Sun Road work remains a priority says superintendent
With more than 550 structures, 725 miles of trails and one of America's most famous roads to maintain and rehabilitate, Glacier National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwirght must make some hard choices.
One is easy, he said: Continue to repair the Going-to-the-Sun Road, especially the high-altitude stretches, with minimal waits for summertime traffic.
"The latest total for road work is $180 million. Is it worth it? Yeah, it's worth it," he said. "We'll get the high-elevation stretches to maintenance mode in five to 10 years, provided we have funding, but I'm making no promises."
The alpine section runs from the Loop, 25 miles from the West entrance, to Rising Sun, six miles from the St. Mary entrance.
Traffic delays along the entire road next summer might total up to 40 minutes, he said.
The Sun Road is the only pavement in America with three specific designations: a National Civil Engineering Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and a listing on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Another decision Cartwright has made may be much harder for some to accept: The long-neglected trail leading to Heaven's Peak Lookout, one of the most architecturally distinct and scenic but inaccessible spots in the million-acre park, will not be rehabilitated.
"Rehabilitation of the trail would cost an estimated $75,000 to $200,000," he said. "Stabilizing the building will cost $35,000 to $40,000. The rationale for the lookout is distinctive, and the story so compelling, because it was built by Amish Mennonites who were conscientious objectors to World War II. Stabilizing that building is worth doing but without the trail."
Part of the old trail runs through a fire zone, "and there's been problems with erosion," he said. "We're not going to build a trail through a burn."
The trail would lead hikers through grizzly habitat, "and there's no way we're going to do that," he said.
Jim Swab, a board member of Glacier Associates, one of the park's four non-profit associates, said Cartwright is missing an opportunity.
"With the park centennial next year, it would be an achievement to build it," Swab said. "It's a golden opportunity, but I don't think he's taking into account the number of volunteers who would work on the trail and lower the cost."
Cartwright said he tells anyone who wants the trail to bushwhack their way up to the site instead. "You can get there," he said, "but you have to really want to get there."
BESIDES the Sun Road, Cartwright is giving a lot of thought to changing conditions in the park.
"There's a lot less water coming off the mountain," he said, referring to the park's shrinking glaciers. "How will the vegetation pattern change? What will be the impact on wlidfires, and what we call charismatic megafauna? What are we going to do about it? On the ground, the changes are obvious, and it's worth intervening. The fire regimes will be more intense, and larger. These changes are happening right now."
In an effort to connect with the public and his employees, Cartwright hikes and skis in the park once every two weeks. But he steers clear of politics.
"I don't want to debate whether global warming is man-caused or not," he said. "It's not our job to convert people to a certain way of thinking. It's to communicate the story of the park."
Glacier National Park Centennial Program highlights
Dec. 31
Belton Centennial New Year's Eve Celebration
Belton Chalet, West Glacier
2010
May 21
Spring for Glacier
Belton Chalet and Lake McDonald Lodge
West Glacier and Glacier National Park
June 10
Glacier Centennial Film Festival
Columbia Falls High School
June 25
Centennial Poetry Reading at the Belton Chalet, West Glacier
June 26-29
Western Governors' Association Conference
Whitefish and Glacier National Park
June 27
Belton Chalet Centennial Birthday Party
Belton Chalet, West Glacier
July 8
Glacier Centennial Film Festival
Lake McDonald Lodge, Glacier National Park
July 20-26
Glacier Mountaineering Society Centennial Summit
Glacier National Park
July 22-25
Centennial Heritage Days
Joe Cosley Collection Unveiling (July 24)
Columbia Falls
July 29-August 1
Many Glacier Employee Reunion
Glacier National Park
July 30-August 2-3
Centennial Roadshow Hootenanny
Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier Park Lodge and Lake McDonald Lodge
Glacier National Park
August 11-16 and 18-23
Glacier Grand Heritage Tours
Glacier National Park
August 12
Glacier Centennial Film Festival
St. Mary Visit Center, Glacier National park
August 20-22
Glacier National Park Trail Crew Rendezvous
Glacier National Park
August 22
Annual National Park Service Employee and Alumni Picnic
Glacier National Park
September 5
Belton Centennial Employee Reunion
Belton Chalet, West Glacier