Glacier National Park was established in 1910. It included lands acquired from the Blackfoot Indians which was rumored to contain minerals and this meant that it could not remain under Indian control—U.S. policy required any potential resource wealth on reservations be transferred to non-Indians. Initially, the park was to serve the recreational needs of wealthy Americans and to help subsidize the Great Northern Railway which brought tourists to the park. The later popularity of the automobile opened the park up to middle and low income families.
In recent years, as the American government has been attempting to get out of the business of serving the people, national parks have faced decreasing budgets and management guidelines which seem to stress privatization. Montana’s republicans have called for the park to be totally privatized—to be transferred from public ownership to private. With a management model that seems to be borrowed from insurance companies and/or banking, the national parks have increased fees and reduced services. Parks like Glacier are now too expensive for most poor families and for many middle income families. Free educational interpretive programs are almost gone and the number of rangers reduced. The Park Service has announced that budget cuts in the coming year mean that maintenance services, such as cleaning restrooms, will be reduced.
In the meantime, Glacier National Park is still open and still being run by the government. What follows are some photographs from a recent excursion into the park.
While the scenery and tranquility of the park is available throughout the year, cross-country skiing is an activity which is more common in the winter.