Coalition pushes for flight ban over Glacier Park

Back in 1998, Glacier National Park’s General Management Plan called for working with the Federal Aviation Administration on a plan that would include “a phaseout of commercial” air tours over Glacier National Park.

Not only has that plan never been implemented, air tours over the park have increased over the years, to the point where tours on a bright summer day sometimes take off every half hour near West Glacier.

When Superintendent Jeff Mow was sworn in during a ceremony at the Park’s west side visitor center, the regional superintendent’s opening remarks were drowned out by a helicopter buzzing overhead.

Now a coalition of groups calling itself Quiet! Glacier Coalition has formed with the hope of banning commercial flights over Glacier. They claim the time is right, considering it’s the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

In an open letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, 13 groups supporting overflight reform — including the National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, the Swan View Coalition and North Fork Preservation Association — made their case:

“Glacier National Park has been under attack from serious pollutants for decades. The loss of glacial ice to global air pollution, for instance, is well documented. But the assault by noise pollution has been flying under the radar, and is contributing to the demise of Glacier Park’s heritage of wild nature and resilience, protected for all people of the world to discover.

“Glacier’s solitude has been shattered by hundreds of helicopter overflights, and the incessant noise pollution endured by wildlife and visitors is destroying what Glacier stands for – the pinnacle of natural beauty and tranquility. This is a pollution issue, not an aviation issue.”

The groups say that laws on the books, including the National Air Tours Management Act of 2000 that allows air tours to be phased out over national parks, aren’t being followed.

Glacier, according to Federal Aviation Administration reports obtained by the coalition, has more than 500 flights per month during the peak season.

That’s about 17 flights a day. Those figures may even be under-reported, according to Mary McClelland, who is heading up the effort.

McClelland, a biologist by trade, grew up in West Glacier and is a frequent visitor to the park. Her father, Riley McClelland, is a retired Glacier Park biologist.

Glacier Heli-tours, the main tour operator over Glacier, declined to comment.

Jim Kruger, who owns Kruger helicopter tours, has been flying Glacier Park tours since 1980 and flew for the Park Service starting back in 1970.

He has heard the arguments before and isn’t impressed.

“When they ban Harleys [motorcycles], then I’ll talk to them,” he said. “Fifteen seconds after I’m gone you’ll never know I’m there.”

He noted that motorcycles, whose sounds reverberate through the park as they cruise up the road, are almost a constant noise.

The helicopter tour operators say they also provide an opportunity for elderly people and people with disabilities who otherwise would be denied access to most of the park.

“They have as much of a right to see it as anybody else,” Kruger said.

Tour operators say their pilots also provide quick aid in search-and-rescue missions and help spotting and fighting wildfires.

The coalition has started an online petition and also plans an on-the-ground effort in the West Glacier area this summer.

McClelland said there have been successful efforts to ban commercial air tours in other national parks, most notably Rocky Mountain National Park.

In 1998, led by the League of Women Voters of Estes Park, Congress enacted a permanent ban on commercial air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park. But Rocky Mountain is the only national park in the western United States that has such a ban.

Glacier Park officials note they have no jurisdiction over their skies — the FAA does. A ban, said park spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald, would need Congressional approval.

The coalition’s Glacier petition is located at: www.change.org/p/u-s-secretary-of-interior-sally-jewell-quiet-glacier-national-park-restore-the-natural-soundscape.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story