The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking National Park Service approval to install one or two search-and-rescue communication towers in Glacier Bay

One of the proposed sites is located in the Deception Hills area of the national preserve and would provide communication capability for the Fairweather Banks area of the Gulf of Alaska. A second proposed site would provide improved communication capability for the inside waters of Glacier Bay proper, according to the Park Service.

A typical installation consists of a 40- to 60-foot self-supporting tower with microwave dish, generator shed, fuel and battery storage, communication shed, wind generator, solar panel array, and, for the Deception Hills site, a 12-foot x 12-foot helicopter landing pad, the agency explained.

FOGB is concerned about a proposal to place one of these installations atop Willoughby Island--where it would visually mar an otherwise wild and natural viewshed for hundreds of thousands of visitors each summer. 

To see the FOGB comment letter, click HERE.

To see the NPCA comment letter, click HERE.