That is exactly why, in these days of amenity-driven affluence, business and community leaders are taking such a keen interest in how the park is managed. Citizen groups have, for instance, helped craft a recent reconstruction schedule for Going-to-the-Sun Road and have pushed creation of a new public transit system in Glacier.
This newly emergent relationship between locals and federal land managers now is bringing Congress to town, for a roundtable discussion on Friday morning.
“The senator is very interested in funding for parks like Glacier,” said spokesman Kevin O'Brien. “It would make sense that people would be more likely to visit a park that's well-funded and maintained.”
And more visitors, of course, mean more money that gets left behind.
Joining the senator will be Glacier's top brass, as well as Flathead Valley business leaders, tourism industry representatives, elected officials from county and city offices and economic development analysts, among others.
Also at the table will be folks from the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit outfit dedicated to protecting and enhancing the national park system. The group has long been at the forefront of the discussion about protected lands and their increasing role in propping up the broader economy.
In May 2003, NPCA condensed three independent studies into a synthesis report titled “Gateway to Glacier: The emerging economy of Flathead County.” Three years later, they did the same for Yellowstone's gateway communities.
The message of both reports was similar, and was not lost on local business leaders: Having a park nearby is a huge economic engine.
The Gateway to Glacier report, with an introduction by the then-chair of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, quantified the region's explosive growth, established the connections between that growth and the proximity of the park, and then detailed the dangers of continued urban expansion.
All of which is on the agenda for Friday's meeting between Tester and local leaders. Tester's high-profile role on the parks' subcommittee - a post held previously by former Sens. Conrad Burns and John Melcher - puts him in a position of considerable influence when it comes to parks and park budgets, O'Brien said.
The current White House budget proposal would add significantly to national park funding, helping to plug long-standing gaps in both operating budgets as well as overdue maintenance.
Although that money hasn't been delivered yet, Tester spokesman Matt McKenna said his boss is pleased with the administration's promise. McKenna said Tester also supports the “Centennial Challenge,” a National Park Service initiative aimed at fully funding the parks by 2016, the 100th birthday of NPS.
In addition to funding concerns, Tester also is engaged in resource protection for national parks, O'Brien said. The senator recently penned a letter of protest to an international energy firm, whose plans for coalbed methane development north of Glacier have drawn considerable scrutiny south of the border.
And while energy development in the Canadian Flathead is not specifically on the agenda for Friday's meeting, “I fully expect that he will be talking about drilling and mining on the north side of that international border,” O'Brien said.
The meeting, he said, is free and open to the public, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Mountain West Bank in Whitefish.
Tester in Missoula
Sen. Jon Tester will visit the Rehabilitation Institute of Montana at Community Medical Center from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Thursday to meet with wounded Montana veterans Danny Psoinos and Jared Baker. He plans to discuss their service, their injuries and their recovery. From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tester will tour Milltown Dam to discuss the future of the site. Both events are open to the public.
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