Park fees and priorities

Glacier National Park’s planned fee increase is estimated to bring in $500,000.

I support the concept of fee for services provided for the public. Recent press releases by Glacier Park express the need for additional funding for the shuttle buses, toilet facilities, boat inspection and ramp upkeep. There are certainly more maintenance areas in need of more funding.

This past fall, the pit toilets at the Logan Pass Visitor Center had a stench that never should have be allowed. Is there no budgeting for toilet inspection on a regular basis?

An earlier press release from GNP was on the plan to allocate the massive sum of $700,000 for lake trout management in two lakes in the North Fork drainage that are utilized by a tiny fraction of Park visitors.

The public priorities should be on sanitation, transportation and upkeep of commonly used facilities. Park management requests an increase for seven-day passes, a fee for boats and a 71 percent increase for a season pass. The resulting $500,000 is exactly 71 percent of the $700,000 already budgeted for the biologists.

Does Glacier Park need a fee increase or a reevaluation of priorities?

Fred Christian

Columbia Falls