Glacier Park feeling the funding pinch

The Daily Inter Lake

Funding may exist for Going-to-the-Sun Road, but the Glacier National Park funding shortfall is in the $7 million range for operations and a whopping $388 million in deferred maintenance.

Those figures, derived from an asset-management analysis conducted by the park, are symptomatic of a funding crisis for the national park system, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Glacier's $7 million operating shortfall accounts for projects and programs that were identified as part of the park's "core mission," said Melissa Wilson, public affairs officer at the park.

That list includes things such as endangered and threatened species monitoring, law-enforcement jobs, vehicle replacement and interpretive staff, Wilson said.

The association cites a series of other funding deficiencies for Glacier programs, including:

. The elimination of potable drinking water at three campgrounds this year;

. A 2003 law-enforcement assessment identified a need for 64 full-time enforcement rangers, while the park had just 34 at the time;

. Only 30 of 297 historic structures in the park are in good condition;

. A lack of funding for studying and protecting archaeological and cultural sites in the park;

. Annual appropriations that fail to keep pace with rising construction and fuel costs.

One of the few bright spots in Glacier's fiscal picture is a $50 million earmark along with annual appropriations for Sun Road. The total cost of reconstructing the road and mitigating visitor impacts from construction is estimated at $150 million.

Rebuilding the road is by far the big-ticket item in the deferred maintenance estimate of $300 million.

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