At a Tuesday meeting, heliski industry representatives and public commenters made their cases for or against changing borough code to allow a fourth heliski operator. The borough’s government affairs and services committee decided to wait until its Sept. 7 meeting to make a recommendation to the borough assembly.

The debate at the meeting fell along familiar lines: Current operators said they oppose adding a fourth, while Reggie Crist of Stellar Adventure Travel, the fourth company seeking a permit, argued that the borough should amend its code.

Crist said that Haines’ heliski industry has room for growth because only a small fraction of available skier days have been used in recent years. Fewer than a third of 2600 allocated days were used this past season. Crist, who has been guiding in Haines for more than a decade, is seeking 500 skier days but hasn’t requested that the borough increase its total cap. He said his business, which plans, if permitted, to build a lodge at 18 mile, would spur Haines’ winter economy.

Representatives of the borough’s three current operators — Alaska Heliskiing, Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA) and Alaska Mountain Guides (AMG) — said they oppose permitting Stellar because they think Haines’ already limited skiable terrain can’t support more crowds. They argued that they haven’t been using all the available skier days due to a string of poor weather years and the pandemic. A fourth operator, they argued, would increase conflict among guides, reduce safety and degrade the industry’s product—untracked powder.

More than 15 members of the public—including guides for current operators and Stellar as well as concerned residents—commented on the issue. Several cases were made on both sides of the issue.

Dan Vandermeulen, a guide with experience in Valdez and Haines who works with Stellar, said that Haines’ heliski industry “has been terribly overregulated.” He said he was shocked by the limited terrain and strict regulations when he first came to the borough. In Valdez, where there are five operators, he said, you can “go around the corner” if your first terrain choice is being used by someone else but that in Haines that’s not possible due to the regulations.

Cameron Banko, a guide with SEABA who also has worked in Valdez and Haines, painted a different picture of Valdez. He said in the last few years, with the growth of winter recreation like snow machining, “the conflict between other operators and other user groups (near Valdez) has become really problematic.”

While Banko called Haines “the most actively managed heliski terrain in the state of Alaska,” he argued against permitting a fourth operator “without greatly, greatly expanding the terrain that’s available” due to the potential for conflicts and increased safety risks.

Steve Fossman, a fisherman and hunter who has lived in the borough for 59 years, said at the meeting that he worries adding a fourth operator would cause pressure to change the current heliski map, which limits use in areas with mountain goats and denning bear populations. “The overlying motto in heliskiing is: get more area, be able to go where we want to go,” Fossman said. “If we have a limited area and you’re bringing in more operators, you need to be prepared…not in six months (to say), ‘We got another operator now. We need more area.’”

“I hope that you can stay focused and operate with the map you have,” Fossman said.

At the end of the meeting, the committee agreed to do more research and reconvene with fresh minds on Sept. 7.