The skies over Glacier National Park will be noisier
this summer, and helicopters lugging seat-belted tourists
don’t deserve all the blame. Park managers are increasing
their own helicopter and airplane traffic to do backcountry chores,
adding 52 flights to their recent average of 50 per
summer.
According to an environmental assessment, the
park’s air force will use almost two-thirds of the planned
flights to haul sewage from Granite Park Chalet and elsewhere in
the backcountry, and to carry crews and supplies to restore the
historic Porcupine Lookout.
Ironically, at the same time
that it is ramping up its own flights, the park wants the Federal
Aviation Administration to ban commercial flights for tourists,
which have increased to about 1,500 flights per year.
The
air tours disturb wildlife and quiet, says Mary Riddle, an
environmental protection specialist for Glacier, while work flights
tend to be briefer and comply with “a stringent review
process.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline More helicopters to buzz Glacier Park.
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