Glacier Park officials talk on range of topics during speaker series

A talk from Glacier National Park’s recently retired chief ranger, an introduction to Native American culture and a presentation about what visitors can expect this summer are all part of the Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates upcoming 2025 Winter Speaker Series.

Paul Austin, who retired last year after 28 years as the park’s chief ranger, will give the first talk in the series at the Northwest Montana History Museum on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. He will be giving attendees an inside look into what it takes to locate and assist injured and lost visitors across the park’s 1 million acres, according to a release from the Volunteer Associates.  

Austin started work in the summer of 1995 in the Belly River area of Glacier National Park as a Student Conservation Association intern and worked in Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Denali and Saguaro national parks. He became Glacier’s chief ranger in 2014.  

Glacier National Park’s Public Information Officer Gina Icenoggle will give an introduction into Native American culture at the museum on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.  

She will share a guide to build cultural awareness of American Indian and Alaska Natives by illuminating the origins, history and challenges facing native populations, according to the release. Attendees should expect a two-hour presentation with a brief intermission. 

Icenoggle is Amskapi Pikuni (Southern Piegan Blackfeet) and grew up on the D-K Ranch, owned by her family for four generations near Del Bonita, Montana on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. She started her position as Glacier National Park’s public information officer in May 2020 handling internal and external media communications. She is also the Freedom of Information Officer and the liaison between the park and private landowners inside the park. 

On March 24 at the museum, Glacier’s Deputy Superintendent Pete Webster will be giving a talk about what visitors can expect this upcoming season. His presentation also begins at 7 p.m.  

It will be a wide-ranging talk where attendees can learn about timed entry, projects, construction and new advances in the park in 2025, according to the release.  

Webster has worked in nine national parks over an almost 40-year career, from Alaska to south Florida, but has spent most of his time working in Glacier and Yellowstone.  

He was a ranger in Katmai and Yellowstone National Parks, district ranger in Sequoia and Glacier National Parks, deputy chief ranger at Shenandoah National Park and chief ranger at Denali National Park. His law enforcement tenure culminated as chief ranger of Yellowstone before he returned to Glacier as deputy superintendent in June of 2019. 

All presentations take place upstairs at the Northwest Montana History Museum, located at 124 Second Avenue East in Kalispell. The event is free to attend. 

The Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates is the park’s only all-volunteer nonprofit partner. With around 150 members, the associates can be found in almost all facets of park operations, from helping visitors navigate the vehicle reservation system to participating in animal studies. 

For more information on the Volunteer Associates, visit gnpva.org.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at tinman@dailyinterlake.com.