Visitor Use Management at Glacier National Park

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Dear Friends,

We need your input to help shape visitor access to Glacier National Park during the summer of 2024. The National Park Service mission calls for us to provide the best possible access to meaningful and enjoyable experiences while preserving the resources that make Glacier special. In recent years, achieving that mission has gotten more complex due to growth in visitation and changing use patterns. While this increase means that more people are exploring and connecting with the park, it also presents diverse challenges like crowding and congestion and difficulty providing timely emergency responses. It also has impacts on the park's resources such as iconic wildlife, tribal connections, the scenic glaciated landscape, the park's historic infrastructure such as Going-to-the-Sun Road, and facilities such as water and waste disposal systems.

We've used a variety of tools to address these challenges over the years. Most recently, we've piloted a series of different reservation systems during the last three summers. We've learned a lot from these pilots—now, we'd like to hear from you. We want to hear what has worked best, what could be improved, and what possibilities you would like to see at Glacier for the summer of 2024.

Your input will help to inform our strategies for how visitors will access park areas in the summer of 2024. You can expect to hear more about how to visit the park next summer after we have reviewed and considered your input later this fall.

There are a number of ways you can learn more and participate. Start by visiting this website (https://arcg.is/04Gamu0 ) where you'll find background on the park, information about park visitation, a description of how we manage popular destinations, a summary of key issues we are aiming to address, and a history of visitor use management at Glacier.

You can provide input by clicking the "Open for Comment" on the left, then "2023 Public and Stakeholder Engagement" and then "Comment Now".

You'll also find information about a series of virtual and in-person public meetings we are hosting in late August by clicking the "Meeting Notices" tab on the left. There you'll find the links to the virtual meeting and in-person public meetings we are hosting in late August.

We look forward to hearing from you and continuing the conversation!

Sincerely,
Dave Roemer, Superintendent