New Glacier superintendent has been hitting the trails

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

In his first two months at the helm of Glacier National Park Chas Cartwright has made it a point to put some miles on.

Not in a government-issued rig, either, but by foot. He said he tries to get out and hike at least once during the week and both weekend days.

In fact, Cartwright has probably hiked more miles in Glacier than any superintendent in the past 10 years. He loves it.

"I feel real lucky to be here," he said in an interview on Monday.

He's done the popular trails like the Highline, for example, but more obscure hikes as well. Including a recent jaunt to Porcupine Lookout in the north end of Glacier.

Of course, a big destination Park like Glacier does have its fair share of challenges, from a fledgling transit system to an overhaul of the Going-to-the-Sun Road to tight budgets. Glacier goes from being a relatively quiet place eight months of the year to a city of sorts in the summer. About 2 million people visit the Park each year; roughly 1.7 million of them come from May to September.

Cartwright said that as superintendent his focus is on the basics and his management philosophy is to be as light on the land as possible.

In the case of the ongoing Sun Road reconstruction, the Park's focus is the alpine sections of the highway — getting sections repaired and rehabilitated where they need it the most.

But Cartwright notes that a road pinned to the side of a mountain will also need repairs.

"I don't think it's ever going to stop needing attention," he said.

Another road that will see attention soon is the Inside North Fork Road. The road is the oldest in the Park, but it's also probably the least traveled. It's been closed this summer because a slump south of the Howe Lake trailhead has washed away a section of the road. He said crews were going to work on a temporary fix to get it open this summer and the long-range plan was to find a funding source to permanently fix the slump. The slump formed in 2007 and was closed part of last summer as well.

Cartwright wouldn't say where the funding to fix permanently fix the road would come from.

He also said the timing was bad to begin work on a new visitor center. There had been talk in previous years about building a center by the Park's centennial next to the Apgar Transit Center.

Cartwright admits that the current visitor center in Apgar — a remodeled house — isn't ideal. But advocating a new high-dollar visitor center in Glacier right now isn't prudent. He recalled a similar project in Shenandoah Park, where he was superintendent prior to coming to Glacier. The Park built a multi-million dollar center, but didn't have the funds to operate it.

In short, a new visitor center in Glacier isn't high on the priority list.

"We need basic things more," he said.

CARTWRIGHT SAID the Park would look outside its borders as well. Glacier is seeing possible threats to its water quality by coal mining and coal bed methane development in the Canadian Flathead River drainage, which flows into the U.S. and forms the western boundary of the Park as the North Fork of the Flathead.

"There is consensus (the region) needs to be protected," he said. He said the threat of mines "concerns the Park greatly."

Another challenge facing the National Park Service, and not just Glacier, is attracting families with children and engaging children in the natural world. It can be a tough sell in the age of video games, iPods and cell phones.

"We're trying hard to come up with family-friendly programming," Cartwright noted. Glacier has the junior ranger program and a host of educational programs through the Glacier Institute and the Park's interpretative staff.

But competition for leisure time is high. The Park's transit system, actually seems to be helping. This year it seems like more families with children are visiting Glacier. With higher gas prices families are choosing less expensive vacations and when they get here, are using the Park's free shuttle system to get around. Cartwright surmised that with higher gas prices, folks that live in the region are choosing places like Glacier for vacations rather than far-flung and expensive destinations.

The transit system has some challenges, Cartwright admits. The Park raised its entrance fees to pay for the system — about $7.50 of each entrance fee payment goes toward the shuttle operation.

The challenge this year is to have the buses running on time so folks aren't experiencing long delays. Buses can and do break down, and the Park is still trying to find balance between the service it can provide and what it can afford.

This year the Park trimmed back the hours the shuttle runs. In its first year it ran until 9:30 p.m. This year it runs until 7 p.m.

Another challenge that continually faces the Park is private landowners in Glacier. While the vast majority of inholders are stewards of the land and respect the Park, not all hold the same values.

He said the key was to build good relationships whenever possible or at the very least, create a relationship where "at least you understand each other."

Another thrust as of late is to formally recognize wilderness designations in the Park. While much of Glacier is managed as de facto wilderness as set out in its general management plan, it is not designated wilderness as such.

Cartwright said if the park is to pursue such a designation, it needs to have open discussions with its neighbors, including the Forest Service and the Blackfeet Tribe as well as the general public.

"It's the only way to do business," he said. Though he added the areas that would become wilderness "richly deserve it."