Mendenhall Recreation Area Master Planning

The Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area (MGRA) is under intense pressure from the needs of industrial tourism (cruise ship visitation) and the fact that one of the primary resources for visitation (the glacier) is receding and expected to disappear from current view within twenty years. This planning effort involved intense consultation and collaboration with the client, extensive public and stakeholder engagement, site investigations and analysis, and the development of numerous ‘audience-specific’ exercises and communication products. Of particular importance within the process was the development of a planning ‘game’ to immerse participants within planning methodology and complex decision making, the development of specific communication tools for participants based on their needs for receiving information, a ‘discovery week’ with multiple meeting/workshop types and participation of national and international subject matter experts, a public Pecha Kucha session for these subject matter experts, and the final planning recommendations shared in several audience-specific formats such as a fold-out map and summary document (including an 8-page graphic novel/comic introduction to reinforce the ‘spirit’ of the effort).