{"id":897,"date":"2020-09-21T10:50:42","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T15:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=897"},"modified":"2020-09-21T10:50:42","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T15:50:42","slug":"montana-free-press-popular-national-park-deals-with-covid-19-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/09\/21\/montana-free-press-popular-national-park-deals-with-covid-19-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Popular national park deals with COVID-19 challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\"glaciernationalpark\"
Visitors to Glacier National Park walk on the Hidden Lake Trail at Logan Pass on Labor Day Weekend, 2020. Photo by Justin Franz \/ Montana Free Press<\/figcaption>\r\n
\u2018A summer like no other\u2019<\/div>\r\n
While visitation is down, Glacier National Park faced unprecedented gridlock after the Blackfeet Nation closed the park’s eastern boundary. Officials say the season offers lessons for the future.<\/div>\r\n
Monday, September 21, 2020<\/div>\r\n
By Justin Franz<\/div>\r\n
Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n
montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\nWhile summer officially starts on June 20, most people in northwest Montana would say it doesn\u2019t really begin until Glacier National Park\u2019s Going-to-the-Sun Road is open. When the 50-mile alpine highway through the park did finally open on the morning of July 13, \r\nthe parking lot at Logan Pass was nearly full at 5:30 a.m.<\/a>, a stark sign that this was not going to be a normal summer in the beloved national park.\u00a0\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\nManaging a national park that attracts more than 3 million people annually from around the world is never an easy task, and it was even harder during a global pandemic that has upended normal life and \r\nsparked renewed interest in outdoor recreation<\/a>, said Superintendent Jeff Mow.\u00a0\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\u201cThis has been a summer like no other, and I hope it stays that way,\u201d Mow said, adding that the summer of 2020 could provide lessons for the future as the park faces ever-increasing visitation.\u00a0

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\nGlacier \r\nclosed in late March<\/a>\r\nas COVID-19 cases began to increase in Montana and nationwide. \r\nWhen it reopened to the public on June 8<\/a>, one of Mow\u2019s top priorities was to make sure the Sun Road, a major tourism draw, was plowed and open to traffic. But the Blackfeet Nation threw a curveball at that plan in late June when \r\nit announced it would close its border to the park<\/a>\r\nfor the remainder of the summer, cutting off access to popular areas like Many Glacier and Two Medicine Valley, essentially closing half the park.\u00a0\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\nMow said the tribe\u2019s decision to close the eastern border was a \u201csurprise.\u201d Park staff had to change gears and figure out how to do something that had never been done before: open and operate the Sun Road from only one end. On July 13, the road opened from West Glacier to Rising Sun (about 6 miles west of the eastern boundary), where cars were turned around. Adding to the challenge of keeping traffic moving through the park was the fact that there were no public shuttles or Red Bus tours, both of which were canceled due to the impossibility of keeping people socially distant on those vehicles. In July and August, it wasn\u2019t unusual for park officials to restrict access to the Sun Road and other areas as tens of thousands of people descended on a partially closed park. There was only one campground open in the entire park during those two months \u2014 Fish Creek Campground, with 178 campsites \u2014 and all visitor centers were closed.\u00a0

<\/p>\r\n

Tourism-dependent businesses say their location on the Blackfeet Nation makes them uniquely vulnerable to the economic impacts of the #Coronavirus<\/a>. They are asking the state of #Montana<\/a> for assistance. #COVID19<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/3WweGhkSos<\/a><\/p>— indianz.com (@indianz) August 19, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>