Park Service gives would-be bidders until Dec. 7 to declare for Glacier Bay kayak rental contract

The National Park Service on Monday gave businesses until Dec. 7 to say they will compete for the Glacier Bay kayak rental contract, reopening a notice deadline that had passed Oct. 28.

The agency opened bidding Oct. 7 on a new 10-year contract for the park's only kayak rental, at Bartlett Cove. The solicitation amendment says the new date meets a Park Service rule that solicitations stay posted at least 60 days.

Businesses that do not send that notice cannot submit proposals, according to the amendment.

No other deadlines changed. Proposals are due through Microsoft Teams by 4 pm Alaska Standard Time on Dec. 28. A hard-copy transmittal letter is due Jan. 4.

Glacier Bay has historically authorized one kayak rental operation for independent paddlers inside the park. The new contract, expected to take effect Feb. 1, 2027, allows up to 20 kayaks at Bartlett Cove, rented daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Rentals are scheduled to begin May 31, 2027.

Glacier Bay Sea Kayaks holds the current contract and is a preferred bidder under the business opportunity prospectus, able to match the best proposal if it submits a qualifying bid. But the prospectus says a federal Alaska lands law preference for local residents and the most directly affected Native corporations outranks it. Under that preference, a qualifying local or Native corporation bidder wins if its best offer is at least substantially equal to the best offer from other bidders, and otherwise may match the best offer's terms, the Park Service said in answers to bidders' questions.

The concession grossed $86,400 in 2025 and about $84,000 in each of the two prior years, the prospectus said. The Park Service projects $85,000 in 2027. The winner pays the government at least 3% of gross receipts or $1,000 a year, whichever is greater, and may offer equipment, clothing and land transportation between Gustavus and Bartlett Cove.