Glacier National Park Fund and Glacier Association merger

The Glacier National Park Fund and the Glacier Association formally announced last week they will merge into one non-profit entity to raise money for Park projects.

The two groups have been in merger talks for the past two years. The new organization will operate as the Glacier National Park Conservancy. The Park’s two other nonprofit partners, Glacier Institute and the Glacier Park Associates, will remain separate entities.

The Glacier Association, formerly the Glacier Natural History Association, runs all the book stores in the Park and as well as several book stores on two national forests in Montana, at the National Bison Range, at Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site and at the Big Hole National Battlefield. Under the merger, those bookstores will still be served.

Glacier National Park Fund executive director Jane Ratzlaff said no permanent full-time jobs will be cut as a result of the merger, but there will be fundraising efficiencies from the new organization, including cost savings in bookkeeping, auditing and other areas.

“We need to be as lean and mean and get as much money to Glacier as we can,” Ratzlaff said.

She said the idea of the merger was brought at the request of the Park Service. One reason was to create a more efficient organization; the other was to reduce confusion.

When there were four nonprofits serving the Park, donors sometimes became confused on who or what organization they were supporting, she said. The new organization will merge boards and conduct a search for a new director, Ratzlaff said.

The Glacier National Park Fund has raised about $3.5 million for Park projects since it was formed in 1999 and looks to top the $4 million mark by the end of this year.