Logan Pass could get much greener

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

Logan Pass in Glacier National Park could get decidedly greener in the coming years if the Park's new plans for power and bathrooms at the visitor center are put in place.

Right now the Logan Pass visitor center has flush toilets and is powered by aging and inefficient propane generators, notes Jim Foster, the Park's deputy chief of facility management.

The Park's plan would do away with the flush toilets and the Park would build modern vault toilets on disturbed ground that is already a driveway.

The vault toilets would be housed in one building, but would have individual doors and easier access, affording privacy.

In all, the building would have 24 toilets. Right now, the flush toilets at Logan Pass drain into holding tanks. Those tanks have to be pumped out three to four times a day, depending on the amount of traffic at Logan Pass.

The waste is then hauled down the Park's sewage treatment plant near Apgar.

With the vault design, the Park expects they'll have to pump out the toilets less often because they don't use water. That should reduce truck traffic up and down the Sun Highway.

In addition, the Park will likely install a small hydroelectric generator to power the visitor center, though it is looking at fuel cells and wind as well. Hydroelectric has distinct advantages, however.

The center already uses a gravity feed system that takes water from nearby mountains to supply drinking fountains and bathrooms.

That water can also be run through a turbine which would provide free and clean power to the center. Once through the turbines, the water would then flow back into the drainage where it started, Foster noted.

The Park is also looking at improving the shuttle stop area at Logan Pass. The parking lot would not be expanded, but changes would be made so folks riding the shuttle can get on and off easier. No parking spaces would be lost in the reconfiguration.

The shuttle also was the impetus for improving the toilets. With increased traffic to the pass, the toilets were being used more.

The Park is currently taking public comment on the ideas and is preparing an environmental assessment on the plans. Comments are due by April 14. Comments can be provided directly through the Park's planning Web site: parkplanning.nps.gov/parkHome.cfm?parkId=61 by selecting this project, or write to: Superintendent, Glacier National Park, Attn: Logan Pass EA, West Glacier, MT 59936.