier this year. The foundation’s annual festival relies on out-of-town visitors to bolster attendance. Since then, they’ve planned for less attendance, and Campbell said they budgeted less because of fears they wouldn’t see a return on their investment.
“I think what we want to emphasize to the community is that we’ve had to scale the festival back this year, but we’d like to make this a very community focused event,” Campbell said. “This is a time when we could use the community support. We really want people to be engaged with it.”
McRoberts said in an effort to promote local participation, the foundation has scheduled a square dance and dinner at Harriett Hall on the festival’s final evening. Local chef Travis Kukull will cater the event. Discounted meal rates for children will be offered.