Sun Road corridor meetings kick off

There is a push by the National Park Service to get more people in the woods — out of their cars and on the trails. To that end, Glacier National Park has succeeded beyond expectations, as visitor use on trails along Going-to-the-Sun Road has surged.

Trails like the Avalanche Lake and Highline trails and the trails to St. Mary and Virginia falls see so many visitors the tread is often packed hard like pavement.

Now Park officials are looking for ways to ratchet down its own success a bit — or at least mitigate it — as it formulates a new Sun Road corridor management plan. The plan seeks to strike a balance between preserving the natural beauty of the Park and maintaining visitor use, but that could be a difficult task.

At the heart of the issue is the Park’s free shuttle service. Begun in 2007, the shuttle service was intended to help reduce vehicle traffic during reconstruction of the Sun Road. In its first year, the shuttle service reduced traffic by 15 to 20 percent.

Use of the shuttle system has evolved and is still a popular way to travel the Sun Road. In 2012, about 138,000 people used the shuttle, an increase of 61 percent over 2008 and about 6 percent of all visitors to the Park.

What Park officials are finding out is the shuttle is being used to facilitate hikes, and that creates some problems. It means more people on trails and more cars sitting in scarce parking spots for much of the day.

The Park estimates 84 percent of hikers on the Highline Trail in 2009 left a vehicle at either The Loop or Logan Pass and used the free shuttle to return at the end of the hike.

Park officials say more and more cars are parked at Logan Pass all day long — as many as 50 a day — and use of the Highline Trail has surged. About 15,000 people hiked the trail in 2011. The shuttle also helps hikers on the Gunsight Pass and Siyeh Pass trails.

A Park study found that 31 percent of hikers in the Sun Road corridor leave a car parked along the road and then use the shuttle.

With that many people on a trail over the course of a summer, there are bound to be problems. A big one is human waste. Some places along the Highline Trail resemble latrines, much to the chagrin of Park officials. The only outhouse along the route is at Granite Park — 7.6 miles from Logan Pass.

Park officials also are worried about impacts to wildlife, including goats and sheep that often use the trail. A goat study at Logan Pass will begin this summer, and data from the study will be incorporated into the plan.

There are also concerns about noise from helicopters and motorcycles. More than 50 percent of surveyed hikers said non-natural sounds reduced the quality of their experience.

There are also financial issues. The buses are six years old and showing their age, and it could cost from $4 million and $6 million to replace them. The Park partners with Flathead County Eagle transportation to operate the fleet inside the Park. When they’re not in use in the Park, the county uses some of the buses for local routes in the winter months.

The public has started to weigh in on these issues during public scoping meetings. Some want to see the free shuttle expanded, not contracted. Others want the Park to do something about noise.

One suggested that a person should have to buy a special permit to park at Logan Pass. Others suggested it would be better if motorists knew the lot was full before they drove to the pass. One suggested relocating the Avalanche Creek Campground so the site could be used for parking.

Some comments suggested wildlife should come first — the Park should find out what’s happening to goats and sheep before it makes any decisions.

The Park will continue to take public comments through the summer, and more meetings will be held inside the Park to get visitor reaction from across the U.S. Meetings are planned for July 19 and Aug. 9 at the Apgar Transit Center and the St. Mary and Logan Pass visitor centers. The Apgar meetings will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The St. Mary and Logan Pass meetings will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Comments can be submitted online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=47660.