Glacier Park is ignoring air pollution

The Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies has documented the fact that dust landing on snow packs “significantly” increases the rate of melting.

Based on published reports, we can expect more dust to land on the glaciers in Glacier National Park this year — because there will be no dust abatement on the North Fork Road this summer.

Since the Park has chosen not to monitor air pollution on its western boundary, they can’t tell us how much dust lands in a normal year, let alone how much of an increase there will be this year.

A study done several years ago by a researcher from the University of Montana’s Center for Environmental Health Sciences showed that the dust coming off the road that summer exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s ambient air quality standards.

The threat from dust is real and proven. Park officials ignore this fact while blaming global warming as the main reason the glaciers are melting. Many in the science community disagree.

A newspaper editorial last year said it was time that the park monitored air pollution. It was met with silence by Park officials.

GNP can find money for goat studies at Logan Pass (if found that goats are stressed from traffic, will the Park close the Going-to-the-Sun Road?) and money for their dark skies initiatives, but cannot find money to monitor air pollution and where it is coming from.

Maybe they and their environmental friends may not like what they find out. So much for their so called commitment to protect the crown of the continent.

Joe Novak

Polebridge