Glacier superintendent receives award

Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow has received an award for outstanding stewardship of public lands.

The Public Lands Alliance, a national association of public land-related nonprofits, recognizes several efforts, groups, and individuals for their conservation work each year. Its Agency Leadership Award “recognizes a public land management agency employee for outstanding accomplishments in championing, cultivating and leading partnerships.”

Mow received the award at the group’s annual convention in Palm Springs, Calif. recently.

“I’m honored to receive this award and accept it on behalf of all of the staff at Glacier National Park, and our committed park partners who make our work possible,” he said.

Mow has held this post since 2013. In a press release, the Glacier National Park Conservancy commended him for placing “an emphasis on the importance of community and nonprofit partner collaboration in the face of increasing park visitation, invasive species, dwindling budgets and climate change.”

These challenges have loomed especially large over the past two years, which saw record visitors, a higher-than-ever risk of invasive zebra and quagga mussels, and massive fires that swept through the park and gutted Sperry Chalet.

Conservancy Executive Director Doug Mitchell said that Mow’s leadership – in particular, his partnership with the Conservancy – has helped the park withstand these problems. “The collaborative nature of our partnership has allowed the Conservancy to better demonstrate Glacier’s highest priority needs to donors, dramatically increasing funding to the park by more than 400 percent over the last four years.”

The Public Lands Alliance also presented the award Marty Hornick, Forest Supervisor of California’s Inyo National Forest.