Glacier National Park officials talk access, ticketed entry with visitors and stakeholders

Glacier National Park officials gave people a chance to voice their opinions about park access in person at two different open houses this week.

Officials announced earlier this month that they are accepting public comment on access and the park’s pilot vehicle reservation system until Sept. 30. This follows three years of the reservation system being implemented at the park’s busiest entrances, first on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and later including the North Fork, Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas.

In a press release earlier this month, park officials said public input from this comment period will inform a strategy for operations next summer.

Chris and Keisha Fisher attended the open house held at Cedar Creek Lodge in Columbia Falls on Aug. 29. The couple owns multiple businesses just outside the West Glacier entrance, including Glacier Highline in Coram. Chris Fisher described the ticketed entry system as challenging.

“We’ve seen a huge drop in numbers at our businesses … It’s been really tough on the local economy,” Chris Fisher said. “Limiting people is tough, but there are a lot of things we can do. We are people of business, community people and we want the park to be open for everybody,”

Keisha Fisher said she believes there are opportunities for local businesses to partner with the park to offer more parking or run additional shuttle services.

“We feel that what the park has is a parking problem,” Keisha Fisher said. “You could ticket parking and charge a fee … Just change their perspective of the way they manage the problem. We feel like they are creating problems instead of solving the problem at hand,”

She said they believe potential customers to their businesses and others are put off by messaging about ticketed entry — visitors are unsure that they can get a ticket into the park so they cancel lodging reservations and other accommodations.

There are others who feel the reservation system hasn’t affected their access to the park. Chris Nadasi is with Flathead Valley Hikers, a locals-only group that provides information on the area and training for backpacking trips. He said he and his wife spend a lot of time in the park and in addition to their involvement with the hiking group they also volunteer. Nadasi said they had no trouble getting in this summer.

“I remember a few years ago before they had those passes, it was very difficult to be able to count on getting into the park without the road closing,” Nadasi said. “We remember being up on top of Mt. Gould, looking down at the road and it was already closed by 10 a.m. The trails aren’t as busy, the road isn’t as busy, so I think it’s a complete win.”

Others were there to get a sense of what members of the community think.

Explore Whitefish Executive Director Julie Mullins said she attended to talk with park officials about what they are hearing from people on park access.

“I look at it as you have to manage tourism and if you don’t manage it properly, things can get out of control and accidents can happen,” Mullins said. “I actually applaud the National Park Service for coming together and asking ‘How do we solve overcrowding?’ Because the trend is people want outdoor spaces and people want to get outside.”

Mullins said that all over the country people are seeking out national parks and spending more time outdoors.

Sarah Lundstrum is the Glacier Program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association. She said even though she is a supporter of the reservation system and believes it has been a success for the park, there are ways for it to improve. Lundstrum attended the Aug. 29 meeting to hear what people had to say.

“We’ve seen the park evolve and adapt as they continue on,” Lundstrum said. “In 2021, it was a very different experience than it is now. And I think the learning that we’ve seen and adaptation that we’ve seen is going to lead to a better process long-term and a better visitor experience.”

Brandy Burke, park spokesperson, said officials will have a better idea of what members of the public are feeling when they dig into comments after the period ends on Sept. 30. But at the open houses, both in person and online, people came with varying opinions.

“There are many different perspectives and that’s what we want,” Burke said. “We want a diverse perspective of suggestions and comments, like local business owners and people visiting the park.”

She said park officials were able to talk to a good mix of both locals and visitors at the open house held in St. Mary on Aug. 28. In addition to hearing what people have to say, Burke said the open houses also gave park staff the opportunity to explain aspects of operations and converse with people.

Though the open houses saw people chat with park staff in person, it was not the same as making a formal public comment, which must be done online through the park planning website: https://tinyurl.com/Park-planning-public-comment.

She said in addition to public comment, the park’s decisions about next summer hinge on a variety of inputs, including lessons learned from previous seasons with the reservation system, visitor use monitoring, laws and policies that apply to the National Park Service and feedback from local business owners, communities, tribal partners and stakeholders.

Burke said information about summer 2024 will be shared later this fall after park officials get a chance to hear from the public.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.