Thoughts on Interlocal news
I did not attend the pseudo Interlocal; however, folks who did reported that it was well attended – from 65 to 90 folks on the system.
Results were pretty much as I expected and I did not have to sit in front of a computer for three hours.
Some time was spent talking about the “tickets” to enter the Park for Going-to-the-Sun Road and to enter at Polebridge. Only thing new was to drop the term tickets and replace it with “vehicle registration.” A rose by any other name is still a rose, and smells the same. Same thing is true of moose turds. I’m afraid that overcrowding in the Park will continue to worsen and we will likely see more restrictions in the future. We cannot blame the Park Service for that but we will be able to tease them about their blunders. They still think upper echelon folks in Washington D.C. know better than folks on the ground in Glacier and I don’t see that changing.
What will change the quickest in my opinion is the use of National Forest land. As Glacier imposes more and more restrictions I’ll bet the Forest Service will be forced to do the same. They have already kicked The River Review down the road again. This three year, $90,000 study got more funding and I think it is now in its fifth year.
Already you get to pay at established campgrounds not only to stay overnight, but to picnic or just drive in and launch a boat. I can foresee closing the Flathead Forest side of the River to camping – just like Glacier Park has already done. It will be interesting to see what happens to open camping in the National Forest but with more and more people I suspect something will need to be done to limit folks in the woods – especially when fire danger is high.
On the private side, increased short term rentals will also need to be addressed, not just because of the number of additional recreationalists, but to control human waste and garbage.
On a positive note, wild sheep – two rams and two ewes – were reported seen on the North Fork. I knew this several weeks ago and did not report it but since it was reported at the Interlocal I guess the word is out. Now the only missing large wildlife are mountain goats which were last seen on the North Fork shortly after WWII. They were killed by poachers and none have been seen since.
The Flap grant to improve the upper North Fork Road and access to Glacier at Polebridge has also been delayed. I’m sure Don Sullivan and the McDonoughs are not happy about that but it doesn’t bother me since my cabin is south of Trail Creek Road.
It is still winter on the North Fork. I estimated about three feet of snow at Trail Creek and the road is mostly snow packed or icy.