Forest Service awards new tour permits for Mendenhall area

(Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
U.S. Forest Service officials have awarded 15 companies with lucrative rights to bring tourists into the Mendenhall Glacier National Recreation Area.
The Juneau Empire reports that among the companies announced Friday are Admiralty Excursions, World Cycling Tours and Alaska Weddings on Ice, which allows couples to get married on top of the glacier.
The Forest Service manages the Mendenhall area to support about 465,000 tourists each year.
The agency changed the way it of