Filmmaker looks to complete documentary

After a three-year hiatus, a filmmaker is hoping to finish a documentary on Glacier National Park history and the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Jack Hubbell began work on “Glacier National Park: Crown of the Continent” in 2009, but his wife Rebecca was stricken with cancer. She accompanied Hubbell on most of his shoots in the Park and passed away in 2012. After that, Hubbell shelved the project for a couple of years.

“It was too personal,” he said.

But a few weeks ago, Hubbell decided to finish the film.

“I decided I would do it and dedicate it to her,” he said.

Hubbell is no stranger to documentary filmmaking. The award-winning producer completed a three-part series on the history of Yellowstone National Park that was broadcasted on PBS stations across the country. He’s made several other documentaries and has won three Emmy Awards for his work.

His new documentary details the history of Glacier Park, including events leading up to its becoming a national park in 1910, construction of the Sun Road, climate change and ongoing disputes between the Blackfeet and the National Park Service.

Hubbell’s film includes interviews with several locals, including former Park worker Bill Dakin, former lodge manager Ian Tippets, U.S. Geological Service scientist Daniel Fagre, Park interpretative ranger Bill Schustrom, Hungry Horse News columnist Larry Wilson, Blackfeet tribal members Joe McCay and Ed DesRosier, and even a descendent of George Bird Grinnell, who is credited with promoting the Park’s creation around 1900 and with coining the phrase “Crown Of The Continent.”

Hubbell said Montana PBS has already bought the rights to the film once its finished. He’s started a crowdfunding campaign to raise $28,000 to finish the final editing and production. The documentary will air on Montana PBS and other PBS stations across the country next fall.

Anyone wanting to support Hubbell’s film project can donate at www.indiegogo.com/projects/glacier-national-park-crown-of-the-continent.