.gif)
Glacier National Park (US)
Encyclopedia
While exploring the Marias River
in 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition
came within 50 miles (80 km) of the area that is now the park. A series of explorations after 1850 helped to shape the understanding of the area that later became the park. In 1885, George Bird Grinnell
hired noted explorer (and later well regarded author) James Willard Schultz
to guide him on a hunting expedition into what would later become the park. After several more trips to the region, Grinnell became so inspired by the scenery that he spent the next two decades working to establish a national park. In 1901, Grinnell wrote a description of the region, in which he referred to it as the "Crown of the Continent", and his efforts to protect the land make him the premier contributor to this cause. A few years after Grinnell first visited, Henry L. Stimson
and two companions, including a Blackfoot, climbed the steep east face of Chief Mountain
in 1892.
In 1891, the Great Northern Railway crossed the Continental Divide at Marias Pass
5213 feet (1,589 m), which is along the southern boundary of the park. In an effort to stimulate use of the railroad, the Great Northern soon advertised the splendors of the region to the public. The company lobbied the United States Congress
, and in 1897, the park was designated as a forest preserve. Under the forest designation mining was still allowed, but was not commercially successful. Meanwhile, proponents of protecting the region kept up their efforts, and in 1910, under the influence of George Bird Grinnell, Henry L. Stimson
and the railroad, a bill was introduced into the U.S. Congress which redesignated the region from a forest reserve to a national park. This bill was signed into law by President William Howard Taft
on May 11, 1910. From May until August, the forest reserve supervisor, Fremont Nathan Haines, managed the Park's resources as the first acting superintendent. In August 1910, William Logan was appointed the Park's first superintendent. While the designation of the forest reserve confirmed the traditional usage rights of the Blackfeet, the enabling legislation of the National Park does not mention the guarantees to the Native Americans. It is the position of the United States government, that with the special designation as a National Park the mountains ceded their multi-purpose public land status and the former rights ceased to exist as it was confirmed by the Court of Claims in 1935. Some Blackfeet held that their traditional usage rights still exist de jure. In the 1980s armed standoffs were avoided narrowly several times.
The Great Northern Railway, under the supervision of president Louis W. Hill, built a number of hotels and chalet
s throughout the park in the 1910s to promote tourism. These buildings, constructed and operated by a Great Northern subsidiary called the Glacier Park Company
, were modeled on Swiss architecture as part of Hill's plan to portray Glacier as "America's Switzerland". Vacationers commonly took pack trips on horseback between the lodges or utilized the seasonal stagecoach routes to gain access to the Many Glacier
area in the northeast.
The chalets, built between 1910 and 1913, included Belton
, St. Mary, Going-to-the-Sun, Many Glacier, Two Medicine, Sperry
, Granite Park
, Cut Bank, and Gunsight Lake. The railway also built Glacier Park Lodge
, adjacent to the park on its east side, and the Many Glacier Hotel
on the east shore of Swiftcurrent Lake
. Louis Hill personally selected the sites for all of these buildings, choosing each for their dramatic scenic backdrops and views. Another developer, John Lewis, built the Lewis Glacier Hotel on Lake McDonald
in 1913–1914. The Great Northern Railway bought the hotel in 1930, and it was later renamed Lake McDonald Lodge
. Some of the chalets were in remote backcountry locations accessible only by trail. Today, only Sperry, Granite Park, and Belton Chalets are still in operation, while a building formerly belonging to Two Medicine Chalet is now Two Medicine Store
. The surviving chalet and hotel buildings within the park are now designated as National Historic Landmarks. In total, 350 buildings and structures within the park are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
, including ranger stations, backcountry patrol cabins, fire lookouts, and concession facilities.
After the park was well established and visitors began to rely more on automobiles, work was begun on the 53 miles (85 km) long Going-to-the-Sun Road
, completed in 1932. Also known simply as the Sun Road, the road bisects the park and is the only route that ventures deep into the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass
, 6646 feet (2,026 m) at the midway point. The Sun Road is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1985 was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Another route, along the southern boundary between the park and National Forests
is U.S. Route 2
, which crosses the Continental Divide at Marias Pass and connects the towns of West Glacier and East Glacier
. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps
assisted in the development of many of the park's trails and campgrounds. The increase in motor vehicle traffic through the park during the 1930s also resulted in the construction of new concession facilities at Swiftcurrent
and Rising Sun
, both designed for automobile-based tourism. These early auto camps are now also listed on the National Register.
In 2011, Glacier National Park was honored on the seventh quarter in the America the Beautiful Quarters series.
Glacier National Park is managed by the National Park Service
; park headquarters is in West Glacier, Montana. Visitation to Glacier National Park averages slightly less than visitors annually, however a relative few venture far from main roadways and hotels.
Glacier National Park had an operating budget of $13,190,000 for fiscal year 2008. The 2008 budget was an increase over 2007 and was used to increase employee staffing levels, but monies for maintenance projects and road work was not forthcoming. In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the park in 2010, major reconstruction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road
is underway, and temporary road closures are expected through then. The Federal Highway Administration
is managing the reconstruction project in cooperation with the National Park Service. Some rehabilitation of major structures such as visitor centers and historic hotels, as well as improvements in wastewater treatment facilities and campgrounds, are expected to be completed by the anniversary date. Also planned are fishery studies for Lake McDonald, updates of the historical archives and restoration of trails.
The mandate of the National Park Service is to "... preserve and protect natural and cultural resources". The Organic Act
of August 25, 1916, established the National Park Service as a federal agency. One major section of the Act has often been summarized as the "Mission", "... to promote and regulate the use of the ... national parks ... which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." In keeping with this mandate, hunting is illegal in the park, as are mining
, logging
and removal of natural or cultural resources. Additionally, oil
and gas exploration
and extraction are not permitted. These restrictions, however, caused a lot of conflict with the adjoining Blackfeet Indian Reservation considering that when they sold the land to the United States government it was with the stipulation of being able to maintain their usage rights of the area, many of which (such as hunting) had come into conflict with these regulations. In 1974, a wilderness
study was submitted to Congress which identified 95% of the area of the park as qualifying for wilderness designation. Unlike a few other parks, Glacier National Park has yet to be protected as wilderness, but National Park Service policy requires that identified areas listed in the report be managed as wilderness until Congress renders a full decision. Ninety-three percent of Glacier National Park is managed as wilderness, even though it has not been officially designated.
The park is bordered on the north by Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, and the Flathead Provincial Forest and Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park
in British Columbia. To the west, the north fork of the Flathead River
forms the western boundary, while its middle fork is part of the southern boundary. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation provides most of the eastern boundary, and the Lewis and Clark
and the Flathead National Forest
s form the southern and western boundary. The remote Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex
is located in the two forests immediately to the south.
The park contains a dozen large lakes and 700 smaller ones, but only 131 lakes have been named. Lake McDonald on the western side of the park is the longest at 9.4 miles (15.1 km), the largest in area at 6823 acres (27.6 km²) and the deepest at 464 feet (141.4 m). Numerous smaller lakes, known as tarn
s, are located in cirque
s formed by glacial erosion. Some of these lakes, like Avalanche Lake and Cracker Lake
, are colored an opaque turquoise by suspended glacial silt
, which also causes a number of streams to run milky white. The lakes of Glacier National Park remain cold year round, with temperatures rarely above 50 °F (10 °C) at their surface. Cold water lakes such as these support little plankton
growth, ensuring that the lake waters are remarkably clear. The lack of plankton, however, lowers the rate of pollution filtration, and pollutants have a tendency to linger longer. Consequently, the lakes are considered environmental bellwether
s as they can be quickly affected by even minor increases in pollutants.
Two hundred waterfalls are scattered throughout the park, however, during drier times of the year, many of these are reduced to a trickle. The largest falls include those in the Two Medicine
region, McDonald Falls in the McDonald Valley and Swiftcurrent Falls in the Many Glacier
area, which is easily observable and close to the Many Glacier Hotel. One of the tallest waterfalls is Bird Woman Falls
, which drops 492 feet (150 m) from a hanging valley beneath the north slope of Mount Oberlin
.
s of the Belt Supergroup
. They were deposited in shallow seas over 1.6 billion to 800 million years ago. During the formation of the Rocky Mountains
170 million years ago one region of rocks now known as the Lewis Overthrust
was forced eastward 50 miles (80 km). This overthrust
was several miles (kilometers) thick and hundreds of miles (kilometers) long. This resulted in older rocks being displaced over newer ones, so the overlying Proterozoic
rocks are between 1.4 and 1.5 billion years older than Cretaceous
age rocks they now rest on.
One of the most dramatic evidences of this overthrust is visible in the form of Chief Mountain, an isolated peak on the edge of the eastern boundary of the park rising 2500 feet (762 m) above the Great Plains
. There are six mountains in the park over 10000 feet (3,048 m) in elevation, with Mount Cleveland
at 10466 feet (3,190 m) being the tallest. Appropriately named Triple Divide Peak
sends waters towards the Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay
, and Gulf of Mexico
watershed
s, and can effectively be considered to be the apex of the North American continent, although the mountain is only 8020 feet (2,444 m) above sea level.
The rocks in Glacier National Park are the best preserved Proterozoic sedimentary rocks in the world, and have proved to be some of the world's most fruitful sources for records of early life. Sedimentary rocks of similar age located in other regions have been greatly altered by mountain building and other metamorphic changes, and consequently fossils are less common and more difficult to observe. The rocks in the park preserve such features as millimeter-scale lamination, ripple marks, mud cracks, salt-crystal casts, raindrop impressions, oolite
s and other sedimentary bedding characteristics. Six fossilized species of Stromatolite
s, which were early organisms consisting primarily blue-green algae
, have been documented and dated at about 1 billion years. The discovery of the Appekunny Formation
, a well preserved rock stratum in the park, pushed back the established date for the origination of animal life a full billion years. This rock formation has bedding structures which are believed to be the remains of the earliest identified metazoan (animal) life on Earth.
; these glaciers have largely disappeared over the last 12,000 years. Evidence of widespread glacial action is found throughout the park in the form of U-shaped valley
s, glacial cirques, arête
s and large outflow lakes radiating like fingers from the base of the highest peaks. Since the end of the ice ages, various warming and cooling trends have occurred. The last recent cooling trend was during the Little Ice Age
which took place approximately between 1550 and 1850. During the Little Ice Age, the glaciers in the park expanded and advanced, although to nowhere near as great an extent as they had during the Ice Age.
During the middle of the 20th century, examination of the maps and photographs from the previous century provided clear evidence that the 150 glaciers known to have existed in the park a hundred years earlier had greatly retreated, and in many cases disappeared altogether. Repeat photography of the glaciers, such as the pictures taken of Grinnell Glacier
between 1938 and 2009 as shown, help to provide visual confirmation of the extent of glacier retreat.
In the 1980s, the U.S. Geological Survey began a more systematic study of the remaining glaciers, which continues to the present day. By 2010, 37 glaciers remained, but only 25 of these were considered to be "active glaciers" of at least 25 acre (0.1011715 km²) in area. Scientists generally agree that if the current climate conditions continue, most of the remaining glaciers in the park will be gone by 2030 or even as soon as 2020. This glacier retreat
follows a worldwide pattern that has accelerated even more since 1980. Without a major climatic change in which cooler and moister weather returns and persists, the mass balance
, which is the accumulation rate versus the ablation (melting) rate of glaciers, will continue to be negative and the glaciers will eventually disappear, leaving behind only barren rock.
After the end of the Little Ice Age in 1850, the glaciers in the park retreated moderately until the 1910s. Between 1917 and 1941, the retreat rate accelerated and was as high as 330 feet (100.6 m) a year for some glaciers. A slight cooling trend from the 1940s until 1979, helped to slow the rate of retreat and in a few examples some glaciers even advanced a few tens of meters. However, during the 1980s, the glaciers in the park began a steady period of loss of glacial ice, which continues as of 2010. In 1850, the glaciers in the region near Blackfoot
and Jackson Glacier
s covered 5337 acres (21.6 km²), but by 1979, the same region of the park had glacier ice covering only 1828 acres (7.4 km²). Between 1850 and 1979, 73% of the glacial ice had melted away. At the time the park was created, Jackson Glacier was part of Blackfoot Glacier, but the two have separated into two glaciers since.
The impact of glacier retreat on the park's ecosystems is not fully known, but cold water dependent plant and animal species could suffer due to a loss of habitat. Reduced seasonal melting of glacial ice may also affect stream flow during the dry summer and fall seasons, reducing water table levels and increasing the risk of forest fires. The loss of glaciers will also reduce the aesthetic visual appeal that glaciers provide to visitors.
As the park spans the Continental Divide, and has more than 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) in elevation variance, many climates and microclimate
s are found in the park. As with other alpine systems, average temperature usually drop as elevation increases. The western side of the park, in the Pacific watershed, has a milder and wetter climate. Precipitation is greatest during the winter and spring averaging 2 to 3 in (50.8 to 76.2 mm) per month. Snowfall can occur at any time of the year, even in the summer, and especially at higher altitudes. The winter can bring prolonged cold waves, especially on the eastern side of the Continental Divide. Snowfalls are significant over the course of the winter, with the largest accumulation occurring in the west. During the tourist season daytime high temperatures average 60 to 70 °F (15 to 20 °C), and nighttime lows usually drop into the 40 °F (5 °C) range. Temperatures in the high country may be much cooler. In the lower western valleys, daytime highs in the summer may reach 90 °F (32.2 °C).
Rapid temperature changes have been noted in the region, and in Browning, Montana
, which is just east of the park in the Blackfeet Reservation, a world record temperature drop of 100 °F (56 °C) in only 24 hours occurred on the night of January 23–24, 1916, when thermometers plunged from 44 to -56 °F (6.7 to -48.9 C).
Glacier National Park has a highly regarded global climate change
research program. Based in West Glacier, with its main headquarters in Bozeman, Montana
, the U.S. Geological Survey has performed scientific research on specific climate change studies since 1992. In addition to the study of the retreating glaciers, research performed includes forest modeling studies in which fire ecology and habitat alterations are analyzed. Additionally, changes in alpine vegetation patterns are documented, watershed studies in which stream flow rates and temperatures are recorded frequently at fixed gauging stations, and atmospheric research in which UV-B radiation, ozone and other atmospheric gases are analyzed over time. The research compiled contributes to a broader understanding of climate changes in the park. The data collected, when compared to other facilities scattered around the world, help to correlate these climatic changes on a global scale.
Glacier is considered to have excellent air and water quality. No major areas of dense human population exist anywhere near the region and industrial effects are minimized due to a scarcity of factories and other potential contributors of pollutants. However, the sterile and cold lakes found throughout the park are easily contaminated by airborne pollutants that fall whenever it rains or snows, and some evidence of these pollutants has been found in park waters. The pollution level is currently viewed as negligible, and the park lakes and waterways have a water quality rating of A-1, the highest rating given by the state of Montana.
Glacier is part of a large preserved ecosystem
collectively known as the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem", all of which is primarily untouched wilderness of a pristine quality. Virtually all the plants and animals which existed at the time European explorers first entered the region are present in the park today.
A total of over 1,132 plant species have been identified parkwide. The predominantly coniferous forest is home to various species of trees such as the Engelmann spruce
, Douglas fir, subalpine fir
, limber pine
and western larch
, which is a deciduous
conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall. cottonwood and aspen
are the more common deciduous trees and are found at lower elevations, usually along lakes and streams. The timberline on the eastern side of the park is almost 800 feet (244 m) lower than on the western side of the Continental Divide, due to exposure to the colder winds and weather of the Great Plains. West of the Continental Divide, the forest receives more moisture and is more protected from the winter, resulting in a more densely populated forest with taller trees. Above the forested valleys and mountain slopes, alpine tundra
conditions prevail, with grasses and small plants eking out an existence in a region that enjoys as little as three months without snow cover. Thirty species of plants are found only in the park and surrounding National Forests. Beargrass, a tall flowering plant, is commonly found near moisture sources, and is relatively widespread during July and August. Wildflowers such as monkeyflower
, glacier lily
, fireweed
, balsamroot
and Indian paintbrush
are also common.
The forested sections fall into three major climatic zones. The west and northwest are dominated by spruce and fir and the southwest by redcedar
and hemlock
; the areas east of the Continental Divide are a combination of mixed pine, spruce, fir and prairie zones. The cedar-hemlock groves along the Lake McDonald
valley are the easternmost examples of this Pacific climatic ecosystem.
Whitebark pine
communities have been heavily damaged due to the effects of blister rust
, a non native fungus. In Glacier and the surrounding region, 30% of the Whitebark pine trees have died and over 70% of the remaining trees are currently infected. The Whitebark pine provides a high fat pine cone seed, commonly known as the pine nut, that is a favorite food of red squirrel
s and Clark's Nutcracker
. Both grizzlies
and black bears
are known to raid squirrel caches of the pine nuts, and it is one of the bears' favorite foods. Between 1930 and 1970, efforts to control the spread of blister rust were unsuccessful, and continued destruction of whitebark pines appears likely, with attendant negative impacts on dependent species.
Virtually all the historically known plant and animal species, with the exception of the bison
and woodland caribou, are present, providing biologists an intact ecosystem for plant and animal research. Two threatened species
of mammals, the grizzly bear
and the Canadian lynx, are found in the park. Although their numbers remain at historical levels, both are listed as threatened because in virtually every other region of the U.S. outside of Alaska
, they are either extremely rare or absent from their historical range. On average, one or two bear attacks on humans occur each year; since the creation of the park in 1910, there have been a total of 10 bear-related deaths. The number of grizzlies and lynx in the park is not known for certain, but park biologists believed as of 2008 that there were just above 300 grizzlies in the park; a study commenced in 2001 hoped to determine the number of lynx. The exact population figures for grizzlies and the smaller black bear
are not known but biologists are using a variety of methods to try to determine an accurate population range. Another study has indicated that the wolverine
, another very rare mammal in the lower 48 states, continues to reside in the park. Other large mammals such as the mountain goat
(the official park symbol), bighorn sheep
, moose
, elk
, mule deer
, white-tailed deer
, coyote
, and the rarely seen mountain lion, are either plentiful or common. Unlike in Yellowstone National Park
, which commenced a wolf
reintroduction program in the 1990s, it is believed that wolves recolonized the park naturally during the 1980s. Sixty-two species of mammals have been documented, including badger
, river otter
, porcupine
, mink
, marten
, fisher
, six species of bat
s and numerous other smaller mammals.
A total 260 species of birds have been recorded, with raptors such as the Bald Eagle
, Golden Eagle
, Peregrine Falcon
, Osprey
and several species of hawk
s residing year round. The Harlequin Duck
is a colorful species of waterfowl found in the lakes and waterways. The Great Blue Heron
, Tundra Swan
, Canada Goose
and American Wigeon
are species of waterfowl more commonly encountered in the park. Great Horned Owl
, Clark's Nutcracker
, Steller's Jay
, Pileated Woodpecker
and Cedar Waxwing
reside in the dense forests along the mountainsides, and in the higher altitudes, the Ptarmigan
, Timberline Sparrow
and Rosy Finch
are the most likely to be seen. The Clark's Nutcracker is less plentiful than in past years due to the decline in the number of whitebark pines
.
Because of the colder climate, ectothermic reptiles are all but absent, with two species of garter snake
s and the western painted turtle
being the only three reptile species proven to exist. Similarly, only six species of amphibian
s are documented, although those species exist in large numbers. After a forest fire in 2001, a few park roads were temporarily closed the following year to allow thousands of Western toad
s to migrate to other areas.
Glacier is also home to the endangered
bull trout
, which is illegal to possess and must be returned to the water if caught inadvertently. A total of 23 species of fish reside in park waters and native game fish species found in the lakes and streams include the cutthroat trout
, northern pike
, mountain whitefish
, Kokanee salmon
and grayling
. Introduction in previous decades of lake trout
and other non-native fish species has greatly impacted some native fish populations, especially the bull trout and west slope cutthroat trout.
Forest fire
s were viewed for many decades as a threat to protected areas such as forests and parks. As a better understanding of fire ecology
developed after the 1960s, forest fires were understood to be a natural part of the ecosystem. The earlier policies of suppression resulted in the accumulation of dead and decaying trees and plants which would normally have been reduced had fires been allowed to burn. Many species of plants and animals actually need wildfires to help replenish the soil with nutrients and to open up areas that allow grasses and smaller plants to thrive.
Glacier National Park has a fire management plan which ensures that human-caused fires are generally suppressed as they always have been. In the case of natural fires, the fire is monitored and suppression is dependent on the size and threat a fire may pose to human safety and structures.
Increased population and the growth of suburban areas near parklands, has led to the development of what is known as Wildland Urban Interface Fire Management, in which the park cooperates with adjacent property owners in improving safety and fire awareness. This approach is common to many other protected areas. As part of this program, houses and structures near the park are designed to be more fire resistant. Dead and fallen trees are removed from near places of human habitation, reducing the available fuel load and the risk of a catastrophic fire, and advance warning systems are developed to help alert property owners and visitors about forest fire potentials during a given period of the year. Glacier National Park has an average of 14 fires with 5000 acres (20.2 km²) burnt each year. In 2003, 136000 acres (550.4 km²) burned in the park after a five year drought and a summer season of almost no precipitation. This was the most area transformed by fire since the creation of the park in 1910.
Glacier is distant from major cities, and the closest airport is at Kalispell, Montana
, southwest of the park. Amtrak trains stop at East and West Glacier. A fleet of restored 1930s White Motor Company
coaches, called Red jammers, offer tours on all the main roads in the park. The drivers of the buses are called "Jammers", due to the gear-jamming that formerly occurred during the vehicles' operation. The tour buses were rebuilt in 2001. The buses were rebuilt by Ford Motor Company. The bodies were removed from their original chassis and built on modern Ford E-Series van chassis. They were also converted to run on propane
, to lessen their environmental impact.
A number of historic wooden tour boats, some dating back to the 1920s, operate on several of the larger lakes. Several of these boats have been in continuous seasonal operation on the major lakes of Glacier National Park since 1927 and carry up to 80 tourists.
Hiking is a popular activity in the park. Over half of the visitors to the park report taking a hike on the park's nearly 700 miles (1,127 km) of trails. 110 miles (177 km) of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail spans most of the distance of the park north to south, with a few alternative routes at lower elevations if high altitude passes
are closed due to snow. The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail crosses the park on 52 miles (84 km) from east to west.
Due to the presence of bears and other large mammals, dogs are not permitted on any trails in the park, though they are permitted at front country campsites that can be accessed by a vehicle, and along paved roads. Anyone entering the United States over land or waterway from Canada must have an appropriate passport with them.
Numerous day hiking options are available throughout the park. Backcountry camping is allowed at campsites along the trails. A permit is required, which can be obtained from certain visitor centers or arranged for in advance. Much of Glacier's backcountry is usually inaccessible to hikers until early June due to accumulated snowpack and potential avalanche risk, and many trails at higher altitudes remain snow packed until July. The major campgrounds that allow vehicle access are found throughout the park, most of which are near one of the larger lakes. The campgrounds at St. Mary
and at Apgar are open year round, but conditions are considered primitive in the off-season, as the restroom facilities are closed and there is no running water. All campgrounds with vehicle access are usually open from mid-June until mid-September. Guide and shuttle services are also available.
Fishing is a popular activity in the park and some of the finest fly fishing
in North America can be found in the streams that flow through the park. Though the park requires that those fishing understand the regulations, no permit is required to fish the waters within the park boundary. The endangered bull trout must be released immediately back to the water if caught, otherwise, the regulations on limits of catch per day are liberal.
Winter recreation activities in Glacier are limited. Snowmobiling
is illegal throughout the park, but cross-country skiing
is permitted in the lower altitude valleys away from potential avalanche zones.
Marias River
The Marias River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 210 mi long, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is formed in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Glacier County, in northwestern Montana, by the confluence of the Cut Bank Creek and the Two Medicine River...
in 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
came within 50 miles (80 km) of the area that is now the park. A series of explorations after 1850 helped to shape the understanding of the area that later became the park. In 1885, George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880. Originally specializing in zoology, he became a prominent early conservationist and student...
hired noted explorer (and later well regarded author) James Willard Schultz
James Willard Schultz
James Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, was a noted author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfoot Indians. While operating a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana and living amongst the Pikuni tribe during the period 1880-82, he was given the name "Apikuni"...
to guide him on a hunting expedition into what would later become the park. After several more trips to the region, Grinnell became so inspired by the scenery that he spent the next two decades working to establish a national park. In 1901, Grinnell wrote a description of the region, in which he referred to it as the "Crown of the Continent", and his efforts to protect the land make him the premier contributor to this cause. A few years after Grinnell first visited, Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
and two companions, including a Blackfoot, climbed the steep east face of Chief Mountain
Chief Mountain
Chief Mountain is located in the U.S. state of Montana on the eastern border of Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation...
in 1892.
Marias Pass
Marias Pass is a high mountain pass near Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana in the United States.The pass traverses the continental divide in the Lewis Range, along the boundary between the Lewis and Clark National Forest and the Flathead National Forest...
5213 feet (1,589 m), which is along the southern boundary of the park. In an effort to stimulate use of the railroad, the Great Northern soon advertised the splendors of the region to the public. The company lobbied the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, and in 1897, the park was designated as a forest preserve. Under the forest designation mining was still allowed, but was not commercially successful. Meanwhile, proponents of protecting the region kept up their efforts, and in 1910, under the influence of George Bird Grinnell, Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
and the railroad, a bill was introduced into the U.S. Congress which redesignated the region from a forest reserve to a national park. This bill was signed into law by President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
on May 11, 1910. From May until August, the forest reserve supervisor, Fremont Nathan Haines, managed the Park's resources as the first acting superintendent. In August 1910, William Logan was appointed the Park's first superintendent. While the designation of the forest reserve confirmed the traditional usage rights of the Blackfeet, the enabling legislation of the National Park does not mention the guarantees to the Native Americans. It is the position of the United States government, that with the special designation as a National Park the mountains ceded their multi-purpose public land status and the former rights ceased to exist as it was confirmed by the Court of Claims in 1935. Some Blackfeet held that their traditional usage rights still exist de jure. In the 1980s armed standoffs were avoided narrowly several times.
The Great Northern Railway, under the supervision of president Louis W. Hill, built a number of hotels and chalet
Chalet
A chalet , also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, native to the Alpine region, made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof with wide, well-supported eaves set at right angles to the front of the house.-Definition and origin:...
s throughout the park in the 1910s to promote tourism. These buildings, constructed and operated by a Great Northern subsidiary called the Glacier Park Company
Glacier Park Company
The Glacier Park Company, a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway , constructed and operated hotels, chalets, and other visitor facilities in Glacier National Park, Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta from the 1910s through 1960...
, were modeled on Swiss architecture as part of Hill's plan to portray Glacier as "America's Switzerland". Vacationers commonly took pack trips on horseback between the lodges or utilized the seasonal stagecoach routes to gain access to the Many Glacier
Many Glacier
Many Glacier is an area within Glacier National Park which is located in the U.S. state of Montana. The Many Glacier region is located north of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, on the east side of the park. Lake Sherburne is the large lake in the area and the Many Glacier Hotel, the largest hotel within...
area in the northeast.
The chalets, built between 1910 and 1913, included Belton
Belton Chalets
The Belton Chalets are a group of historic hotel buildings in the village of West Glacier, Montana, near the western entrance to Glacier National Park. The chalet buildings were built in 1910-11 by the Great Northern Railway as the first component of the railroad's ambitious program of hotel,...
, St. Mary, Going-to-the-Sun, Many Glacier, Two Medicine, Sperry
Sperry Chalet
Sperry Chalet is located about seven miles east of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana. The chalet was built in 1914 by the Great Northern Railway and is a National Historic Landmark contributing property, being one of five structures in the Great Northern Railway...
, Granite Park
Granite Park Chalet
Granite Park Chalet is located in the heart of Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana. The chalet was built in 1914 by the Great Northern Railway and is a National Historic Landmark contributing property, being one of five structures in the...
, Cut Bank, and Gunsight Lake. The railway also built Glacier Park Lodge
Glacier Park Lodge
Glacier Park Lodge is located just outside the boundaries of Glacier National Park in the village of East Glacier Park, Montana, United States. The lodge was built in 1913 by the Glacier Park Company, a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway...
, adjacent to the park on its east side, and the Many Glacier Hotel
Many Glacier Hotel
Many Glacier Hotel is a historic hotel located within Glacier National Park, on the east shore of Swiftcurrent Lake. The building is designed as a series of chalets, up to four stories tall, and stretches for a substantial distance along the lakeshore. The building has a Swiss alpine theme both...
on the east shore of Swiftcurrent Lake
Swiftcurrent Lake
Swiftcurrent Lake is located in the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park, in the U. S. state of Montana. The Many Glacier Hotel, the largest hotel in the park, is along the east shore of the lake. Many hiking trails originate from the area and scenic tour boats provide access to the lake...
. Louis Hill personally selected the sites for all of these buildings, choosing each for their dramatic scenic backdrops and views. Another developer, John Lewis, built the Lewis Glacier Hotel on Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald is the largest lake in Glacier National Park. It is located at in Flathead County in the U.S. state of Montana. Lake McDonald is approximately 10 miles long, and over a mile wide and 472 feet deep, filling a valley formed by a combination of erosion and glacial activity...
in 1913–1914. The Great Northern Railway bought the hotel in 1930, and it was later renamed Lake McDonald Lodge
Lake McDonald Lodge
Lake McDonald Lodge is a historic lodge located within Glacier National Park, on the southeast shore of Lake McDonald. The lodge is a -story structure built in a Swiss chalet style based on Kirtland Cutter's design. The foundation and first floor walls are built of stone, with a wood-frame...
. Some of the chalets were in remote backcountry locations accessible only by trail. Today, only Sperry, Granite Park, and Belton Chalets are still in operation, while a building formerly belonging to Two Medicine Chalet is now Two Medicine Store
Two Medicine Store
Two Medicine Store, formerly part of Two Medicine Chalet, is a historic building in Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana. The chalet was originally built in 1914 by the Glacier Park Company, a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway, as part of the railway's extensive program of...
. The surviving chalet and hotel buildings within the park are now designated as National Historic Landmarks. In total, 350 buildings and structures within the park are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, including ranger stations, backcountry patrol cabins, fire lookouts, and concession facilities.
Going-to-the-Sun Road
Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road through the heart of Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. It was completed in 1932, and it is the only road that crosses the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. A fleet of 1930s red tour buses "jammers", rebuilt in 2001 to run on propane...
, completed in 1932. Also known simply as the Sun Road, the road bisects the park and is the only route that ventures deep into the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass
Logan Pass
Logan Pass is located along the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road....
, 6646 feet (2,026 m) at the midway point. The Sun Road is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1985 was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Another route, along the southern boundary between the park and National Forests
United States National Forest
National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States.National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas...
is U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada...
, which crosses the Continental Divide at Marias Pass and connects the towns of West Glacier and East Glacier
East Glacier Park Village, Montana
East Glacier Park is a census-designated place in Glacier County, Montana, United States. The population was 396 at the 2000 census.-Geography:East Glacier Park is located at ....
. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
assisted in the development of many of the park's trails and campgrounds. The increase in motor vehicle traffic through the park during the 1930s also resulted in the construction of new concession facilities at Swiftcurrent
Swiftcurrent Auto Camp Historic District
The Swiftcurrent Auto Camp Historic District preserves a portion of the built-up area of Glacier National Park that documents the second phase of tourist development in the park...
and Rising Sun
Rising Sun (Montana)
Rising Sun is located along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, from the east entrance into Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.. Rising Sun is a wayside area that has a National Park Service campground, and a camp store, restaurant, motel and guest cabins which are managed by the park's concessionaire...
, both designed for automobile-based tourism. These early auto camps are now also listed on the National Register.
In 2011, Glacier National Park was honored on the seventh quarter in the America the Beautiful Quarters series.
Park management
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
; park headquarters is in West Glacier, Montana. Visitation to Glacier National Park averages slightly less than visitors annually, however a relative few venture far from main roadways and hotels.
Glacier National Park had an operating budget of $13,190,000 for fiscal year 2008. The 2008 budget was an increase over 2007 and was used to increase employee staffing levels, but monies for maintenance projects and road work was not forthcoming. In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the park in 2010, major reconstruction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road
Going-to-the-Sun Road
Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road through the heart of Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. It was completed in 1932, and it is the only road that crosses the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. A fleet of 1930s red tour buses "jammers", rebuilt in 2001 to run on propane...
is underway, and temporary road closures are expected through then. The Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
is managing the reconstruction project in cooperation with the National Park Service. Some rehabilitation of major structures such as visitor centers and historic hotels, as well as improvements in wastewater treatment facilities and campgrounds, are expected to be completed by the anniversary date. Also planned are fishery studies for Lake McDonald, updates of the historical archives and restoration of trails.
The mandate of the National Park Service is to "... preserve and protect natural and cultural resources". The Organic Act
Organic Act
An Organic Act, in United States law, is an Act of the United States Congress that establishes a territory of the United States or an agency to manage certain federal lands. The first such act was the Northwest Ordinance, enacted by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787 in order to create the...
of August 25, 1916, established the National Park Service as a federal agency. One major section of the Act has often been summarized as the "Mission", "... to promote and regulate the use of the ... national parks ... which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." In keeping with this mandate, hunting is illegal in the park, as are mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, logging
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
and removal of natural or cultural resources. Additionally, oil
Oil exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earth's surface, such as oil and natural gas...
and gas exploration
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and extraction are not permitted. These restrictions, however, caused a lot of conflict with the adjoining Blackfeet Indian Reservation considering that when they sold the land to the United States government it was with the stipulation of being able to maintain their usage rights of the area, many of which (such as hunting) had come into conflict with these regulations. In 1974, a wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
study was submitted to Congress which identified 95% of the area of the park as qualifying for wilderness designation. Unlike a few other parks, Glacier National Park has yet to be protected as wilderness, but National Park Service policy requires that identified areas listed in the report be managed as wilderness until Congress renders a full decision. Ninety-three percent of Glacier National Park is managed as wilderness, even though it has not been officially designated.
Geography and geology
Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park
Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.- History and conservation :Akamina Kishinena Provincial Park is located in the southeast corner of the province...
in British Columbia. To the west, the north fork of the Flathead River
Flathead River
The Flathead River, in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana, originates in the Rocky Mountains near Glacier National Park and flows southwest into Flathead Lake, then after a journey of , empties into the Clark Fork. The river is part of the Columbia River drainage basin, as the Clark...
forms the western boundary, while its middle fork is part of the southern boundary. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation provides most of the eastern boundary, and the Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark National Forest
Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "island" pockets of forested areas. Here, cattle leases to...
and the Flathead National Forest
Flathead National Forest
The Flathead National Forest is a national forest in the western part of the U.S. state of Montana. The forest covers of which about 1 million acres is designated wilderness. It is named after the Flathead Indians who lived in the area. The forest is located in the Rocky Mountains with elevations...
s form the southern and western boundary. The remote Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex
Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex consists of three wilderness areas, all within the U.S. state of Montana totalling over 1.5 million acres . The largest wilderness area is the Bob Marshall consisting of 1 million acres...
is located in the two forests immediately to the south.
The park contains a dozen large lakes and 700 smaller ones, but only 131 lakes have been named. Lake McDonald on the western side of the park is the longest at 9.4 miles (15.1 km), the largest in area at 6823 acres (27.6 km²) and the deepest at 464 feet (141.4 m). Numerous smaller lakes, known as tarn
Tarn (lake)
A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. A corrie may be called a cirque.The word is derived from the Old Norse word tjörn meaning pond...
s, are located in cirque
Cirque (landform)
thumb|250 px|Two cirques with semi-permanent snowpatches in [[Abisko National Park]], [[Sweden]].A cirque or corrie is an amphitheatre-like valley head, formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion...
s formed by glacial erosion. Some of these lakes, like Avalanche Lake and Cracker Lake
Cracker Lake
Cracker Lake is located in Glacier National Park, in the U. S. state of Montana. Located at the head of a canyon, the waters of Cracker Lake are an opaque turquoise from rock flour originating from Siyeh Glacier. To the south of Cracker Lake lies Mount Siyeh which rises more than above the lake...
, are colored an opaque turquoise by suspended glacial silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
, which also causes a number of streams to run milky white. The lakes of Glacier National Park remain cold year round, with temperatures rarely above 50 °F (10 °C) at their surface. Cold water lakes such as these support little plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
growth, ensuring that the lake waters are remarkably clear. The lack of plankton, however, lowers the rate of pollution filtration, and pollutants have a tendency to linger longer. Consequently, the lakes are considered environmental bellwether
Bellwether
A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...
s as they can be quickly affected by even minor increases in pollutants.
Two hundred waterfalls are scattered throughout the park, however, during drier times of the year, many of these are reduced to a trickle. The largest falls include those in the Two Medicine
Two Medicine
Two Medicine is the collective name of a region located in the southeastern section of Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana. It has a campground alongside Two Medicine Lake. From the period starting in the late 1890s until the completion of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in 1932, Two...
region, McDonald Falls in the McDonald Valley and Swiftcurrent Falls in the Many Glacier
Many Glacier
Many Glacier is an area within Glacier National Park which is located in the U.S. state of Montana. The Many Glacier region is located north of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, on the east side of the park. Lake Sherburne is the large lake in the area and the Many Glacier Hotel, the largest hotel within...
area, which is easily observable and close to the Many Glacier Hotel. One of the tallest waterfalls is Bird Woman Falls
Bird Woman Falls
Bird Woman Falls is a waterfall located immediately west of the continental divide in Glacier National Park, Montana, United States. The falls are readily visible from a distance of two miles along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which bisects the park east to west. The falls are fed by snowfields and...
, which drops 492 feet (150 m) from a hanging valley beneath the north slope of Mount Oberlin
Mount Oberlin
Mount Oberlin is located in the Lewis Range, Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana. Mount Oberlin is just northwest of Logan Pass. Below the summit to the northwest, water and melting snow off Mount Oberlin lead to the Bird Woman Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in Glacier...
.
Geology
The rocks found in the park are primarily sedimentary rockSedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
s of the Belt Supergroup
Belt Supergroup
The Belt Supergroup, is an assemblage of Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks which outcrop chiefly in western Montana, but also exposed in Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, and British Columbia. It is most famous as the formation that makes up Glacier National Park in northwest Montana...
. They were deposited in shallow seas over 1.6 billion to 800 million years ago. During the formation of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
170 million years ago one region of rocks now known as the Lewis Overthrust
Lewis Overthrust
The Lewis Overthrust is a geologic fault structure of the Rocky Mountains within Glacier National Park in Montana, USA and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada, as well as into Lewis and Clark National Forest. It provides scientific insight into geologic processes happening in other...
was forced eastward 50 miles (80 km). This overthrust
Thrust fault
A thrust fault is a type of fault, or break in the Earth's crust across which there has been relative movement, in which rocks of lower stratigraphic position are pushed up and over higher strata. They are often recognized because they place older rocks above younger...
was several miles (kilometers) thick and hundreds of miles (kilometers) long. This resulted in older rocks being displaced over newer ones, so the overlying Proterozoic
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...
rocks are between 1.4 and 1.5 billion years older than Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
age rocks they now rest on.
One of the most dramatic evidences of this overthrust is visible in the form of Chief Mountain, an isolated peak on the edge of the eastern boundary of the park rising 2500 feet (762 m) above the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
. There are six mountains in the park over 10000 feet (3,048 m) in elevation, with Mount Cleveland
Mount Cleveland (Montana)
Mount Cleveland is the highest mountain in Glacier National Park, located in Montana, United States. It is also the highest point in the Lewis Range, which spans part of the northern portion of the Park and extends into Canada...
at 10466 feet (3,190 m) being the tallest. Appropriately named Triple Divide Peak
Triple Divide Peak (Montana)
-See also:* Continental Divide of the Americas* Mountains and mountain ranges of Glacier National Park...
sends waters towards the Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
, and Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
s, and can effectively be considered to be the apex of the North American continent, although the mountain is only 8020 feet (2,444 m) above sea level.
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
s and other sedimentary bedding characteristics. Six fossilized species of Stromatolite
Stromatolite
Stromatolites or stromatoliths are layered accretionary structures formed in shallow water by the trapping, binding and cementation of sedimentary grains by biofilms of microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria ....
s, which were early organisms consisting primarily blue-green algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
, have been documented and dated at about 1 billion years. The discovery of the Appekunny Formation
Appekunny Formation
Appekunny Formation is a thick series of rock strata located in the Lewis Range within Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. The formation is primarily mudstone and siltstone deposited in a shallow sea during the Proterozoic...
, a well preserved rock stratum in the park, pushed back the established date for the origination of animal life a full billion years. This rock formation has bedding structures which are believed to be the remains of the earliest identified metazoan (animal) life on Earth.
Glaciers
Glacier National Park is dominated by mountains which were carved into their present shapes by the huge glaciers of the last ice ageLast Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension, between 26,500 and 19,000–20,000 years ago, marking the peak of the last glacial period. During this time, vast ice sheets covered much of North America, northern Europe and...
; these glaciers have largely disappeared over the last 12,000 years. Evidence of widespread glacial action is found throughout the park in the form of U-shaped valley
U-shaped valley
A U-shaped valley also known as a glacial trough is one formed by the process of glaciation. It has a characteristic U-shape, with steep, straight sides, and a flat bottom. Glaciated valleys are formed when a glacier travels across and down a slope, carving the valley by the action of scouring...
s, glacial cirques, arête
Arete
Areté is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....
s and large outflow lakes radiating like fingers from the base of the highest peaks. Since the end of the ice ages, various warming and cooling trends have occurred. The last recent cooling trend was during the Little Ice Age
Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age was a period of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period . While not a true ice age, the term was introduced into the scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939...
which took place approximately between 1550 and 1850. During the Little Ice Age, the glaciers in the park expanded and advanced, although to nowhere near as great an extent as they had during the Ice Age.
During the middle of the 20th century, examination of the maps and photographs from the previous century provided clear evidence that the 150 glaciers known to have existed in the park a hundred years earlier had greatly retreated, and in many cases disappeared altogether. Repeat photography of the glaciers, such as the pictures taken of Grinnell Glacier
Grinnell Glacier
Grinnell Glacier is located in the heart of Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana. The glacier is named for George Bird Grinnell, an early American conservationist and explorer, who was also a strong advocate of ensuring the creation of Glacier National Park...
between 1938 and 2009 as shown, help to provide visual confirmation of the extent of glacier retreat.
EWLINE
|
In the 1980s, the U.S. Geological Survey began a more systematic study of the remaining glaciers, which continues to the present day. By 2010, 37 glaciers remained, but only 25 of these were considered to be "active glaciers" of at least 25 acre (0.1011715 km²) in area. Scientists generally agree that if the current climate conditions continue, most of the remaining glaciers in the park will be gone by 2030 or even as soon as 2020. This glacier retreat
Retreat of glaciers since 1850
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 affects the availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use, mountain recreation, animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt, and in the longer term, the level of the oceans...
follows a worldwide pattern that has accelerated even more since 1980. Without a major climatic change in which cooler and moister weather returns and persists, the mass balance
Glacier mass balance
Crucial to the survival of a glacier is its mass balance, the difference between accumulation and ablation . Climate change may cause variations in both temperature and snowfall, causing changes in mass balance. Changes in mass balance control a glacier's long term behavior and is the most...
, which is the accumulation rate versus the ablation (melting) rate of glaciers, will continue to be negative and the glaciers will eventually disappear, leaving behind only barren rock.
After the end of the Little Ice Age in 1850, the glaciers in the park retreated moderately until the 1910s. Between 1917 and 1941, the retreat rate accelerated and was as high as 330 feet (100.6 m) a year for some glaciers. A slight cooling trend from the 1940s until 1979, helped to slow the rate of retreat and in a few examples some glaciers even advanced a few tens of meters. However, during the 1980s, the glaciers in the park began a steady period of loss of glacial ice, which continues as of 2010. In 1850, the glaciers in the region near Blackfoot
Blackfoot Glacier
-See also:* List of glaciers in the United States* Glaciers in Glacier National Park...
and Jackson Glacier
Jackson Glacier
Jackson Glacier is approximately the seventh largest of the remaining 25 glaciers in Glacier National Park located in the U.S. state of Montana. A part of the largest grouping of glaciers in the park, Jackson Glacier rests on the north side of Mount Jackson...
s covered 5337 acres (21.6 km²), but by 1979, the same region of the park had glacier ice covering only 1828 acres (7.4 km²). Between 1850 and 1979, 73% of the glacial ice had melted away. At the time the park was created, Jackson Glacier was part of Blackfoot Glacier, but the two have separated into two glaciers since.
The impact of glacier retreat on the park's ecosystems is not fully known, but cold water dependent plant and animal species could suffer due to a loss of habitat. Reduced seasonal melting of glacial ice may also affect stream flow during the dry summer and fall seasons, reducing water table levels and increasing the risk of forest fires. The loss of glaciers will also reduce the aesthetic visual appeal that glaciers provide to visitors.
Climate
Microclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
s are found in the park. As with other alpine systems, average temperature usually drop as elevation increases. The western side of the park, in the Pacific watershed, has a milder and wetter climate. Precipitation is greatest during the winter and spring averaging 2 to 3 in (50.8 to 76.2 mm) per month. Snowfall can occur at any time of the year, even in the summer, and especially at higher altitudes. The winter can bring prolonged cold waves, especially on the eastern side of the Continental Divide. Snowfalls are significant over the course of the winter, with the largest accumulation occurring in the west. During the tourist season daytime high temperatures average 60 to 70 °F (15 to 20 °C), and nighttime lows usually drop into the 40 °F (5 °C) range. Temperatures in the high country may be much cooler. In the lower western valleys, daytime highs in the summer may reach 90 °F (32.2 °C).
Rapid temperature changes have been noted in the region, and in Browning, Montana
Browning, Montana
Browning is a town in Glacier County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,016 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Browning is located at ....
, which is just east of the park in the Blackfeet Reservation, a world record temperature drop of 100 °F (56 °C) in only 24 hours occurred on the night of January 23–24, 1916, when thermometers plunged from 44 to -56 °F (6.7 to -48.9 C).
Glacier National Park has a highly regarded global climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
research program. Based in West Glacier, with its main headquarters in Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, the U.S. Geological Survey has performed scientific research on specific climate change studies since 1992. In addition to the study of the retreating glaciers, research performed includes forest modeling studies in which fire ecology and habitat alterations are analyzed. Additionally, changes in alpine vegetation patterns are documented, watershed studies in which stream flow rates and temperatures are recorded frequently at fixed gauging stations, and atmospheric research in which UV-B radiation, ozone and other atmospheric gases are analyzed over time. The research compiled contributes to a broader understanding of climate changes in the park. The data collected, when compared to other facilities scattered around the world, help to correlate these climatic changes on a global scale.
Glacier is considered to have excellent air and water quality. No major areas of dense human population exist anywhere near the region and industrial effects are minimized due to a scarcity of factories and other potential contributors of pollutants. However, the sterile and cold lakes found throughout the park are easily contaminated by airborne pollutants that fall whenever it rains or snows, and some evidence of these pollutants has been found in park waters. The pollution level is currently viewed as negligible, and the park lakes and waterways have a water quality rating of A-1, the highest rating given by the state of Montana.
Flora
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
collectively known as the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem", all of which is primarily untouched wilderness of a pristine quality. Virtually all the plants and animals which existed at the time European explorers first entered the region are present in the park today.
A total of over 1,132 plant species have been identified parkwide. The predominantly coniferous forest is home to various species of trees such as the Engelmann spruce
Engelmann Spruce
Picea engelmannii is a species of spruce native to western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta, southwest to northern California and southeast to Arizona and New Mexico; there are also two isolated populations in northern Mexico...
, Douglas fir, subalpine fir
Subalpine Fir
The Subalpine Fir or Rocky Mountain Fir is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of Yukon, British Columbia and western Alberta in Canada; southeastern Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, northeastern Nevada, and the...
, limber pine
Limber Pine
The Limber Pine, Pinus flexilis, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Southwestern White Pine and Rocky Mountain White Pine...
and western larch
Western Larch
Western Larch is a species of larch native to the mountains of western North America, in Canada in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, and in the United States in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho and western Montana.It is a large deciduous coniferous tree...
, which is a deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall. cottonwood and aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
are the more common deciduous trees and are found at lower elevations, usually along lakes and streams. The timberline on the eastern side of the park is almost 800 feet (244 m) lower than on the western side of the Continental Divide, due to exposure to the colder winds and weather of the Great Plains. West of the Continental Divide, the forest receives more moisture and is more protected from the winter, resulting in a more densely populated forest with taller trees. Above the forested valleys and mountain slopes, alpine tundra
Alpine tundra
Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...
conditions prevail, with grasses and small plants eking out an existence in a region that enjoys as little as three months without snow cover. Thirty species of plants are found only in the park and surrounding National Forests. Beargrass, a tall flowering plant, is commonly found near moisture sources, and is relatively widespread during July and August. Wildflowers such as monkeyflower
Mimulus
Mimulus is a diverse plant genus, the monkey-flowers and musk-flowers. The about 150 species are currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The genus has traditionally been placed in Scrophulariaceae. The removal of Mimulus from that family has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first...
, glacier lily
Lilium
Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though the range extends into the northern subtropics...
, fireweed
Fireweed
Epilobium angustifolium, commonly known as Fireweed , Great Willow-herb , or Rosebay Willowherb , is a perennial herbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae...
, balsamroot
Balsamorhiza
Balsamorhiza is a genus of plants in the sunflower family known commonly as balsamroots. These are perennials with fleshy taproots and caudices bearing erect stems and large, basal leaves. Atop the tall stems are showy yellow sunflower-like blooms. Balsamroots are native to western North America...
and Indian paintbrush
Indian Paintbrush
Indian Paintbrush most often refers to:* Castilleja spp.Indian Paintbrush may also refer to:* Butterfly weed* Hawkweed* Steven Rales' production company, whose productions include The Darjeeling Limited, Towelhead and Fantastic Mr. Fox...
are also common.
The forested sections fall into three major climatic zones. The west and northwest are dominated by spruce and fir and the southwest by redcedar
Thuja plicata
Thuja plicata, commonly called Western or pacific red cedar, giant or western arborvitae, giant cedar, or shinglewood, is a species of Thuja, an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae native to western North America...
and hemlock
Tsuga
Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
; the areas east of the Continental Divide are a combination of mixed pine, spruce, fir and prairie zones. The cedar-hemlock groves along the Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald is the largest lake in Glacier National Park. It is located at in Flathead County in the U.S. state of Montana. Lake McDonald is approximately 10 miles long, and over a mile wide and 472 feet deep, filling a valley formed by a combination of erosion and glacial activity...
valley are the easternmost examples of this Pacific climatic ecosystem.
Whitebark pine
Whitebark Pine
Pinus albicaulis, known commonly as Whitebark Pine, Pitch Pine, Scrub Pine, and Creeping Pine occurs in the mountains of the Western United States and Canada, specifically the subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Pacific Coast Ranges, and the northern Rocky Mountains –...
communities have been heavily damaged due to the effects of blister rust
Cronartium ribicola
Cronartium ribicola is a species of rust fungi in the family Cronartiaceae that causes the disease white pine blister rust.Like many other rusts, C. ribicola is heteroecious, meaning it requires two host species to complete its lifecycle that includes five spore stages...
, a non native fungus. In Glacier and the surrounding region, 30% of the Whitebark pine trees have died and over 70% of the remaining trees are currently infected. The Whitebark pine provides a high fat pine cone seed, commonly known as the pine nut, that is a favorite food of red squirrel
Red Squirrel
The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia...
s and Clark's Nutcracker
Clark's Nutcracker
Clark's Nutcracker , sometimes referred to as Clark's Crow or Woodpecker Crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae. It is slightly smaller than its Eurasian relative the Spotted Nutcracker . It is ashy-grey all over except for the black-and-white wings and central tail feathers...
. Both grizzlies
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
and black bears
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
are known to raid squirrel caches of the pine nuts, and it is one of the bears' favorite foods. Between 1930 and 1970, efforts to control the spread of blister rust were unsuccessful, and continued destruction of whitebark pines appears likely, with attendant negative impacts on dependent species.
Fauna
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
and woodland caribou, are present, providing biologists an intact ecosystem for plant and animal research. Two threatened species
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
of mammals, the grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
and the Canadian lynx, are found in the park. Although their numbers remain at historical levels, both are listed as threatened because in virtually every other region of the U.S. outside of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, they are either extremely rare or absent from their historical range. On average, one or two bear attacks on humans occur each year; since the creation of the park in 1910, there have been a total of 10 bear-related deaths. The number of grizzlies and lynx in the park is not known for certain, but park biologists believed as of 2008 that there were just above 300 grizzlies in the park; a study commenced in 2001 hoped to determine the number of lynx. The exact population figures for grizzlies and the smaller black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
are not known but biologists are using a variety of methods to try to determine an accurate population range. Another study has indicated that the wolverine
Wolverine
The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
, another very rare mammal in the lower 48 states, continues to reside in the park. Other large mammals such as the mountain goat
Mountain goat
The Mountain Goat , also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is a large-hoofed mammal found only in North America. Despite its vernacular name, it is not a member of Capra, the genus of true goats...
(the official park symbol), bighorn sheep
Bighorn Sheep
The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
, and the rarely seen mountain lion, are either plentiful or common. Unlike in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, which commenced a wolf
Mackenzie Valley Wolf
The Mackenzie Valley Wolf also known as the Canadian Timber Wolf is perhaps the largest subspecies of Gray Wolf in North America. Its range includes parts of the western United States, much of western Canada, and Alaska, including Unimak Island in the Aleutians, and was introduced into Yellowstone...
reintroduction program in the 1990s, it is believed that wolves recolonized the park naturally during the 1980s. Sixty-two species of mammals have been documented, including badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
, river otter
Northern River Otter
The North American river otter , also known as the northern river otter or the common otter, is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to the North American continent, found in and along its waterways and coasts. An adult river otter can weigh between 5 and 14 kg...
, porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
, mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
, marten
Marten
The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...
, fisher
Fisher (animal)
The fisher is a medium-size mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten...
, six species of bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s and numerous other smaller mammals.
A total 260 species of birds have been recorded, with raptors such as the Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
, Golden Eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
, Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
, Osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
and several species of hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
s residing year round. The Harlequin Duck
Harlequin Duck
The Harlequin Duck is a small sea duck. It takes its name from Arlecchino, Harlequin in French, a colourfully dressed character in Commedia dell'arte. The species name comes from the Latin word "histrio", "actor". In North America it is also known as Lords and ladies...
is a colorful species of waterfowl found in the lakes and waterways. The Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
, Tundra Swan
Bewick's Swan
The Tundra Swan is a small Holarctic swan. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species, Cygnus bewickii of the Palaearctic and the Whistling Swan, C. columbianus proper, of the Nearctic...
, Canada Goose
Canada Goose
The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....
and American Wigeon
American Wigeon
The American Wigeon, also American Widgeon or Baldpate, is a species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Anas. If this is split up, all wigeons will go into their old genus Mareca again...
are species of waterfowl more commonly encountered in the park. Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
The Great Horned Owl, , also known as the Tiger Owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas.-Description:...
, Clark's Nutcracker
Clark's Nutcracker
Clark's Nutcracker , sometimes referred to as Clark's Crow or Woodpecker Crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae. It is slightly smaller than its Eurasian relative the Spotted Nutcracker . It is ashy-grey all over except for the black-and-white wings and central tail feathers...
, Steller's Jay
Steller's Jay
The Steller's Jay is a jay native to western North America, closely related to the Blue Jay found in the rest of the continent, but with a black head and upper body. It is also known as the Long-crested Jay, Mountain Jay, and Pine Jay...
, Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
The Pileated Woodpecker is a very large North American woodpecker, almost crow-sized, inhabiting deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific coast. It is also the largest woodpecker in America.Adults are long, and weigh...
and Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
The Cedar Waxwing is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It breeds in open wooded areas in North America, principally southern Canada and the northern United States.-Description:...
reside in the dense forests along the mountainsides, and in the higher altitudes, the Ptarmigan
White-tailed Ptarmigan
The White-tailed Ptarmigan, Lagopus leucura, is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is found in the mountains of the western United States, Canada and Alaska.-Description:...
, Timberline Sparrow
American sparrow
American sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming part of the family Emberizidae. American sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns....
and Rosy Finch
Mountain finch
The mountain finches are birds in the genus Leucosticte from the true finch family, Fringillidae. This genus also includes the rosy finches, named from their pinkish plumage...
are the most likely to be seen. The Clark's Nutcracker is less plentiful than in past years due to the decline in the number of whitebark pines
Whitebark Pine
Pinus albicaulis, known commonly as Whitebark Pine, Pitch Pine, Scrub Pine, and Creeping Pine occurs in the mountains of the Western United States and Canada, specifically the subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Pacific Coast Ranges, and the northern Rocky Mountains –...
.
Because of the colder climate, ectothermic reptiles are all but absent, with two species of garter snake
Garter snake
The Garter snake is a Colubrid snake genus common across North America, ranging from Alaska and Canada to Central America. It is the single most widely distributed genus of reptile in North America. The garter snake is also the Massachusettsstate reptile.There is no real consensus on the...
s and the western painted turtle
Painted Turtle
The painted turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus Chrysemys, which is part of the pond turtle...
being the only three reptile species proven to exist. Similarly, only six species of amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s are documented, although those species exist in large numbers. After a forest fire in 2001, a few park roads were temporarily closed the following year to allow thousands of Western toad
Western toad
The Western toad more commonly known as is a large toad species, between 5.6 and 13 cm long, of western North America. It has a white or cream dorsal stripe, and is dusky gray or greenish dorsally with skin glands concentrated within the dark blotches...
s to migrate to other areas.
Glacier is also home to the endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
bull trout
Bull trout
The bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, S. confluentus has been known as the "Dolly Varden" , but was re-classified as a separate species in 1980. Bull trout are listed as a threatened species under the U.S....
, which is illegal to possess and must be returned to the water if caught inadvertently. A total of 23 species of fish reside in park waters and native game fish species found in the lakes and streams include the cutthroat trout
Cutthroat trout
The cutthroat trout is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is one of the many fish species colloquially known as trout...
, northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
, mountain whitefish
Coregonus
Coregonus is a diverse genus of fish in the salmon family . The type species is the common whitefish . The Coregonus species are known as whitefishes...
, Kokanee salmon
Sockeye salmon
Sockeye salmon , also called red salmon or blueback salmon in the USA, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it...
and grayling
Grayling (species)
The grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, the grayling is widespread throughout northern Europe, from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia...
. Introduction in previous decades of lake trout
Lake trout
Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...
and other non-native fish species has greatly impacted some native fish populations, especially the bull trout and west slope cutthroat trout.
Fire ecology
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s were viewed for many decades as a threat to protected areas such as forests and parks. As a better understanding of fire ecology
Fire ecology
Fire ecology is concerned with the processes linking the natural incidence of fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects of this fire. Many ecosystems, such as the North American prairie and chaparral ecosystems, and the South African savanna, have evolved with fire as a natural and necessary...
developed after the 1960s, forest fires were understood to be a natural part of the ecosystem. The earlier policies of suppression resulted in the accumulation of dead and decaying trees and plants which would normally have been reduced had fires been allowed to burn. Many species of plants and animals actually need wildfires to help replenish the soil with nutrients and to open up areas that allow grasses and smaller plants to thrive.
Glacier National Park has a fire management plan which ensures that human-caused fires are generally suppressed as they always have been. In the case of natural fires, the fire is monitored and suppression is dependent on the size and threat a fire may pose to human safety and structures.
Increased population and the growth of suburban areas near parklands, has led to the development of what is known as Wildland Urban Interface Fire Management, in which the park cooperates with adjacent property owners in improving safety and fire awareness. This approach is common to many other protected areas. As part of this program, houses and structures near the park are designed to be more fire resistant. Dead and fallen trees are removed from near places of human habitation, reducing the available fuel load and the risk of a catastrophic fire, and advance warning systems are developed to help alert property owners and visitors about forest fire potentials during a given period of the year. Glacier National Park has an average of 14 fires with 5000 acres (20.2 km²) burnt each year. In 2003, 136000 acres (550.4 km²) burned in the park after a five year drought and a summer season of almost no precipitation. This was the most area transformed by fire since the creation of the park in 1910.
Recreation
Kalispell, Montana
Kalispell is a city in and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2010 census put Kalispell's population at 19,927 up 5,704 over 2000. At 40.1% this is the largest percentage of growth of any incorporated city in Montana. Kalispell is the largest city and commercial center...
, southwest of the park. Amtrak trains stop at East and West Glacier. A fleet of restored 1930s White Motor Company
White Motor Company
White Motor Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the company was based in Cleveland, Ohio.-History:...
coaches, called Red jammers, offer tours on all the main roads in the park. The drivers of the buses are called "Jammers", due to the gear-jamming that formerly occurred during the vehicles' operation. The tour buses were rebuilt in 2001. The buses were rebuilt by Ford Motor Company. The bodies were removed from their original chassis and built on modern Ford E-Series van chassis. They were also converted to run on propane
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
, to lessen their environmental impact.
A number of historic wooden tour boats, some dating back to the 1920s, operate on several of the larger lakes. Several of these boats have been in continuous seasonal operation on the major lakes of Glacier National Park since 1927 and carry up to 80 tourists.
Hiking is a popular activity in the park. Over half of the visitors to the park report taking a hike on the park's nearly 700 miles (1,127 km) of trails. 110 miles (177 km) of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail spans most of the distance of the park north to south, with a few alternative routes at lower elevations if high altitude passes
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
are closed due to snow. The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail crosses the park on 52 miles (84 km) from east to west.
Due to the presence of bears and other large mammals, dogs are not permitted on any trails in the park, though they are permitted at front country campsites that can be accessed by a vehicle, and along paved roads. Anyone entering the United States over land or waterway from Canada must have an appropriate passport with them.
St. Mary, Montana
St. Mary is an unincorporated community on the western border of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation adjacent to Glacier National Park in Glacier County, Montana, United States. The village is the eastern terminus of the Going-to-the-Sun Road which bisects the park east to west, a distance of ...
and at Apgar are open year round, but conditions are considered primitive in the off-season, as the restroom facilities are closed and there is no running water. All campgrounds with vehicle access are usually open from mid-June until mid-September. Guide and shuttle services are also available.
Fishing is a popular activity in the park and some of the finest fly fishing
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
in North America can be found in the streams that flow through the park. Though the park requires that those fishing understand the regulations, no permit is required to fish the waters within the park boundary. The endangered bull trout must be released immediately back to the water if caught, otherwise, the regulations on limits of catch per day are liberal.
Winter recreation activities in Glacier are limited. Snowmobiling
Snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...
is illegal throughout the park, but cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
is permitted in the lower altitude valleys away from potential avalanche zones.
Further reading
- Dutiful Son: Louis W. Hill Sr. Book, Book about Louis W. Hill Sr., son and successor of empire builder James J. Hill and major force behind the establishment and development of Glacier National Park.
External links
- Glacier National Park, National Park Service homepage
- Guide to the Glacier National Park Papers at the University of Montana