Helicopters intrude on Park's wild places

When people think of Glacier National Park, they often picture rugged and austere mountains, milky-blue lakes, grizzly bears, and one of our last true wild places in the lower 48.

Unfortunately, as an ex-backcountry ranger in Glacier Park and someone who has spent the last decade of his life bushwhacking around the backcountry and climbing mountains there, this idealistic image faded quickly for me. This was almost solely due to the constant presence of illegally low helicopter flights. By law, aircraft must fly higher than 2,000 feet above ground level.

Unfortunately again, I have witnessed hundreds of helicopters buzzing below this elevation. On many occasions, I have even looked down from ridges and peaks on helicopters. Other times, I could have hit them with a slingshot. They were that close.

Once even, I was in the backcountry at a spot that is as far away from a trail as I can find on the Park map - as remote as possible - and here came a helicopter over a saddle and only hundreds of feet above my head. This completely erased the wild experience I was seeking.

Sadly, I have talked to lots of visitors who have had the same diminished experience, too. I just recently met a stranger in Seattle who loves Glacier Park and who immediately asked, "What's up with all the low-flying helicopters?" She, too, was upset.

If you have witnessed this illegal activity, please call and report it to Park authorities. Why should this wild landscape be reduced to two dimensions?

Matt Holloway lives in Columbia Falls.