Glacier National Park Conservancy outlines projects planned for 2024

The Glacier National Park Conservancy’s projects for 2024 include monitoring alpine and wetland rare plants, improving bear management capacity, continuing vital species studies and fostering partnerships with local tribes.

The forthcoming efforts are included in the organization’s recently released 2024 Project Funding Needs guide, which is available online at www.glacier.org.

During the organization’s Oct. 18 “Glacier Conversations,” a monthly virtual series, Executive Director Doug Mitchell said donations to the group supported $3 million in park projects this year, and that the Conservancy has pledged to support an additional $3 million next year. The organization is supported by proceeds from park gift shops, both in visitor centers and online, as well as funds from donors.

The roadmap for upcoming projects separates undertakings into three categories: wilderness, wonder and wildlife.

Next year’s critical projects under the wilderness category include monitoring alpine and wetland rare plants, supporting wilderness rangers and improving and increasing sustainability efforts.

About $106,550 is needed to fund the restoration efforts of two keystone species in Glacier: the whitebark pine and Clark’s nutcracker. According to the project guide, whitebark pine has an important symbiotic relationship with the Clark’s nutcracker, a bird that has a specialized pouch under its tongue to store seeds. Without whitebark, the Clark’s nutcracker will not have enough food to support breeding efforts, and without Clark’s nutcracker, the whitebark pine has no way to disperse its seeds.

A small number of whitebark pine trees, called “plus trees,” are naturally, genetically resistant to blister rust, the largest threat facing the species. Glacier’s Native Plant Restoration workers identify these trees and collect their seeds to later replant where their populations have declined.

Another $71,850 will fund the monitoring of alpine and wetland rare plants, alpine vegetation communities, whitebark pine and grassland species found within the park. These studies look to inform future conservation efforts to address climate change by revealing any trends in the populations of Glacier’s native plant species.

Other wilderness projects include conserving native fish habitat, preventing mussel infestations, improving recycling and sustainability and rebuilding the backcountry cabin that once stood behind Granite Park Chalet.

PROJECTS AND programs in the wonder category aim to offer experiences for all ages and abilities in the park. Funding needs include improving accessibility at Trail of the Cedars, educational opportunities like the Ranger-Led Education Programming and to learn from local tribes through the Native America Speaks program.

About $52,250 is needed to fund the park’s Junior Ranger program. The group’s project guide said park personnel distribute over 20,000 Junior Ranger activity books and 15,000 badges to participating youth during the summer. The project will fund the thousands of Junior Ranger booklets and badges distributed.

The nonprofit also works to make connections with tribes who have historically called the park home. Roughly $100,000 is needed to fund a cooperative greenhouse located at the Blackfeet Community College campus. The greenhouse will work to restore native plant species on tribal and park lands.

The project provides opportunities for the park to assist and offer guidance based on its native plant propagation protocols. Glacier’s Native Plant Restoration program will assist staff and students, all of whom are members of the tribal community.

Other 2024 projects that collaborate with the Blackfeet Nation and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes include the Native America Speaks program and Tribal Community Engagement project, the Piikuni Lands Service Corps Partnership and the effort to provide native languages on signs and interpretive displays, among others.

HIGHLIGHTED WILDLIFE projects include the conservation of Midvale Creek westslope cutthroat trout, improving bear management capacity and using cutting edge science to aid in waterbird conservation.

About $75,000 is needed for improving bear management capacity. According to the project guide, Protection Rangers, who historically carried the burden of implementing much of the park’s bear management program, have struggled to maintain their level of involvement due to increasing demands including law enforcement, emergency medical support, search and rescue and wildland fire management. Funding for this project will help the park’s Division of Science and Resources Management increase personnel, training, supplies and equipment.

The waterbirds conservation project requires $73,000 in funding. According to the project description, the park lacks baseline data on most birds considered species of concern. This project will use camera traps, environmental DNA and ground surveys to gather critical data on harlequin ducks, Barrow’s goldeneyes, hooded mergansers and great blue herons.

Glacier National Park Wildlife Biologist Lisa Bate spoke about this project during last week’s “Glacier Conversations.”. Some people might believe that they have a big budget to do wildlife research and inventory monitoring, but that’s not the case, she said.

“If it wasn’t for the conservancy and its donors, none of our wildlife work would happen,” Bate said.

She said their waterbirds conservation effort utilizes technology that is noninvasive to monitor birds, speaking specifically to harlequin ducks. Researchers have been documenting declines in the duck species’ population in their Glacier National Park breeding grounds. She said current counting methods, which include ground monitoring, come with challenges, including changes in weather that prevent researchers from accessing the area where harlequin ducks frequent.

“Like any time we have high water in May, our numbers are really low because the ducks are in backwater areas where we can’t access them or on other streams,” Bate said.

Glacier National Park Biological Science Technician Holli Holmes said the goal of the study will be investigating the efficacy of three noninvasive survey methods for detecting harlequin ducks along their breeding streams in the northern Rockies. They also hope it will serve as a basis for building a regional monitoring program.

Holmes said the project will focus on gathering DNA collected from an animal’s environment. For harlequin ducks, this means looking for traces of them flowing through streams in breeding grounds.

The project has been collecting data in the park for the past two seasons, providing researchers with a more accurate picture of the harlequin duck population.

Among other wildlife projects and programs, funding will again be provided to the Pikas and Climate Change study and the Iinnii Initiative, which is a collaboration with the Blackfeet Nation focused on reintroducing bison into the landscape.

To read more about Glacier National Park Conservancy’s 2024 projects, visit https://glacier.org/park-current-projects/ and scroll to the bottom of the page for the project guide.