With the number of visitors to St. Croix steadily increasing, the National Park Service on the Big Island is seeking input from tour operators and taxi drivers to control impacts on the agency’s historic and natural attractions.
On Wednesday night, Park Service officials met with about two dozen people to gather information on a proposed commercial services plan for Buck Island Reef National Monument, Christiansted National Historic Site and Salt River Bay Historic Park and Ecological Preserve. The plan, to be implemented in early 2002, will identify "appropriate and necessary commercial services in each park and the formal regulation," of them, said Joel Tutein, the Park Service’s superintendent on St. Croix.
While the largest group of Park Service concessionaires do business by taking paying customers to Buck Island by boat, Tutein said taxi operators in the historic district and other tour operators aren’t guided by any set regulations.
The commercial services plan, which all national parks must implement, would ensure that concessionaires aren’t managed by the whim of a single person, Tutein said. In addition, he said a plan will give current and prospective concessionaires an idea of what permits and fees will be required.
"If they go through the process, they should be able to look into the future five years down the road," he said.
A formal plan also lends an orderly process for concessionaires, unlike the unruly process tourists were subjected to for a tour of Buck Island 25 years ago. At that point there were some 23 tour operators running 57 boats. The competition for customers was so fierce, said Tutein, it wasn’t uncommon for fist fights to break out among boat captains on King’s Wharf in Christiansted
Because of the chaos, the Park Service ordered tour operators to post standard fares, which now run from $40 to $80 per person, and schedules for trips to Buck Island. Proof of insurance was also required.
Now, through attrition and a dip in visitors, there are six concessionaires operating a dozen boats for the approximately 40,000 people who visit Buck Island annually.
"It’s more than enough for the numbers going out to Buck Island," Tutein said. "None are carrying 50 percent of their authorized capacity. And if they do it’s seldom."
Buck Island tour operators currently work under a contract and permit and are charged a franchise fee of up to 1 ½ percent of their gross annual income, Tutein said. Through the commercial services plan process, franchise fees will be reevaluated. Tutein said that most concessionaires in the Park Service system pay a franchise fee of 7 percent.
Taxi services were also a main focus of discussion Wednesday night. The Park Service built an area in the historic site for taxi vans and tour buses to drop off customers. Federal law, however, prohibits unregulated commercial activity on federal property.
That is a problem now with independent taxi drivers, who collect fares within the historic site.
"We’ve made a beautiful drop-off area," Tutein said. "Now it’s time to regulate it."
Kelvin Dennie, a taxi driver and a member of the St. Croix Taxi Association, said the association has worked with the Park Service to comply with its rules.
"I think once this plan is put into effect it will be beneficial to all concerned," he said.
But independent taxi driver Samuel "The Mighty Pat" Ferdinand wasn’t too happy with the idea of the possibility of paying a fee.
"Every time we come to town, someone is kicking our butts," he said, in reference to ticket book-wielding police and rule book-reading Park Service workers.
Tour operator Sweeny Toussaint, meanwhile, was happy about the Park Service’s outreach, but was leery of the idea of permits and fees.
"We’ll have to look at it a bit closer to see if there will be fees and how much," he said.
