Letter from the editor

Pretty lucky to have the Park

There is much ado about Glacier National Park celebrating its 100th anniversary next year, and it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement.

An admitted natural history nerd, I was thrilled to hear that documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' latest project — which Flathead residents can see before most of the country 'see page B5) — is about the country's national parks. Appropriately, I think, Burns has titled the 12-hour series "America's Best Idea."

The idea of public lands having restricted use might send property rights activists into a tailspin, but it is nigh impossible to make a cogent argument against the American national parks system and what it offers the citizens of this country.

It goes without saying that here in Montana we enjoy the very cream of the crop, with Glacier and Yellowstone among the most spectacular of all public lands. But with the sheer volume of public land that surrounds almost every population center in Montana, it's sometimes easy to forget how fortunate we are to be the neighbors — and thus, stewards — of some of America's greatest natural treasures.

At a press conference last week to kick off some centennial activities for Glacier Park and unveil a spectacular photo exhibit at the airport, a truly staggering statistic was thrown out. Fifty percent of Flathead Valley residents, someone said, have never been to Glacier National Park.

Certainly, one needn't leave the Flathead Valley proper to experience natural splendor — we live in one of the few places in the world where the view from any old parking lot could be on a postcard — but it's a cringe-inducing thought to consider how many folks haven't made it into the Park.

At $25 a car, it's not as cheap as a trip into a state park or national forest, but Glacier — like Yellowstone and the rest of the country's premier public spaces — provides something that's just a cut above.

Since Yellowstone was made the country's first national park in 1872, 57 more have been set aside in America (including ones in the Virgin Islands and American Samoa). It might be a stretch to call them the 58 most beautiful, interesting or otherwise spectacular spots in America, but it isn't much of one.

How lucky are we to have one of the best in our own back yard?

— Alex Strickland