Glacier could see nearly $6 million in projects

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

Montana Sen. Jon Tester was in Whitefish last week to talk about Glacier National Park and park funding, and he brought some good news with him.

Glacier could see about $5.78 million in new projects and funding through the new Park Service Centennial Initiative, which blends public and private funding to get projects done in national parks.

Glacier submitted 26 proposals and four of them were approved in the first round. There's a caveat, however. While the project have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior, Congress has yet to fund the program.

But if funding does come through, here's a list of projects Glacier could see fairly soon:

? $5 million toward a handicapped-accessible and environmental education support facility and new dorms for employees at Lake McDonald Lodge. Under this plan, several dorms being used by employees would be replaced with a new building that would be near Jammer Joe's restaurant. Glacier Park Inc., the concessionaire, would kick in $2.5 million to build the new dorm and recreation center.

The rest of the project would use Park Service funds to convert the current employee recreation center, which is next to the auditorium, into an education center at the lodge. The old dorms would be removed and used for parking. The buildings, though not in the historic district per se, would conform with the historic architecture. The dorm project could begin as early as next fall. The new dorms are written into the Park's commercial services plan.

? A celebration of Glacier Park's Centennial. This $350,000 project will create a museum exhibit at the Montana Historical Society and develop an online interpretative museum exhibit as well. The Glacier National Park Fund has committed to providing half the funding.

?A volunteer stewardship program which will train, develop and recruit volunteers in all aspects of native plant restoration at six campgrounds in the Park. Half of the $80,000 project is funded by the Glacier National Park Fund.

"We are so pleased that these important projects have been certified for Centennial Challenge Matching Funds. The matching funds make philanthropic donations even more valuable to preserving Glacier's beauty and cultural heritage," Fund executive director Jane Ratzlaff said.

? The Integrated Ecosystem Management in the Crown of the Continent project would enable the 22 members of the international Crown Manager's partnership, which includes Glacier National Park, to more effectively carry out its mission to cooperate in managing the shared resources of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem and engage the public in those activities. Contributing $150,000 to the three-year $300,000 project include four partners — Parks Canada, the Alberta Ministry of Environment, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the British Columbia Ministry of Environment.

The project would allow greater cooperation and monitoring on several fronts, from invasive weeds to fisheries to water quality monitoring. The idea is to set up a portal, for example, where databases on subjects like water quality or fisheries can be easy accessed. For example, right a now a researcher looking at water quality in B.C. might not have access to water quality data in Montana, or vice versa.