Climate action group looks at travel in Glacier Park

Improving recycling, encouraging energy conservation, and developing a carbon-neutral tourism experience are all ideas introduced at the first climate solutions project meeting.

About 35 people joined the conversation last week. Most were Whitefish residents, but others represented Flathead Valley businesses and Glacier National Park.

Whitefish climate activist Steve Thompson, who has spearheaded efforts to create a climate action plan for the city, said the group is open to anyone who shares an interest in understanding local impacts related to climate change and working collaboratively on local solutions.

Thompson said the first meeting was a brain-storming session.

“We got all kinds of ideas from people,” he said. “There were a lot of people interested in different things and we’ll probably break into working groups to explore those ideas.”

Thompson said moving forward the group will likely look more at creating a city or community climate action plan similar to what has been done in other Montana communities.

Whitefish City Councilors Pam Barberis and Richard Hildner represent the city on the task force.

“The free flow of ideas was good,” Hildner said. “There was a good cross section of folks there from Whitefish and outside of Whitefish.”

Using tourism as the gateway to creating a carbon-neutral community was one of the major ideas brought forward. The goal would be, in connection with Glacier Park, to have carbon-neutral transportation and facilities. It would also serve as a promotional tool, Thompson noted, especially since Glacier Park has been an icon of climate change as glaciers in the Park are projected to continue shrinking.

“We have an opportunity with the Park and the tourism it brings in,” Thompson said. “We could be a model for solutions and encourage visitors to come experience that. The Park would be a way to provide education about climate solutions and to provide a visitor experience that was carbon-neutral.”

About a half dozen students from Whitefish High School attended the meeting. Thompson noted that they are interested in creating a cultural shift through education that gets citizens using good practices.

“We talked about encouraging people to walk instead of drive,” he said. “Getting people to turn off their lights during the day and recycling cardboard instead of tossing it.”

Thompson said some of this could be done through education and outreach.

Another idea focused on giving an annual award to builders who construct energy efficient homes, or businesses who show ways they’ve improved their operations to move toward being carbon-neutral.

One suggestion was to ensure that all the wood stoves in town are energy efficient, thus reducing the town’s carbon footprint and improving air quality. Another was to reduce water usage with landscaping designed to need less water and also replacing impervious surfaces with green landscaping that uses run-off water rather than directing it to stormwater systems.

There was a consensus from those in attendance, Thompson noted, that both the city of Whitefish and the community would benefit from performing emissions tests.

Thompson said moving forward the group will look at creating a more formal steering committee to serve in a coordinating role for the project.

“We’ll do some more brainstorming and focus more on creating a workable structure that enables many people to participate while allowing for efficient meetings and decisions,” he said.

The next meeting of the climate solutions project will be Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. at the Whitefish Community Library.