Glacier Park leaders forecast bright future

Glacier National Park is heading into a year of significant changes that should be for the better from the perspective of visitors, three park leaders said Thursday at a gathering sponsored by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce.

Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow led off the group, describing how the biggest changes will involve integrating a new general park concessions contractor and working with a newly formed philanthropical partner, the Glacier National Park Conservancy.

“I’m very big on being collaborative,” Mow said. “There’s a lot that the National Park Service can’t do in a national park. It really takes a team.”

He pointed out that Glacier’s visitor information services will be transferred from a small building in Apgar to the nearby transit center, which should be a more convenient location for people seeking information. He sees potential for the transit center to accommodate exhibits and other interpretive information in the future.

Park staffers will work on a Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor study this year that will examine how the road is being used and ways it should be managed in the future. Mow, who came to Glacier last summer from a superintendent’s job in Alaska, expects that some alternative proposals will be rolled out for initial public review in the fall.

Also speaking at the Moose Lodge was Marc Ducharme, Glacier’s general manager for Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which last year won a 16-year contract to operate concessions that had been managed for 32 years by Glacier Park Inc.

Xanterra will operate and maintain the park’s famous red bus fleet, five hotels and a variety of food, beverage and retail outlets in the park.

Ducharme, who previously worked for Glacier Park Inc., said he excited that Xanterra will have predictability and the ability to plan with a long-term contract, but for now he is still largely occupied with acquiring buildings for the company’s administrative and laundry operations in Columbia Falls.

In addition, he is looking to establish a state-of-the-art facility in Columbia Falls to maintain and store the 33 red buses that have for years been stored in East Glacier when they aren’t in use.

Ducharme said Xanterra currently has 35 full-time employees for its Glacier operations and he expects that number to ramp up to about 65 once its facilities are established in Columbia Falls.

“I haven’t pulled the trigger on any of it yet, and May is fast approaching,” he said, adding that he is optimistic that Xanterra will soon be set up.

The company continues to hire for full-time positions and it is beginning efforts to recruit about 600 seasonal staffers. That effort starts locally, then goes regional, national and international.

Next week, the company will recruit in Europe and Asia with hopes of hiring 80 to 100 seasonal workers.

Mark Preiss, executive director of the Glacier National Park Conservancy, described how the nonprofit came about from a merger between the Glacier National Park Fund and Glacier Park Associates at the beginning of last year.

The merger was the result of about 18 months of negotiations between the two organizations’ boards that were guided by then-Glacier Superintendent Chas Cartwright.

There was “really good committed leadership on both of those boards,” he said, and the new organization is now led by a 21-member board.

“I inherited all the good energy that came from that merger,” he said.

Preiss said the Glacier National Park Fund used to support the park financially through a “transactional relationship” that was often focused on one-time-only endeavors. Now, he said, there is a growing emphasis on supporting the park in a more long-term manner.

The conservancy and park staff recently developed for the first time “an integrated strategic plan” for the park. The goal, Preiss explained, is for the conservancy to provide a “margin of excellence” for park visitors that the park cannot do on its own.

Nonprofit park partners are not engaging in building sewer treatment plants or other basic infrastructure that are the responsibility of the National Park Service, but they can do things to help improve visitor experiences.

The conservancy is also engaged in ambitious fundraising efforts. Last year, it provided $500,000 in support to Glacier and this year it is projected that it will provide $800,000.

The conservancy’s main summer fundraiser generated $100,000 last year, and this year’s event — the Backpacker’s Ball, scheduled for Aug. 2 — is expected to exceed that sum, Preiss said.

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