A year of significant changes for Glacier Park

Three Glacier National Park leaders described a year of big changes ahead for a gathering at the Moose Lodge in Whitefish hosted by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 6.

Park superintendent Jeff Mow said one of the biggest changes this year will be integrating a new general concessions contractor and working with a newly-formed philanthropic partner, the Glacier National Park Conservancy.

“I’m very big on being collaborative,” Mow said. “There’s a lot that the National Park Service can’t do in a national park. It really takes a team.”

The Park’s visitor information services will be moved from a small building in Apgar Village to the transit center at the T-intersection near the West Entrance. Mow said that should be a more convenient location, and the transit center could accommodate exhibits and other interpretive information in the future.

Work on a Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor study this year will examine how the cross-Park highway is used and how it could be managed in the future. Mow said alternative proposals could be put out for initial public review by this fall.

Xanterra Parks and Resorts’ general manager for Glacier Park, Marc Ducharme, said he’s largely occupied with acquiring buildings for the company’s administrative and laundry operations in Columbia Falls.

The company also plans to build a state-of-the-art facility in Columbia Falls to maintain and store Glacier Park’s 33 historic red touring buses, which for years were stored in East Glacier during the off season.

Ducharme said Xanterra currently has 35 full-time employees for its Glacier Park operations. He expects that number to increase to about 65 once facilities are established in Columbia Falls.

“I haven’t pulled the trigger on any of it yet, and May is fast approaching,” he said.

Ducharme said he’s optimistic Xanterra will soon have its local operations established. The company continues to hire for full-time positions and has started recruitment for about 600 seasonal workers.

That effort will begin locally and then go regional, national and international. Next week, the company will recruit in Europe and Asia with hopes of hiring 80 to 100 seasonal workers.

Glacier National Park Conservancy executive director Mark Preiss explained to the gathering how GNPC formed from the merger of the Glacier National Park Fund and Glacier Park Associates. The merger last year came after 18 months of negotiations between the two organizations’ boards, guided by former Park superintendent Chas Cartwright.

“I inherited all the good energy that came from that merger,” he said.

In the past, the Glacier National Park Fund financially supported Glacier Park through a “transactional relationship” typically focused on one-time-only projects. Now there is a growing emphasis on supporting the Park in a more long-term manner, Preiss said.

GNPC and Park staff recently developed for the first time “an integrated strategic plan” for Glacier Park with the goal of providing a “margin of excellence” for Park visitors that the National Park Service cannot do on its own, Preiss said.

While nonprofit Park partners don’t build sewer treatment plants or other basic infrastructure, they can do things to help improve visitor experiences, Preiss said.

GNPC also has ambitious fundraising plans. Last year, the group provided $500,000 in support to Glacier Park. This year, GNPC expects it will provide $800,000. The group’s main summer fundraiser generated $100,000 last year, Preiss said, and this year’s event — the Backpacker’s Ball, scheduled for Aug. 2 — is expected to exceed that amount.