Glacier Park not studying North Fork pollution

In March of this year, this paper printed a guest column by me that was titled “Park visitors aren’t welcome.”

Well, more evidence was expressed at this year’s summer interlocal meeting (check columnist Larry Wilson’s column, which ends with “what do you think?”)

A high-ranking Park Service employee told the gathering that people have asked whether the Park would be putting in more parking spaces at Bowman Lake. He proceeded to say, “If we put in more parking spaces, more people will come.” New Park superintendent Jeff Mow sat there and said nothing.

This same employee promised that the road to Bowman would be graded in the next few weeks, and that Park employees would cut back the growth on sharp turns to avoid accidents. It’s almost September, and neither has happened.

FYI — the Inside North Fork Road will not be opened again this year? Check the traffic report at https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Park%20YTD%20Version%201?Park=GLAC and you will learn that through the end of July this year that 31,674 people had passed through the Polebridge entrance — an increase year-to-date of 16 percent compared to the same time last year, in spite of the fact that the Park refused to put in a few more parking spaces.

The same Web site reports that the number of people who passed through the Camas entrance to the Park totaled 54,180 — an increase of 26 percent compared to the same time last year.

Last October, the Daily Inter Lake ran an editorial that was titled “Air monitoring may be overdue.” Nine months later, still no monitoring from the Park.

Question: With this huge increase in traffic, how much more dust from the unpaved north fork road is landing on the glaciers resulting in an increase of snow melt? The Park doesn’t care to find out the answer.

How much more air pollution is being generated? Ask new superintendent Mow. He can’t or won’t answer.  

They can afford goat studies, dark skies initiatives and noise studies, but they (or their private fundraising arms, like the National Park Conservation Association) can’t find the money to study air pollution on the west side of the Park.

A big thank you to new superintendent Mow, who promised to protect the Crown of the Continent. Not.

Joe Novak lives up the North Fork.