JUNEAU, Alaska — The number of boats allowed to enter Glacier Bay National Park in 2006 will be the same as this year while more studies are done to determine the effect of the cruise ships on the park's wildlife.

The National Park Service decision drew immediate criticism from Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, who wants to bring more cruise ships into Glacier Bay, one of the state's major tourist destinations.

Glacier Bay, a 3.3 million-acre roadless park in Southeast Alaska that is popular for its breaching whales and dramatic scenery, drew 353,680 visitors last year. Just about all came by boat.

Marcia Blaszak, Park Service regional director for Alaska, said she shares Murkowski's goal of increasing the number of visitors to the area, but that it must be done responsibly and using the best science available.

That doesn't mean the number of tourists to Glacier Bay won't increase, Blaszak said. Of the 139 boats allowed this year and next, 12 smaller vessels will be replaced by cruise ships next year. That will mean a 16 percent increase in passengers above 2005.

Then in 2007, 14 new boats will be allowed into Glacier Bay, for a total of 153 boats for the tourist season. Over the next two years, the number of tourists to Glacier Bay could jump 23 percent, Blaszak said.

Murkowski said that's not enough, and not soon enough. He wants two a day, or 184 boats for the entire season, plus state-run ferries be allowed to cruise the bay.

Information

Glacier Bay National Park: www.nps.gov/glba/

"I know he's disappointed in not seeing us bump it to 184 cruise ships immediately, but our deliberative process never laid that out as a strategy," Blaszak said.

Murkowski said he is meeting next month with Interior Secretary Gail Norton and will ask her to overturn the decision.

"They've been studying it for 20 years and I'm sick of waiting," Murkowski said. "They study and study and study and study and come up with gibberish that (results in) more studies."

The decision was announced Monday after the Glacier Bay Science Advisory Board handed over the studies and research it conducted over the past year to the Park Service. In the coming year, the advisory board will collect additional data that the Park Service will use to implement a management plan.

Jim Stratton, Alaska regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, said he was pleased there won't be an increase in boat traffic in 2006, but wondered why the Park Service would announce a 14-boat increase for 2007 before the studies are completed. He said the science advisory board should be allowed the time it needs before a traffic increase is proposed.

If the whales, sea lions, seals and other resources can be protected, the association will have no objection in an increase in the number of cruise ships, he said.