Glacier approves blueprint for commercial services

Glacier National Park has a plan that should give visitors better services and facilities in years to come.

The park's Commercial Services Plan, in development for the last few years, was approved by Superintendent Mick Holm last week.

"This has been a long process that began in 1999 following completion of Glacier's General Management Plan," Holm said. "We are pleased to have a plan in place that will guide commercial services decisions for the next 15-20 years and help park managers and concessioners to address and improve the quality of commercial visitor services throughout Glacier National Park."

The plan outlines mostly subtle changes that will be implemented gradually. Many of the changes will depend on funding the park has yet to secure.

"The plan does allow us to continue everything we currently provide and it adds some things," said Jan Knox, the park's chief of concessions management.

As the title suggests, the plan is mostly about services that people pay for in the park.

The plan will allow commercial firewood sales in select campgrounds, and it will allow for guided underwater diving tours in Glacier's lakes.

It calls for expanded horseback riding services in the Two Medicine area.

The plan sticks with the park's current policy of allowing only one overnight backpacking guide service. But it includes some changes for guided day hikes.

It does not prescribe a limit for the number of day-hike operators, Knox said, partly because the plan is intended to encourage additional guided hikes with cultural and natural history themes.

It sets limits, however, for the size of commercially guided groups on certain trails. The plan imposes a 25-person limit on commercial hikes on the Highline Trail, for instance.

It allows commercial operators to shuttle private vehicles to park trailheads for hiker convenience.

The plan maintains the park's limits on commercial services in the North Fork Valley.

"The whole plan for that area is to not promote additional commercial services," Knox said.

A draft version of the plan allowed for commercial motorcycle tours, but that was nixed in the final plan largely because of concerns about excessive noise in the park.

There are some changes allowed for commercial facilities, particularly in Glacier's Apgar, Lake McDonald, Two Medicine, Rising Sun, Many Glacier and Swiftcurrent developed areas.

Knox said the plan provides a blueprint for facility improvements. At Apgar, there are provisions for additional walkways and parking, along with structural improvements at the Village Inn Hotel.

But the plan is conservative in its approach to facility expansion. The park currently has 512 overnight rooms; the plan will allow for 540 rooms.

At Lake McDonald, it would allow for the conversion of employee housing for use as a visitor hostel, along with building new housing.

Similar changes are proposed for the Many Glacier area, where there is concern about concession employees being housed in the same area as park visitors, Knox said.

The plan also calls for the expansion of shower facilities at some of the park's main campgrounds.

In the backcountry, the plan retains Granite Park Chalet for use as a rustic backcountry hikers hut, instead of operating the chalet as a full-service facility where meals are served to guests.

Knox said she expects changes that result from the plan to be carried out gradually as funding becomes available. In some cases, concession fees will help pay for improvements that also will require government funding, Knox said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com