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Keeping it Wild in a Crown JewelWilderness Building Blocks for Glacier National Park
National Park ServiceU.S. Department of the Interior
Glacier National Park
Keeping It Wild in a Crown JewelWilderness Building Blocks for Glacier National Park
Glacier National ParkWest Glacier, Montana 59936
Produced by Mark Douglas*Interagency Wilderness Fellows ProgramNational Park Service
*Multiple federal documents sourced
ii Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Executive Summary
This report consists of building blocks that provide the foundation for effectively integrating wilderness character in Glacier Na-tional Park. It establishes a shared understanding of what is valuable about the recommended, proposed, and potential Glacier wilderness. It articulates those important values in a wilderness character framework. Chapter 1 introduces wilderness character by defining the qualities that structure the framework and explaining its benefits.
The building block approach provides maximum flexibility for staff to continue effectively and efficiently strengthening the wilderness stewardship foundation in the park. The blocks correspond to achievable and meaningful steps. One building block consists of Wilderness Basics. The material in chapter 2 was gained from taking the first Wilderness Basics step of gathering background wilderness information. The map on the inside cover and the overview in chapter 2 reflect information found in the park’s 1974 wilderness recommendation, State of the Wilderness and Backcountry reports from 1992 through 2011, the 1999 General Management Plan, and the 2004 Commercial Services Plan. The second Wilderness Basics step develops the wilderness character narrative as a qualitative description of what is unique and special about the wilderness in Glacier National Park. Later in the report, chapter 8 completes the Wilderness Basics by identifying preliminary wilderness issues to inform the scope of addi-tional data and planning needs. It presents considerations to inform continued wilderness stewardship in Glacier National Park.
Most of this report’s content is in chapters 3 through 7 in the form of descriptions of the wilderness character indicators for each quality of wilderness character and definitions of the measures associated with those indicators. There are also tables that orga-nize the measures’ data that were gathered and input into a wilderness character database. This material resulted from taking the first two steps of a second building block: Wilderness Character Assessment. The final step for that block calls for park staff to conduct ongoing monitoring of the measures presented and others vital to wilderness stewardship. The following outline pres-ents the selected measures by I) quality, A) indicator, i) measure, and a) component.
I) Natural A) Plant and animal species and communities i) Number of indigenous species that are listed as threatened or endangered ii) Distribution of invasive non-indigenous species a) Number of accessible west side bull trout supporting lakes invaded by lake trout b) Number of wilderness acres infested by noxious weeds B) Physical resources i) Air quality a) Ozone b) Nitrogen deposition c) Sulfur deposition d) Visibility ii) Water quality a) Temperature b) Dissolved oxygen c) pH d) Specific conductance e) Total suspended solids C) Biophysical processes i) Climate change a) Average annual temperature b) Area of Sperry Glacier ii) Vulnerability to non indigenous species a) Aquatic invasive species b) Eastern boundary rangelands II) Solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation A) Remoteness from sights and sounds of people inside the wilderness i) Amount of visitor use a) Number of recreation visits b) Number of backcountry use nights ii) Campground impact index
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B) Remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the wilderness i) Number of audible events C) Facilities that decrease self-reliant recreation i) Number of bridges in trail inventory ii) Number of designated backcountry campgrounds D) Management restrictions on visitor behavior i) Index of visitor behavior restrictions III) Undeveloped A) Non-recreational structures, installations, and developments i) Index of authorized physical development a) Buildings b) Dams c) Roads d) Infrastructure e) Mines B) Inholdings i) Acres of inholdings C) Use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport i) Index of administrative non-emergency use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport IV) Untrammeled A) Actions authorized by the federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment i) Number of exotic plant infestation acres treated B) Actions not authorized by the Federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment i) Number of acres burned due to human ignition V) Other features A) Deterioration or loss of cultural resources integral to wilderness character i) Index of conditional status of classified structures ii) Index of conditional status of representative registered archeological sites The final building block is to Integrate Wilderness Character into Management and Operations. It calls for park staff to continue taking steps to use minimum requirement analyses in decision making and to take steps to consider wilderness character in operations.
iv Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Management restrictions on visitor behavior 13Solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation quality data table 14
Chapter 5 - Undeveloped Quality 15Non-recreational structures, installations, and developments 15 Inholdings 15 Use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport 15 Undeveloped quality data table 17
Chapter 6 - Untrammeled Quality 18 Actions authorized by the federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment 18 Actions not authorized by the federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment 18 Untrammeled quality data table 19
Chapter 7 - Other Features Quality 20 Deterioration or loss of cultural resources integral to wilderness character 20 Other features quality data table 21
Chapter 8 - Issues and Future Planning 22 The State of the wilderness and backcountry 22 Wilderness stewardship issues and planning 22
References 24
Contents
Proposed / Recommended Glacier Wilderness Map - Inside front cover Executive summary ii
Chapter 1 - Introduction to Wilderness Character 1Qualities of wilderness character 1Benefits of defining and using wilderness character 2 Wilderness character qualities and associated indicators table 3
Chapter 2 - Wilderness Character Narrative 4Overview 4Natural quality 5Solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation quality 6Undeveloped quality 6Untrammeled quality 7Other features quality 7
Chapter 3 - Natural Quality 8Plant and animal species and communities 8Physical resources 9Biophysical processes 10Natural quality data table 11
Chapter 4 - Solitude or Primitive and Unconfined Recreation Quality 12Remoteness from sights and sounds of people inside the wilderness 12Remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the wilderness 12Facilities that decrease self-reliant recreation 12
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1 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Chapter 1 | Introduction to Wilderness Character
The 1964 Wilderness Act directs federal agencies that manage wilderness to do so as to preserve wilderness character. The intent of this report is to help ensure that wilderness character is preserved now and in the future in Glacier National Park. This chapter introduces wilderness character.
Wilderness Character Wilderness character may be described as the combination of biophysical, experiential, and symbolic ideals that distinguishes wilderness from other lands. These ideals combine to form a complex and subtle set of relationships between the land, its management, and the meanings people associate with wilderness.
This understanding is based on the identifica-tion of three mutually reinforcing societal ide-als that are integral to the historic purpose of wilderness and to understanding wilderness character:
• Natural environments that are relatively free from modern human impacts;
• Personal experiences in natural environ-ments that are relatively free from the encum-brances and signs of modern society;
• Symbolic meanings and relationships that people and society have with wilderness including humility, self-restraint, and being interconnected with the larger community of life.
The qualities of wilderness characterThe qualities were selected from the Section 2(c) Definition of Wilderness from the Act as broadly encompassing wilderness character across all wilderness areas:
Natural —Wilderness ecological systems are substantially free from the effects of modern civilization. This quality captures effects of modern people on ecological systems inside wilderness since the time the area was desig-nated or studied for proposal / recommenda-tion.
Solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation —Wilderness provides oppor-tunities for people to experience solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation, includ-ing the values of inspiration and physical and
mental challenge. This quality includes condi-tions that affect the opportunity for people to experience solitude or primitive, unconfined recreation, rather than monitoring visitor ex-periences per se.
Undeveloped —Wilderness is essentially with-out permanent improvements or modern human occupation. This quality relates to the presence of non-recreational structures, con-struction, habitations, and other evidence of modern human presence or occupation.
Untrammeled —Wilderness is essentially unhindered and free from modern human control or manipulation. This quality relates to human activities that directly control or manipulate the components or processes of ecological systems inside wilderness.
Other features —In many cases, a park may find that the above four qualities do not fully express the values and features found in its wilderness areas. The NPS has defined a fifth quality, Other Features, based on the last clause of Section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act which states that a wilderness “may also con-tain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.” This fifth quality may be used by a park to capture elements that are not included in the other four qualities. Unlike the preced-ing four qualities that apply throughout every wilderness, this fifth quality is unique to an in-dividual wilderness based on the features that are inside that wilderness. These features typi-cally occur only in specific locations within a wilderness and include cultural resources, paleontological localities, or any feature gen-erally not under the other four qualities that has scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. This quality is preserved or improved by the preservation or restoration of such features, even when such management actions degrade other qualities of wilderness charac-ter. Loss or impacts to such features degrade this quality of wilderness character.
“...to know the wilderness is to know a profound humility, ... to sense dependence and interdependence, indebtedness and responsibility.” – Howard Zahniser
The mountain goat (previous page) is recognized as the symbol of Glacier National Park.
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These five qualities interact in direct and sub-tle ways that may complement or conflict with the others. For example, allowing a natural fire ignition to burn preserves both the natural and untrammeled qualities of a wilderness. In contrast, suppressing a natural ignition degrades the untrammeled quality, the use of helicopters or other motorized equipment degrades the undeveloped and solitude quali-ties, and the long-term effects of suppression may degrade the natural quality. A decision to protect or improve one quality of wilderness character may directly degrade another qual-ity. For example, designated campsites may be necessary to protect solitude, prevent veg-etation trampling, or avoid negative wildlife encounters, but they degrade the unconfined quality of wilderness character by requiring visitors to camp only in designated sites. In all cases, using the framework of wilderness character does not drive a particular decision or management action—it is a tool to help staff be comprehensive, systematic, and consistent in evaluating potential benefits and impacts to make an informed and transparent decision.
Like a violin composed of separate pieces that interact to form something greater than the sum of its parts (music and the feeling this music evokes), these five qualities together form a complex set of relationships between the land, its stewardship, its users, and the values and benefits that society derives from wilderness. These five qualities form both the physical and stewardship setting of a wilder-ness. This setting in turn provides tangible scientific, cultural, educational, and economic values to society (Cordell and others 2005). For example, the scientific value of wilder-ness as a reference baseline to assess and un-derstand the effects of climate change results from this setting. Cultural values of the wil-derness setting provide a connection to place, include artifact and relics that a visitor can “discover,” provide insight into the history of a place, and enhance connection to past gen-erations and ancestors. Spiritual (Ashley 2001; Moore 2007), ethical (Cafaro 2011), and other intangible values and benefits to society also derive from this wilderness setting.
Indicators associated with each quality of wilderness character Each quality of wilderness character has asso-ciated indicators that describe different major
elements or components of that quality. Indi-cators for the qualities that apply nationwide and throughout a wilderness are derived from Keeping It Wild; these indicators are intended to apply to every wilderness (Table 1). In con-trast, indicators for the fifth quality, Other fea-tures, must be identified locally because they are unique to each park, although an indicator for cultural resources is provided in this table because they often occur in NPS wilderness.
Benefits of defining and using wilderness characterDefining wilderness character provides a stan-dard nomenclature to help staff and the public understand wilderness and assess stewardship trade-offs. At the national level, the qualities of wilderness character provide a foundation and framework for consistent stewardship across all wilderness areas. At the local level, under-standing these qualities improves internal and external communication and helps staff make more informed decisions.
Better communication among park staff—In-ternally, staff will realize that wilderness char-acter is the responsibility of all divisions and programs within a park by understanding how their work directly contributes to wilderness stewardship. For example, a wildlife biolo-gist would understand how data on mammal populations directly contributes to tracking change in the natural quality of wilderness character and how collaring animals degrades the untrammeled quality. Trail crews would understand the reasons why non-motorized equipment and non-mechanical transport pre-serve the undeveloped quality of wilderness character even though their use may not be as convenient.
Better communication with the public—Exter-nally, standardized nomenclature provides a clearer basis for discussions with the public about a park’s wilderness and its stewardship. Wilderness issues are often value-laden and public discussions can quickly bog down in words and ideas that have different meanings to different people. The qualities of wilder-ness character offer a tangible and consistent framework for park staff to discuss wilderness and its stewardship with the public, in turn fostering better communication and dialogue. Using the concept of wilderness character can also help interpretive and educational staff
DRAFT April 2012
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Wilderness Stewardship Division
Wilderness Stewardship Program
A User Guide to Integrating Wilderness Character into Park Planning, Management, and Monitoring
Keeping It Wild in the National Park Service Service
Top: Keeping It Wild by Landres and others was published in 2008 to promote and inform an interagency strategy to monitor trends in wilderness character across the National Wilderness Preservations System.
Middle: In 2009 the Technical Guide by Landres and others was introduced to inform approaches to monitoring wil-derness character.
Bottom: The NPS Wilderness Character Integration Team released a draft version of Keeping It Wild in the National Park Service in 2012 for preliminary work integrating wilderness character into park planning, management, and monitoring.
Peter Landres, Chris Barns, John G. Dennis, Tim Devine, Paul Geissler, Curtis S. McCasland, Linda Merigliano, Justin Seastrand, Ralph Swain
An Interagency Strategy to Monitor Trends in Wilderness Character Across the
National Wilderness Preservation System
Keeping It Wild:United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Research Station
General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-212
July 2008
3 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Table 1. Wilderness character qualities and associated indicators.
Quality Indicator
Natural Plant and animal species and communities
Physical Resources
Biophysical processes
Solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation Remoteness from sights and sounds of people inside the wilderness
Remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the wilderness
Facilities that decrease self-reliant recreation
Management restrictions on visitor behavior
Undeveloped Non-recreational structures, installations, and developments
Inholdings
Use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport
Untrammeled Actions authorized by the Federal land manager that manipulate the bio-physical environment
Actions not authorized by the Federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment
Other features Deterioration or loss of cultural resources integral to wilderness character
Other locally identified indicators
design programs to help the public better un-derstand the values and meanings of wilder-ness and its stewardship.
Better decisions—Understanding wilderness character can help all staff see how various management pieces fit together to affect wil-derness, and how individual decisions and actions work toward degrading or preserv-ing wilderness character. Discussing how proposed actions may affect the five qualities helps staff evaluate the impacts of potential decisions more comprehensively, systemati-cally, and efficiently. For example, a proposal to install a toilet in a heavily-used area to reduce resource damage can be evaluated in terms of the positive and negative effects of the toilet on the natural, undeveloped, and solitude or primitive and unconfined qualities. Using these five qualities of wilderness charac-ter, cumulative impacts can also be evaluated in a consistent and systematic manner to aid decision making. Such transparency and ac-countability may also improve the likelihood that decisions will stand the test of a court challenge.
In addition to improving communication and decision making, the concept of wilderness character benefits park wilderness steward-ship by:
Clarifying how stewardship decisions and actions influence trends in wilderness character—There are trade-offs in almost all aspects of wilderness stewardship, and evaluating what is gained and what is lost in terms of the five qualities of wilderness char-acter helps staff determine priorities for what should be done, and where.
Providing a set of key wilderness stewardship goals—Wilderness stewardship has tradition-ally been fraught with uncertainty and per-sonal opinions about what should or should not be done. The five qualities of wilderness character help link the legislative direction of the Wilderness Act and other enabling legisla-tion to management action, or lack thereof.
Providing a comprehensive and systematic approach to evaluating impacts in project planning—A standardized approach improves accountability, transparency, and defensibility.
Creating a legacy of staff experience and knowledge about a wilderness using the framework of wilderness character—Such a legacy may be the most meaningful way to document and understand the changes in wilderness character that are occurring in a wilderness and its stewardship over time. This legacy is especially important with staff turn-over and the increasing pace of environmental and social change.
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Glacier’s Triple Divide Peak is a rather rare hydrologic feature. From the summit, wild waters flow to the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and Hudson Bay.
PRAIRIESPECIES
NORTHERNSPECIES
MARITIMESPECIES
SOUTHERNROCKY
MOUNTAINSPECIES
Waterton-GlacierInternational Peace Park
Hudson Baydrainage
Gulf of Mexicodrainage
PacificOcean
drainage
C A N A D A
U N I T E D S T A T E S
Missouri
Mis
siss
ippi
Riv
er
River
River
Columbia River
Saskatchewan
Nelso
n
River
“No words can describe the grandeur and majesty of the mountains, and even photographs seem hopelessly to dwarf and belittle the most impressive peaks.” – George Bird Grinnell
Overview The Wilderness Act of 1964 directed the Sec-retary of the Interior to “review every road-less area of five thousand contiguous acres or more in the national parks…” and to “report to the President his recommendation as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each such area… for preservation as wilderness.”
Wilderness status—Glacier National Park completed a study and environmental impact statement in 1973 to comply with the Wilder-ness Act. As a result, over 90 percent of the park was proposed to be formally designated wilderness. President Richard Nixon sub-mitted the Glacier National Park wilderness recommendation to Congress on June 13, 1974. It was recommended that 927,550 acres of wilderness within Glacier National Park be designated by an act of Congress. A bill was subsequently introduced to formally designate the land as wilderness. The bill was never en-acted, but since that time every president has reaffirmed the recommendation.
Amendments to the 1974 wilderness recom-mendation were made in 1984 and 1994 to make adjustments that increased the amount of proposed wilderness to 963,155 acres. This latest proposal was presented and reviewed in the environmental impact statement for the 1999 General Management Plan. Areas cur-rently not managed as wilderness include: the buffered visitor service and rustic zones along with road and utility corridors delineated in the 2004 Commercial Services Plan; areas ad-jacent to these zones that are smaller “island” areas; private inholding parcels not within the aforementioned zones and access areas associ-ated with the inholdings.
Glacier National Park, in the Rocky Moun-tains of northwestern Montana, contains nearly 1,600 square miles of rugged mountain country. Nestled among the higher peaks are many glaciers and 200 beautiful lakes. Horse-back and foot trails interweave almost all sec-tions of the park.
Chapter 2 | Wilderness Character Narrative
The wilderness in Glacier National Park is a unique and special place. This chapter is a positive and affirming qualitative description to communicate
wilderness values and is organized by each quality of wilderness character.
5 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Above: A mountain goat takes a walk on the wild side near Logan Pass.
Below: A Western Tanager is unbounded and knows neither wilderness nor civilization, only freedom.
This is a land of sharp, precipitous peaks, and knife-edged ridges, girdled with forests. Alpine glaciers lie in the shadow of towering walls at the heads of great ice-carved valleys. Streams flow northward to Hudson Bay, eastward to the Gulf of Mexico, and westward to the Pa-cific.
Natural quality Glacier is at the core of the Crown of the Continent ecosystem, one of the most ecologi-cally intact areas remaining in the temperate regions of the world.
Glacier is one of the few places in the contigu-ous 48 states that continue to support natural populations of all indigenous carnivores and most of their prey species.
Glacier is noted for its remarkable number and diversity of plant and animal species, a result of the park’s unusual geographic posi-tion and elevation. Five floristic provinces and three major watersheds converge in an area influenced by both maritime and continental climates. While predominantly associated with the northern Rocky Mountains, Glacier is at the southern edge of arctic-boreal influences. Pacific Coast and Great Plains plant and ani-mal associations reach their eastern and west-ern limits in these parks. Past glaciation has isolated many plant and animal populations, and the steep terrain provides a broad range of climates for a wide variety of plant com-munities.
The geographic location, climate, and topo-graphic gradients of Glacier have fostered and sustained an ecology that includes the plants and animals of a much larger region. The park supports about 1,200 species of vas-cular plants, 675 bryophytes and lichens, 261 birds (including accidentals), 63 mammals, 23 fish, and at least 8 reptiles and amphibians. Invertebrate inventories are incomplete but show a few hundred species for Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), coleopteran (beetles), and hymenoptera (flies, ants, bees, and wasps) combined.
Five large ecoregions are found in Glacier: alpine tundra, subalpine forest, montane for-est, aspen parkland, and fescue grassland. These include extensive stands of lodgepole and mixed conifer forests, riparian vegetative
zones, and intermediate alpine plant associa-tions.
Glacier is noted for its abundant wildlife. There is habitat for over 300 terrestrial wild-life species, including several endangered or threatened birds and mammals and many rare species. The Glacier area offers a sanctuary and a corridor for wildlife interaction, migra-tion, and genetic exchange. Due to the distinct ecological setting, a number of southern and prairie subspecies appear in this area.
The aquatic resources of the park have been examined in some detail. Many drainages where there were originally no fish were stocked at an early date, often with nonnative species. Native fish were probably restricted to the main drainages and those portions of tributary streams that lie below waterfalls and other migration barriers. Twenty-three spe-cies of fish have been documented in Glacier. Glacier National Park provides one of the last strong-holds for the native subspecies of west-slope cutthroat trout.
Several hundred aquatic invertebrate species have been identified in the park, and scientists believe that many undescribed plankton spe-cies are yet to be discovered. Researchers have relatively recently discovered two amphipods species new to science, the first troglobites (aquatic cave dwelling insects) to be identified in Glacier National Park. The opossum shrimp (Mysis relicta) occurs naturally in Upper Waterton Lake. This shrimp is a relic species that exists in the park because of the pattern of continental glaciers and the glacial lakes associated with them. As the southern mar-gin of the ice retreated, the shrimp were left stranded in a series of lakes, and slight differ-ences were fixed so that they are now known as separate species.
Exotic plant species such as spotted knapweed and common timothy grow in the park as the result of human activity, and the presence of such exotics reduces the diversity of plant communities. It is unlikely that future manage-ment actions would totally remove exotics from the park. At best their numbers would be contained. New populations of exotic species are being controlled through management ac-tions.
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Changes in nearby land management, increas-ing visitation, and climate change are challeng-ing Glacier’s resource managers. To maintain the natural quality it is important for the stewards of Glacier’s wilderness to protect the healthy populations of native species, study adaptations or remove invasive non-native species, restore unhealthy populations of na-tive species to health, and restore or perpetu-ate natural processes that have been disrupted.
Solitude or a primitive and unconfined quality The total value of wilderness to humanity is incalculable. The capacity of wilderness to provide for increasingly rare recreational ex-periences is challenging to gauge. However, Glacier’s wilderness provides outstanding opportunities for people to engage their own wild side in the context of the greater wilder-ness.
There is a diversity of experiences available to visitors to Glacier’s wilderness. Visitors may experience solitude, a deep connection with nature, discovery, revitalization, freedom from the pressures of society, or personal challenge and self-reliance. The wrinkled topography with its deep valleys gives people remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the wilderness. The wilderness setting gives visi-tors the opportunity to sense humility while recognizing the role and involvement of hu-manity in the wider world and universe.
Glacier offers a diversity of wilderness experi-ences. The majority of backcountry camping is regulated with travel restrictions through permits, prearranged itineraries and desig-nated campgrounds. However, it is a flexible system with access to reserved and walk-up permits. Visitors to the Nyack and a few other areas of the park are not regulated to camping in designated campgrounds. There are greater opportunities for primitive experiences in those regions lacking facilities that decrease self-reliant recreation.
There are some threats to this quality as well. In regard to the remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the wilderness, en-ergy development on adjacent lands may rise into visitor sight lines and engine noise from land and air traffic impacts the wilderness soundscape. Opportunities for solitude are
changing with transitions in visitor use pat-terns. The Going-to-the-Sun-Road transit sys-tem may be shifting the predominant patterns of visitor use along the Sun Road corridor.
Within the wilderness matrix of Glacier Na-tional Park, managers have a variety of lever-age points at which they can take action to fa-cilitate opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation. As they have done in the past, they will continue to take a calcu-lated approach to ensure that visitors have a diversified range of opportunities to engage the wilderness.
Undeveloped quality The vast expanses of Glacier’s wilderness exemplify the undeveloped quality. Etymo-logically, a thing is developed when it is “un-rolled” and put to purposes for improvement. These may be improvements for administra-tive or scientific ends. While there are many administrative and scientific structures within the wilderness, the majority of the landscape retains its primeval character and influence.
The Glacier countryside has an adequately structured ecosystem enveloping a community of life that is thrown from the past and contin-ues now and in the future with no strict need for human designed improvement or over-sight. Glacier’s wilderness character is dimin-ished by the presence of hovels and fences, just like the sensibility expressed in Montanan Robert Fletcher’s “Don’t Fence Me In”.
Several areas within the wilderness do, how-ever, contain modern developments. Remote patrol cabins and ranger stations dot the land-scape along with fire lookouts, scientific in-strumentation, dams, and other administrative structures. The enclaves at Granite Park and Sperry Chalets, despite their iconic status in the cultural history of the park, are commer-cial developments that greatly contrast their wild surroundings and remain high profile sites in on an otherwise undeveloped horizon.
Overall, the majority of the recommended wilderness remains primarily free from per-manent improvements or human habitation. This unspoiled condition must be preserved in order to render the Glacier wilderness truly wild. National Park Service stewards must be continually vigilant by carefully considering
“There is no voice in all of the world so insistent to me as the wordless call of these mountains. I shall go back. Those who go once always hope to go back. The lure of the great free spaces is in their blood.” – Mary Roberts Rinehart
7 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
the minimum tool required to achieve stew-ardship goals.
Untrammeled quality A trammel can be an instrument used for gauging and adjusting parts of a machine. The processes that perpetually make the place called Glacier National Park operate organi-cally, not mechanically. There is an irreducible integrity that fundamentally binds all things concretely in Glacier National Park.
The park is involved in a dramatic and excep-tionally long geologic history with processes associated with mountain building and glacia-tion. The unrestrained tectonic forces have created one of the largest and most visible overthrust faults on the North American con-tinent. A continental apex rises up in the park at one of the few oceanic triple divides on Earth. Wild waters that begin flowing to three oceans come from the wilderness of Glacier National Park. These flows begin freely and autonomously and represent the self-willed untrammeled quality.
Perpetuating the untrammeled quality re-quires managers to restrain themselves, rather than the wilderness. Often, upholding the un-trammeled quality may degrade another qual-ity. Trade-offs are required. For example, inva-sive exotic species may be removed for natural species composition, but it is recognized as a trammeling manipulation of the wilderness.
Other features quality The fifth quality is unique to the park and is based on the features in Glacier. Human in-fluence has created a wide range of cultural resources. These include archeological sites; modern Native American ceremonial sites and ethnographic places of importance; and his-toric park administration structures.
Cultural resources represent the human expe-rience of our nation and preservation of these resources is one of the three primary objec-tives of the National Park Service’s mission. Cultural resources can benefit wilderness ar-eas by allowing visitors to understand and feel connected to the vital and varied relationships between people and nature.
Glacier encompasses over 200 known prehis-toric sites, some dating back to 10,000 BCE. The Chief Mountain and Two Medicine areas continue to be important ceremonial and re-ligious focal points for members of the Black-foot Nation. The Kootenai perceive significant meanings along the trail of the cedars, among other areas near McDonald Lake, and within the park. Tribal entities place significance on cultural resources and have different perspec-tives and relationships to landscapes that are unique to their culture. The tangible aspect of wilderness character might seem like an alien concept to the people whose ancestors walked these lands long before the arrival of western explorers.
Ninastako (Chief Mountain) is the home of Ksiistsikomm (Thunder). This is where raven fought with Thunder and where Thunder gave his pipe to the Blackfeet people.
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A brook trout, one of six non-na-tive fish within Glacier national park.
“When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe.” – John Muir
The Natural quality Monitoring the natural quality addresses how selected biological and physical resources in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environ-ments change over time. The three indicators reflect the tracking of trends in biological communities, physical resources, and biophys-ical processes.
Plant and animal species and communities This indicator tracks trends in selected plant and animal species and plant and animal communities, in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. There is no expectation for a complete species list and this indicator is not intended to provide such a list. Instead, this indicator tracks species and communities that are of concern, as well as species that are a threat to the indigenous species.
Measure: Number of indigenous species that are listed as threatened and endangered—Wilder-ness may serve as a place where populations of plant and animal species on state and fed-eral threatened and endangered species lists
can find some protection. Changes to the list-ing status of a species are tracked in this mea-sure. If the number of listed species changes between monitoring periods, the wilderness manager and resource specialists together need to interpret if this change degrades the natural quality of wilderness character. This interpretation needs to be done carefully because factors inside and outside the wilder-ness may affect listed species populations in either positive or negative ways. In 2012 there are three species in the park that are listed as threatened (Table 2).
Measure: Distribution of invasive non- indigenous species—Invasive species are com-monly defined as “an alien species whose in-troduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health”(Clinton 1999). With unnatural changes to the native fisheries and riparian environ-ments comes unknown effects. The most im-manent threat to Glacier’s waters is the loss of its native fish. For thousands of years, native fish like bull and westslope cutthroat trout
Chapter 3 | Natural Quality
This chapter describes the selected measures for the natural quality of wilderness character. It explains the indicators and presents details for the
corresponding selected measures relevant to Glacier National Park.
9 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
The current air quality monitor-ing program begain in 1980 in Glacier National Park at the NADP monitoring station.
have co-evolved in this ecosystem. They have survived drought, floods, wildfires, and other episodic events, making them better adapted to the local environment. In 2012, of the twelve accessible lakes on Glacier’s west side that support bull trout, lake trout have invaded nine (Table 2).
A major threat to the integrity of native plant and wildlife communities within Glacier Na-tional Park is the invasion, establishment, and spread of non-native plants. Most species are innocuous, but the most threatening like Spot-ted Knapweed may spread rapidly. Glacier has a program to prevent, control, and monitor the spread of exotics with annual database up-dates. Table 2 shows 2006 - 2011 areal data.
Physical resources This indicator tracks trends in selected physi-cal resources. A wide range of human-caused threats affects wilderness physical resources. These threats cross into a wilderness without regard to the wilderness boundary. Air and water pollutants along with climate change threaten the natural quality of wilderness character.
Measures: Air quality—Trends in air quality are monitored because of the effects of air pollutants on plants, animals, soil, and water inside wilderness. The 1977 Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments mandate affirma-
tive protection responsibilities on federal land managers within Class I lands designated by this Act and Class II lands designated after 1977. Several types of air pollutants are moni-tored at the Glacier National Park National Atmospheric Deposition Program monitoring station (MT05). Table 2 shows the data for air quality conditions at the park.
Measures: Water quality—This measure assess-es status (and eventually trends) in the physi-cal and chemical aspects of water. Despite the general importance of water and a myriad of national water monitoring programs, water monitoring in wilderness is generally con-ducted only for site-specific concerns. How-ever, in the park, the NPS Rocky Mountain Inventory and Monitoring Network (ROMN) works with the park to conduct long-term stream ecological integrity (SEI) monitoring using a randomized survey design that allows inference to the complete sampleable stream resource in the park. A recent report by Sch-weiger and others (in review) presents results from this survey of streams and rivers across the park during 2007 - 2009. Indicators in-clude NPS core water quality measures as well as water physiochemistry, physical habitat and bioassessment models from macroinvertebrate and algal assemblages. The ongoing monitor-ing includes annual sampling at 4 sentinel sites with the park-wide survey repeated when funding and management needs indicate.
National Park Service 10
Above upper: USGS researchers measure melting rates on Sperry Glacier.
Above lower: Invasive Zebra and Quagga mussels are quite small (2 to 3 cm) but pose great risk to native aquatic ecosystems.
Sperry Glacier in 1913 and 2008.
Table 2 includes results for select water qual-ity measures from the ROMN survey in 2007 - 2009. The values were produced using ana-lytical methods specific to a survey and are for the complete sampleable stream resource in the park. It is important to note that at the time this document was produced, the water quality results were in review. Therefore, any interpretation or future analyses must use the final version of the Glacier National Park Stream Ecological Integrity report by Schwei-ger and others. Biophysical processes This indicator tracks the alteration or disrup-tion of natural biophysical processes inside Glacier’s wilderness. The park is also embed-ded in its surrounding landscape, and since processes flow across the administrative boundary, conditions outside the wilderness affect what is occurring inside. These monitor-ing efforts focus on the natural processes that occur in the terrestrial, aquatic, and atmo-spheric systems inside wilderness. Ecological processes are the interactions that occur be-tween physical and biological components of ecosystems.
Measures: Climate change—These measures assess trends in selected aspects of the en-vironment that are strongly correlated with global climate change. Average annual temper-atures are accessed online through the US Cli-mate Reference Network. The size of Sperry Glacier has been systematically measured as a
benchmark for glacial retreat by USGS scien-tists in the park. Table 2 shows related data.
Measures: Vulnerability to non-indigenous species—Conditions outside the wilderness may foster movement of non-indigenous spe-cies into the wilderness. Zebra and Quagga mussels are well established in the Mississippi River drainage and are quickly spreading west, causing substantial ecological and economic damage as they go. A boating permit system was initiated in 2010 to reduce the risk of unintentional introduction of aquatic inva-sive species into park waters. The number of boating permits issued for vessels registered in states with known mussel populations mea-sures potential vulnerability (Table 2).
Livestock trespass has been an issue in the park since its establishment. There is concern about serious damage to vegetative resources, elk range, soils, and the potential of disease transmittal from domesticated livestock to Bighorn Sheep. Specifically, trespassing live-stock may spread noxious weeds. Addressing this historical issue will require considerable sensitivity, perseverance; and open collabora-tion, and cooperation between: the park, pub-lic agencies, Native American representatives, landowners, the general public, activists, and nongovernmental organizations. As of 2007, geospatial data indicate that 34.6 of the ap-proximately 44.6 miles of eastern park bound-ary abuts a range allotment (Table 2).
11 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
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Wil
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Ch
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Natu
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National Park Service 12
“Wild lands have cut deeper trails in my life than I will ever be able to make in the forest.” – Joseph W. Meeker
The Solitude or primitive and unconfined quality This quality addresses experiences available to people in Glacier’s proposed / recommended wilderness. The concern is for conditions that affect the opportunity for people who are visiting the park to experience solitude, primi-tive, and / or unconfined recreation.
Remoteness from sights and sounds of people inside the wilderness This indicator tracks the amount of recreation use that diminishes opportunities for solitude. A greater amount of use may cause more en-counters among groups, in turn decreasing opportunities for solitude (Hall 2001; Hammitt and Rutlin 1995). A greater amount of use also may affect opportunites for feelings of peace, quiet, and mental calm that are strongly asso-ciated with solitude.
Measure: Amount of visitor use—There are two data sources used to measure trends in the amount of visitor use. The first measure comes from the total annual recreation visits to the park. This relates day use in wilder-ness to opportunities for solitude. The second measure is backcountry use nights. One use night is equivalent to one person spending one night in the backcountry / wilderness of Glacier National Park. These may be coarse estimators because the size and capacity of the area strongly influence the potential effect of visitors on solitude, as does the timing of the visitations. This quality would be degraded if the amount of visitor use increases beyond a locally determined standard. Table 3 shows recent visitor use levels.
Measure: Campground impact—Resource impacts in the park’s designated backcountry campgrounds are evaluated annually. Park staff use a standardized evaluation system es-tablished in 1987. Bare ground and vegetative cover measurements are taken using an eight point transect method. Table 3 shows the im-pact indices from 2006 through 2011.
Remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the wilderness This indicator tracks selected conditions of land and airspace adjacent to the wilderness that affect visitors’ opportunities for solitude. Even though managers may not be able to take action to mitigate or prevent some of these conditions, their occurrences impact wilder-ness character. Measure: Extent and magnitude of intrusions on the natural soundscape—This measure tracks anthropogenic sounds that degrade the natural soundscape. It tracks the frequency of sound events generated by airplane over-flights; motorized equipment, vehicles; and other humans. These sounds have been ob-served and logged from set locations within the park chosen to represent specific sound-scape zones. These baseline data were gener-ated in 2004 (Table 3). The quality is degraded if the number of intrusion events exceeds a determined standard.
Facilities that decrease self-reliant recreation Opportunities for primitive and unconfined recreation are most outstanding where visitors must rely on their own skills to navigate, trav-el, and live, and where they have a high degree of freedom over their own actions and deci-sions (Borrie and Roggenbuck 1998; Johnson and others 2005; Roggenbuck 2004). This in-dicator tracks trends in facilities that are used primarily for recreational purposes, regardless of whether these are for resource protection or visitor convenience. These facilities degrade the perceived opportunity for primitive and unconfined recreation. Measure: Number of bridges—Opportunities for primitive recreation are greatest where few facilities exist and visitors must use their skills to navigate and travel in wilderness condi-tions. Even though bridges add comfort and security, visitors may identify them as reducing the feeling of primitiveness. The trails inven-tory lists 202 bridges as of 2011 (Table 3).
Chapter 4 | Solitude or Primitive and Unconfined Recreation Quality
This chapter describes the selected measures for the solitude or primitive
and unconfined recreation quality of wilderness character.
13 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Measure: Number of designated backcountry campgrounds—Recreation facilities provided by management such as campgrounds reduce the feeling of primitive recreation. These fa-cilities consolidate impacts but also make the experience more comfortable or easy. Even though visitors may enjoy such facilities, and their use lessens the potential for bear en-counters, they are inconsistent with primitive recreation. As of 2012, there are 62 designated campgrounds not counting the non-wilder-ness but backcountry campground at Round Prairie. Management restrictions on visitor behaviorThis indicator tracks trends in park restric-tions on visitor behavior relating to wilder-ness. Visitors’ opportunities to experience freedom from management are significantly affected by the number and type of regulations in place (McCool 2004).
Measure: Index of visitor behavior restrictions—This measure is composed of the number of restrictions and the extent of the area within the wilderness affected by the restriction. Examples of such restrictions in-clude prohibited or limited use of campfires, the required use of designated campsites or campsite setbacks, restrictions on stock use, and requiring permits for wilderness visits. The Technical Guide by Landres and others in-formed the approach for computing the index value of 26 (Table 3).
Above: Bridges facilitate rec-reational use but degrade the primitive quality of wilderness.
Right: The park recently began night sky interpretive programs.
Below: A potential measure for the remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the wilderness is night sky darkness. The data for this measure are preliminary and are not integrat-ed into these building blocks. The image shown is a panoramic projection of night sky bright-ness depicted in false color, and was taken from Huckleberry Ridge on the night of Septem-ber 13, 2009. The panorama is centered at 90 degrees azimuth (east) and shows natural aurora borealis to the north, anthropo-genic light to the SSW, and the Milky Way clearly on the image.
National Park Service 14
Qu
alit
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dic
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Go
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20
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203
1348
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Hig
h
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Pu
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tist
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ttp
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Stat
e o
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ilder
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s an
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ackc
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Sect
ion
1
Cam
pg
rou
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co
nd
itio
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Imp
act
rati
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s g
oo
d (
1.0
- 1.
5), f
air
(1.5
1 -
2.2)
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or
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rres
po
nd
to
leve
l 1, 2
, 3. R
ou
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cam
pg
rou
nd
no
t in
clu
ded
.
Ind
ex /
Nu
mb
er -
In
teg
er
1
2006
- 6
8 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2007
- 6
5 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2008
- 6
9 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2009
- 6
3 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2010
- 6
8 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2011
- 6
6 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
Stat
e o
f th
e W
ilder
nes
s an
d B
ackc
ou
ntr
y R
epo
rt:
Sect
ion
12
If a
ll ca
mp
gro
un
d
imp
act
rati
ng
s ar
e g
oo
d, i
nd
ex =
62;
g
reat
er v
alu
es
deg
rad
e w
ilder
nes
s ch
arac
ter
Sou
nd
scap
eA
ir t
ou
r ai
rcra
ft (
ATA
): a
ir t
ou
r o
per
atio
n in
tru
sio
n b
ased
on
ty
pe
of
airc
raft
an
d p
roxi
mit
y to
kn
ow
n a
ir t
ou
r ro
ute
s. O
ther
ai
rcra
ft (
OA
): c
om
mer
cial
, gen
eral
avi
atio
n, o
r m
ilita
ry a
ircr
aft
intr
usi
on
s. H
um
an e
ven
ts (
H):
hik
ers,
cam
per
s, t
alki
ng
, mo
tor
veh
icle
s, t
rain
s.La
titu
de
/ Lo
ng
itu
de
(dec
imal
deg
rees
)
Sper
ry c
amp
gro
un
d -
Au
g 9
- 1
8O
bse
rvat
ion
du
rati
on
(h
h:m
m:s
s) -
ele
vati
on
(ft
): 4
:36:
35 -
661
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2004
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8; O
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148
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113.
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ug
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20
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serv
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hh
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ft):
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393
120
04 -
ATA
- 8
; OA
- 2
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90
48.4
9885
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13.8
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rid
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ug
12
- 21
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serv
atio
n d
ura
tio
n (
hh
:mm
:ss)
- e
leva
tio
n (
ft):
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6:30
- 5
580
120
04 -
ATA
- 4
; OA
- 3
; H -
150
48.9
8101
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wm
an la
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g 7
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bse
rvat
ion
du
rati
on
(h
h:m
m:s
s) -
ele
vati
on
(ft
): 5
:19:
26 -
416
61
2004
- A
TA -
3; O
A -
3; H
- 2
348
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62 /
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91
Prim
itiv
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Nu
mb
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rail
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ry
The
nu
mb
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f tr
ails
giv
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th
e tr
ails
fea
ture
s in
ven
tory
of
sect
ion
16
of
the
Stat
e o
f th
e W
ilder
nes
s an
d B
ackc
ou
ntr
y re
po
rts
Co
un
t -
Bri
dg
es /
Nu
mb
er -
Inte
ger
1
2006
- 1
96 -
Go
od
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igh
2007
- 1
97 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2008
- 1
98 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2009
- 1
98 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2010
- 1
98 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2011
- 2
02 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
Stat
e o
f th
e W
ilder
nes
s an
d B
ackc
ou
ntr
y R
epo
rt:
Sect
ion
16
May
incl
ud
e so
me
bri
dg
es t
hat
are
no
t w
ith
in p
rop
ose
d /
reco
mm
end
ed
wild
ern
ess
bo
un
dar
y.
Nu
mb
er o
f ca
mp
gro
un
ds
The
nu
mb
er o
f d
esig
nat
ed b
ackc
ou
ntr
y ca
mp
gro
un
ds
Co
un
t -
Cam
pg
rou
nd
s /
Nu
mb
er -
Inte
ger
1
2006
- 6
2 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2007
- 6
2 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2008
- 6
2 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2009
- 6
2 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2010
- 6
2 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
20
11 -
62
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
Stat
e o
f th
e W
ilder
nes
s an
d B
ackc
ou
ntr
y R
epo
rt:
Sect
ion
16
Do
es n
ot
incl
ud
e R
ou
nd
Pra
rie
(no
n-
wild
ern
ess)
or
site
s al
on
g N
ort
h o
r M
idd
le
Fork
Riv
ers
Ind
ex o
f vi
sito
r b
ehav
ior
rest
rict
ion
s
A w
eig
hte
d in
dex
of
rest
rict
ion
s o
n v
isit
or
beh
avio
r, w
ith
sc
ore
s (0
to
3)
for
each
of
11 c
ateg
ori
es w
eig
hte
d b
y g
eog
rap
hic
ext
ent
(1 e
qu
als
sub
area
, 2 e
qu
als
wild
ern
ess
wid
e). S
core
s o
n t
he
ind
ex r
ang
e fr
om
0 t
o 4
6.In
dex
/ N
um
ber
-
Inte
ger
520
12 -
26
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
Tech
nic
al G
uid
e fo
r M
on
ito
rin
g S
elec
ted
C
on
dit
ion
s R
elat
ed t
o
Wild
ern
ess
Ch
arac
ter
Ind
ex r
atin
g
det
erm
ined
usi
ng
ru
bri
c in
Tab
le 6
5 p
. 21
9 G
TR W
O-8
0 U
SFS
Wild
Ch
ar. T
ech
Gu
ide
Man
agem
ent
rest
rict
ion
s o
n v
isit
or
beh
avio
r
Bas
elin
e am
bie
nt
sou
nd
le
vels
in G
laci
er N
atio
nal
Pa
rk b
y C
ynth
ia L
ee e
t al
. (2
009)
Rem
ote
nes
s fr
om
sig
hts
an
d s
ou
nd
s o
f p
eop
le
insi
de
the
wild
ern
ess
Typ
e -
Even
ts /
Nu
mb
er -
Inte
ger
Rem
ote
nes
s fr
om
area
s o
uts
ide
the
wild
ern
ess
Faci
litie
s th
at d
ecre
ase
self
-rel
ian
t re
crea
tio
n
15 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
“There is a limit to the number of lands of shoreline on the lakes; there is a limit to the number of lakes in existence; there is a limit to the mountainous area of the world, and ...there are portions of natural scenic beauty which... of a right should be the property of all people.” – Arthur Carhart
The Undeveloped quality This quality pertains to the presence of de-velopments because they are clear evidence of human occupation and modification. Only developments that are intended for non-recreational purposes are monitored for this quality.
Non-recreational structures, installations, and developments For many people, wilderness is defined by its lack of developments. When most people think about the undeveloped quality of wil-derness, they envision an area without lasting signs of human use and occupation, free from inhabited structures, without utilities and scientific installations. As stated in the Wilder-ness Act of 1964, wilderness is intended to contrast “with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape.”
Measure: Index of authorized physical development—This measure involves the cal-culation of a development level index, which assesses the cumulative development level of each occurrence of a specific component item. Components with a relatively low level of development are assigned a value of 1, com-ponents with a moderate level of development are assigned a value of 2, and components with a high level of development are assigned a value of 3. The index uses a modified version of the development weighting scheme present-ed in Chapter 6 of Landres and others’ Techni-cal Guide. The method here incorporates only the buildings, dams, roads, infrastructure, and mines components. The component indices are multiplied by the inherent weights of the physical evidence with buildings weighted at 2x and dams, roads, infrastructure, and mines at 3x. Table 4 gives the component indices and the total development index. Inholdings Because inholdings interior to wilderness are not given the same protections as the wilder-ness lands around them, these lands can be
developed for various purposes at the discre-tion of the landowner. These lands can be roaded and logged or, more commonly, de-veloped with recreational lodges, facilities, or private residences. Due to the vulnerability of these lands to development, and the adverse effect this development would have on the surrounding wilderness values, inholdings are afforded a high priority for acquisition or ex-change. Glacier National Park has successfully negotiated the acquisition of several proper-ties in recent years. Measure: Acres of inholder lands—The number of acres of inholdings was selected to repre-sent changes to the indicator over time. Al-though it is unlikely that the acreage will ever increase, the number of acres may decrease over the years as inholdings are acquired through purchase or exchange. As the num-ber of acres of inholdings decrease, it will be interpreted as improving the wilderness char-acter of the surrounding lands. As of August 2012 there are 231.93 acres of inholder lands considered potential wilderness. This includes the holdings at Cummings Meadow, the Ap-gar Mountains, Glacier Summer sites, Glacier Park Villa Estates, and Cracker Mine. There are ten more parcels along Glacier Route Sev-en at Big Prairie totalling 1.48 acres. The land area measures are based upon GIS polygons and may not be identical to field survey assess-ments. Table 4 gives inholder acres differenti-ated by road access.
Use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport This indicator tracks the actual use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport. Motor vehicles include any land, water, or air vehicles that are gas or electric powered, including motor boats, aircraft, or snowmobiles. Motorized equipment includes any machines or tools that use a motor or engine, such as chain saws or generators. Mechanical transport includes the use of any contrivance for moving people or material
Chapter 5 | Undeveloped Quality
This chapter describes the selected measures for the undeveloped quality of wilderness character. It explains the indicators and presents details for the
corresponding selected measures relevant to Glacier National Park.
National Park Service 16
Wilderness management ne-cessitates trade-offs. Despite degrading the undeveloped quality, motor boats help cull non-native fish populations in favor of the natural quality.
Park personnel complete Mini-mum Requirement Decision Guides to carefully consider alternatives before recommend-ing the right tool for the job.
in or over land, water, or air, having moving parts or providing a mechanical advantage to the user and powered by a living or nonliving power source. Measure: Index of administrative non-emergency use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport—This measure tracks the use of motorized equipment and mechanical trans-port administrative, and other non-emergency purposes (including maintenance, facility in-stallation, and scientific endeavors), reflecting the status and trends of such use. The index is computed using the equipment weighting scheme on page 170 of the Landres and others’ Technical Guide. There is moderate confidence for the data presented for this measure. The clarity of the data for 2006 through 2011 and time constraints inhibited the explicit deter-mination of every instance of mechanized or motorized equipment use. Chapter 8 offers suggestions for this issue. Table 4 presents the motorized and mechanized indices.
To protect the resource and for the greater good of the wilder-ness, a helicopter was the right tool to help install an evapora-tive toilet at Hole-in-the-Wall campground.
17 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Gla
cier
Nat
ion
al P
ark
Wild
ern
ess
Ch
arac
ter
Mo
nit
ori
ng
Dat
a fo
r U
nd
evel
op
ed Q
ual
ity
Qu
alit
y
Ind
icat
or
M
easu
re
Des
crip
tio
n
Un
it o
f M
easu
re /
Dat
a Ty
pe
Freq
uen
cy
(Yea
rs)
Yea
r -
Dat
a -
Co
nd
itio
n /
Sou
rce
Co
mm
ents
Un
dev
elo
ped
No
n-r
ecre
atio
nal
st
ruct
ure
s, in
stal
lati
on
s,
dev
elo
pm
ents
Dev
elo
pm
ent
ind
exIn
dex
of
dev
elo
pm
ent
leve
l wit
h w
eig
hte
d c
om
po
nen
t in
dic
es f
or
bu
ildin
gs
(2x)
, dam
s (3
x), r
oad
s (3
x), i
nfr
astr
uct
ure
(3x
), a
nd
min
es (
3x)
2012
- 5
54.4
5 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
See
Wild
ern
ess
Ch
arac
ter
Mea
sure
s ta
ble
s
Bu
ildin
g
R
esid
ence
sta
tus
no
n, p
art-
tim
e, f
ull-
tim
e co
rres
po
nd
to
leve
l 1, 2
, 3
520
12 -
86
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
Dam
N
on
NID
, NID
, NID
no
nn
ativ
e m
ater
ials
co
rres
po
nd
s to
leve
l 1, 2
, 3
520
12 -
2 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
Qu
artz
Cre
ek in
stre
am
stru
ctu
re, G
able
Cre
ek d
am
Ro
ads
Tota
l seg
men
t le
ng
th in
cu
rren
t p
rop
ose
d /
reco
mm
end
ed b
ou
nd
ary
in
mile
s m
ult
iply
ed b
y d
evel
op
men
t le
vel (
1)5
2012
- 0
.482
- G
oo
d /
Med
Bo
wm
an L
k R
d S
pu
rs, L
k M
cDo
nal
d b
arn
acc
ess,
In
ho
lder
acc
ess
Infr
astr
uct
ure
Sm
all,
mo
der
ate,
larg
e sc
ales
co
rres
po
nd
to
leve
l 1, 2
, 3
5
2012
- 1
00 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
Min
eIn
acti
ve, a
ctiv
e sm
all,
acti
ve m
od
erat
e fe
atu
re c
orr
esp
on
ds
to le
vels
1, 2
, 3
520
12 -
25
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
Cra
cker
min
e fe
atu
res
incl
ud
ed f
or
con
tin
uit
y d
esp
ite
inh
old
ing
sta
tus
Inh
old
ing
s
Acr
es o
f in
ho
ldin
gs
No
n-a
dja
cen
t to
ro
ads
Acr
eag
e o
f p
riva
te p
arce
ls e
nve
lop
ed b
y p
rop
ose
d /
reco
mm
end
ed
wild
ern
ess
520
12 -
231
.93
- G
oo
d /
Med
Ad
jace
nt
to r
oad
s
Acr
eag
e o
f p
riva
te p
arce
ls a
dja
cen
t o
r ve
ry n
ear
road
5
2012
- 1
.48
- G
oo
d /
Med
Use
of
mo
tor
veh
icle
s,
mo
tori
zed
eq
uip
men
t,
or
mec
han
ical
tra
nsp
ort
See
un
dev
elo
ped
mea
sure
s ta
ble
s
Ind
ex o
f ad
min
istr
ativ
e n
on
-em
erg
ency
use
of
mo
tor
veh
icle
s, m
oto
rize
d e
qu
ipm
ent,
or
mec
han
ical
tra
nsp
ort
The
ind
ex is
co
mp
ute
d u
sin
g t
he
equ
ipm
ent
wei
gh
tin
g s
chem
e o
n p
age
170
of
the
Lan
dre
s an
d o
ther
s’ T
ech
nic
al G
uid
e.
Ind
ex /
Nu
mb
er -
Inte
ger
1
2006
- 2
1 -
Go
od
/ M
ed
20
07 -
16
- G
oo
d /
Med
2008
- 3
3 -
Go
od
/ M
ed
20
09 -
41
- G
oo
d /
Med
2010
- 3
7 -
Go
od
/ M
ed
20
11 -
33
- G
oo
d /
Med
Stat
e o
f th
e W
ilder
nes
s an
d
Bac
kco
un
try
Rep
ort
: Sec
tio
n 6
Tim
e co
nst
rain
ts a
nd
leve
l o
f d
etai
l co
nst
rain
ed
det
erm
inat
ion
of
ever
y in
stan
ce o
f m
ech
aniz
ed o
r m
oto
rize
d e
qu
ipm
ent
use
Tab
le 4
: G
laci
er
Nati
on
al
Park
Wil
dern
ess
Ch
ara
cter
Mo
nit
ori
ng
Un
develo
ped
Qu
ali
ty D
ata
Co
un
t -
Acr
es /
Nu
mb
er -
D
ecim
al
Ind
ex /
Nu
mb
er -
Dec
imal
Acr
eag
e d
eriv
ed f
rom
GIS
p
oly
go
ns
and
may
no
t
dim
ensi
on
s
GIS
GIS
National Park Service 18
St. Johnswort is one of the noxious weeds often removed from the park. Besides competing with native plants, this invasive has toxic leaf oils that can cause anything from blisters to death to foraging animals. Nonetheless, actions taken against it degrade the untrammeled quality.
“Nature may not always be as beautiful as a garden but producing gardens is not the aim of the Wilderness Act.” – Miles Lord The Untrammeled quality
This quality addresses actions that manipulate or control ecological systems inside Glacier wilderness. The objective of monitoring the untrammeled quality is to track over time whether management programs are trending toward more or less human manipulation.
Actions authorized by the federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment This indicator is meant to track trends in all the actions that the park authorizes to ma-nipulate any aspect of the ecological system inside wilderness. It pertains to management actions that affect the community of life rather than the effects of management actions to visi-tors. National Park Service actions that ma-nipulate or control ecological systems inside wilderness degrade the untrammeled quality of wilderness character.
Measure: Number of exotic plant infestation acres treated—The focus of the Exotic Veg-etation Management program is to prevent and control the spread of exotic vegetation into the wild lands of the park. In addition to surveying and mapping exotic vegetation (Table 2), backcountry ranger staff and the integrated pest management team use pulling and cutting techniques to control exotics. It has been documented that while some small infestations have been eliminated in the past
few years, new infestations are still becoming established. Despite degradation to the un-trammeled quality, reduction of non-indige-nous species would directly benefit the natural quality. Exotic plant management in itself is a form of conservation of native plant species and supports native ecosystems. Table 5 shows how many acres have been treated annually from 2006 through 2011.
Actions not authorized by the federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment This indicator tracks trends in actions that are not authorized by the federal land manager that manipulate any aspect of the ecological system inside wilderness. An increasing num-ber of manipulative actions taken by other agencies, citizen groups, or individuals de-grade the untrammeled quality. Measure: Number of acres burned due to human ignition—In the past, a common phrase to describe the park was “the asbestos forest” in reference to the infrequency of forest fire. That general trend has changed since the Red Bench Fire in 1988 and others since. In the recent past, while natural ignitions have con-tinued, there have been few fires determined to be started by humans. Table 5 shows the amount of acreage burned in the proposed / recommended wilderness from 2006 through 2011.
Chapter 6 | Untrammeled Quality
This chapter describes the selected measures for the untrammeled quality of wilderness character. It also explains the indicators and presents details for
the corresponding selected measures relevant to Glacier National Park.
19 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Gla
cier
Nat
ion
al P
ark
Wild
ern
ess
Ch
arac
ter
Mo
nit
ori
ng
Un
tram
mel
ed Q
ual
ity
Dat
a
Qu
alit
y
Ind
icat
or
M
easu
re
Des
crip
tio
n
Un
it o
f M
easu
re
/ Dat
a Ty
pe
Freq
uen
cy
(Yea
rs)
Yea
r -
Dat
a -
Co
nd
itio
n /
Sou
rce
Co
mm
ents
Un
tram
mel
ed
Act
ion
s au
tho
rize
d b
y th
e fe
der
al la
nd
m
anag
er t
hat
m
anip
ula
te t
he
bio
ph
ysic
al e
nvi
ron
men
t
Nu
mb
er o
f ex
oti
c p
lan
t in
fest
atio
n a
cres
tre
ated
Acr
eag
e o
f n
oxi
ou
s w
eed
infe
stat
ion
s tr
eate
d
Co
un
t -
Acr
es /
Nu
mb
er -
D
ecim
al
1
2006
- 3
9.03
- G
oo
d /
Med
20
07 -
10.
09 -
Go
od
/ M
ed
2008
- 3
3.48
- G
oo
d /
Med
20
09 -
72.
22 -
Go
od
/ M
ed
2010
- 1
27.3
8 -
Go
od
/ M
ed
2011
- 1
79.5
4 -
Go
od
/ M
ed
Stat
e o
f th
e W
ilder
nes
s an
d B
ackc
ou
ntr
y R
epo
rt:
Sect
ion
15
Flu
ctu
atio
n in
bu
dg
et
allo
cati
on
an
d p
erso
n
ho
urs
dev
ote
d t
o s
urv
eys
are
rela
ted
to
th
ese
dat
a
Act
ion
s n
ot
auth
ori
zed
b
y th
e Fe
der
al la
nd
m
anag
er t
hat
m
anip
ula
te t
he
bio
ph
ysic
al e
nvi
ron
men
t
Nu
mb
er o
f ac
res
bu
rned
d
ue
to h
um
an ig
nit
ion
Wild
ern
ess
acre
s b
urn
ed f
rom
kn
ow
n a
nd
do
cum
ente
d h
um
an
the
wild
ern
ess
bu
t th
en b
urn
ed in
to t
he
wild
ern
ess
Co
un
t -
Acr
es /
Nu
mb
er -
D
ecim
al
1
2006
- 0
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
20
07 -
0 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2008
- 0
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
20
09 -
0 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
2010
- 0
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
20
11 -
6.5
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
Den
nis
Div
oky
The
2006
Red
Eag
le F
ire
star
ted
nea
r R
ed E
agle
La
ke (
in t
he
par
k), a
nd
h
ad a
ver
y th
oro
ug
h
inve
stig
atio
n, b
ut
it w
as
left
as
an u
nd
eter
min
ed
cau
se
Tab
le 5
: G
laci
er
Nati
on
al
Park
Wil
dern
ess
Ch
ara
cter
Mo
nit
ori
ng
Un
tram
mele
d Q
uali
ty D
ata
National Park Service 20
“Wild nature is inextricably in the weave of self and culture.” – Gary Snyder
The Other features quality This quality tracks conditional status trends for tangible place-based cultural resources. This quality pertains to elements with values not monitored in the other four qualities. Preservation of cultural resources is one of three primary objectives of the National Park Service’s mission. Cultural resources represent the human experience of the Glacier National Park landscape. Human stories from the land, archaeology, indigenous cultural resources, historical, and other heritage values all are an important part of wilderness character where these resources occur in a wilderness.
Spiritual values, traditional practices, tradi-tional and historic stories, and all other in-tangible cultural resources are an important and vital part of Glacier’s heritage. But these intangible cultural resource values cannot be measured. Park staff will be continually aware of such intangible cultural resources when considering management action alternatives.
Deterioration or loss of cultural resources integral to wilderness character This indicator tracks evidence of disturbance or loss of cultural resources that are protected by law and agency policy. In Glacier National Park, cultural resources are components of wilderness areas and may contribute positively to wilderness character. Cowley and others note that wilderness helps us comprehend how humans have been involved with and valued the land over time. Cultural resources provide multiple historic perspectives. Wilder-ness can also be valued from different aspects.
Two kinds of cultural resources were consid-ered for these baseline measures: historically classified structures and registered archeologi-cal resources. Changes in the conditional indi-ces for these measures are not meant to trigger specific management responses. Changes to conditional status should serve only as infor-mation. These changes should be considered as individual situational cases and evaluated
before considering the relationship to wilder-ness character.
Measure: Index of conditional status of classified structures— Since the historically classified structures were present at the time of wilderness recommendation and were not considered to be inconsistent with the definition of wilderness, these resources are considered to be contributing to wilderness character. The List of Classified Structures (LCS) contains a computerized inventory of all historic and prehistoric structures, in which the park has, or plans to acquire, any legal interest. These structures have historical, ar-chitectural or engineering significance. Struc-tures listed on the LCS must meet one of the following criteria: either the structure is listed individually or is eligible for the National Reg-ister or the structure is a contributing element of an historic site or district that is listed or is eligible for the National Register. There are 54 structures within the proposed / recom-mended wilderness on the LCS. Table 6 shows the total index value that relates to structures being in good, fair, or poor condition (tallied 3, 2, 1 respectively). Measure: Index of conditional status of representative registered archeological sites— Archeological resources that are representa-tive of the various types found in the park serve as a proxy for known and potentially unknown sites located in Glacier’s proposed / recommended wilderness. The park arche-ologist selected sites in consideration of their significance, vulnerability, reliability of assess-ment, and feasibility for monitoring. Eighteen sites representing different aspects of the multifaceted body of archeological resources make up the list. The sites may be categorized as relating to: historic homesteading, historic development, native resource acquisition, pre-historic camps, prehistoric bedrock quarrying, paleoindian sites, prehistoric rock art, and sites with native religious significance. Table 6 shows the tally of their conditional statuses.
Chapter 7 | Other Features Quality
This chapter describes the selected measures for the other features quality of wilderness character. It explains the indicators and presents details for
the corresponding selected measures relevant to Glacier National Park.
21 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Gla
cier
Nat
ion
al P
ark
Wild
ern
ess
Ch
arac
ter
Mo
nit
ori
ng
Oth
er F
eatu
res
Qu
alit
y
Qu
alit
y
Ind
icat
or
M
easu
re
Des
crip
tio
n
Un
it o
f M
easu
re
/ Dat
a Ty
pe
Freq
uen
cy
(Yea
rs)
Yea
r -
Dat
a C
on
dit
ion
/ So
urc
eC
om
men
ts
Oth
er F
eatu
res
Det
erio
rati
on
or
loss
of
imp
ort
ant
cult
ura
l re
sou
rces
Ind
ex o
f co
nd
itio
nal
sta
tus
in g
oo
d, f
air,
or
po
or
con
dit
ion
(ta
llied
3, 2
, 1 r
esp
ecti
vely
)20
12 -
131
- G
oo
d /
Hig
h
Stru
ctu
res
(LC
S) v
ia p
ark
his
tori
c ar
chit
ect
Lon
Jo
hn
son
Ind
ex o
f co
nd
itio
nal
sta
tus
of
rep
rese
nta
tive
re
gis
tere
d a
rch
eolo
gic
al
site
s
Tota
l in
dex
val
ue
for
18 r
epre
sen
tati
ve a
rch
eolo
gic
al s
ites
b
ein
g in
go
od
, fai
r, o
r p
oo
r co
nd
itio
n (
talli
ed 3
, 2, 1
re
spec
tive
ly)
2012
- 5
3 -
Go
od
/ H
igh
Arc
heo
log
ical
Sit
es
Man
agem
ent
Info
rmat
ion
Sys
tem
(A
SMIS
) vi
a p
ark
arch
eolo
gis
t Jo
hn
K
insn
er
Ind
ex /
Nu
mb
er -
Inte
ger
Ch
ang
es t
o
con
dit
ion
al s
tatu
s sh
ou
ld s
erve
on
ly a
s in
form
atio
n. T
hes
e ch
ang
es s
ho
uld
be
con
sid
ered
as
ind
ivid
ual
sit
uat
ion
al
case
s an
d e
valu
ated
b
efo
re c
on
sid
erin
g
the
rela
tio
nsh
ip t
o
wild
ern
ess
char
acte
r an
d m
anag
emen
t ac
tio
ns.
5 to
15
National Park Service 22
“Make no little plans, they have no power to stir men’s souls.” – Daniel H. Burnham
The State of the wilderness and backcountry Since 1992 Glacier’s wilderness management staff have prepared annual reports with the following objectives: • Summarize use level conditions, manage-ment activities and accomplishments, resource inventory and monitoring efforts and results, backcountry facility conditions. • Document recommendations for future ac-tions based on data analysis.
These comprehensive and detailed reports serve the valuable purpose of accounting for and communicating the interdivisional con-nections made in the park’s wilderness setting. The reports have been a crucial data source for understanding and documenting baselines for wilderness character measures. It is for the wilderness specialist, the Division of Visitor & Resource Protection, and the Interdisciplinary Wilderness Committee of Glacier National Park to decide how to adapt the reports to in-tegrate the emerging principles of wilderness character and the material within this report.
Wilderness stewardship issues and planning The following issues and planning concerns regarding Glacier’s wilderness stewardship are provided by the Wilderness Fellow based on his experience in the park and the input of various park staff. They represent points of concern that if addressed, could affect wilder-ness character.
Natural quality: woodland caribou—Accord-ing to the NPS Threatened and Endangered Species Database, (http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/speciesdata-base.cfm), woodland caribou are among the species with habitat in the park. However, no current park compliance procedures consider impacts to this species. Also, documents in the federal register reviewing the designation of critical habitat for the species do not indicate that the region in the northwest area of the
park overlaps the current species distribution. Future assessments of wilderness character should pay attention to this discrepancy. It is recommended that regional park staff confer with local biologists to address the official po-sition on the presence / absence of this species and its habitat.
Natural quality: trout habitat—Conversa-tions with fisheries biologist, Chris Downs informed the notion that the preservation of bull and cutthroat trout habitat for the natu-ral quality also relates to wilderness angling experiences. Landing a cutthroat trout can be a phenomenal experience for anglers. It is rec-ommended that a continued visitor education component is used to increase the likelihood of a diversity of native fish species.
Natural quality: eastern boundary grazing—The issue of livestock trespass is potentially volatile. This historical issue will require considerable sensitivity, perseverance, open collaboration, and cooperation between: the park, public agencies, Native American rep-resentatives, landowners, the general public, activists, and nongovernmental organiza-tions. It is recommended that the situation be monitored with an eye toward any potential solutions or bridge building among concerned parties.
Natural quality: increasing population and encroaching development—The National Parks Conservation Association has listed Glacier as one of America’s most endangered parks three times. Of particular concern is the encroach-ment of haphazard development on wildlife habitat outside the park. Glacier National Park is directly linked to the Flathead Valley’s eco-nomic health so continued collaboration be-tween park managers and communities ought to encourage growth that considers steward-ship values. It is recommended that park staff continue to see the connection between wil-derness character and the landscape matrix in which Glacier is situated.
Chapter 8 | Issues and Future Planning
This chapter identifies preliminary wilderness issues to inform the scope of additional data and planning needs. It presents considerations to inform
continued wilderness stewardship in Glacier National Park.
23 Keeping It Wild in a Crown Jewel
Solitude or primitive and unconfined quality: day use and the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor plan—Recent investigations into popular day use wilderness destinations in the park indicate a marked increase in visitor traffic volume. Wilderness stewardship and the emerging Sun Road corridor planning should consider wilderness character and the opportunity spectrum of wilderness visitors to the park. Management strategies that pre-serve opportunities to experience solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation are encouraged.
Solitude or primitive and unconfined quality: soundscapes—The natural sounds program is relatively new in the NPS. It is recommended that backcountry rangers, or citizen science volunteers conduct soundscape monitoring to continue to document the occurrence of sound intrusions from anthropogenic sources such as overflights and modified motor cycle exhaust systems.
Solitude or primitive and unconfined quality: night sky and wild horizons—The park has been working toward a dark sky designation. The night sky data were not ready for report inclusion, but it is recommended that an ad-ditional measure with those figures be added to the monitoring framework when available. Also, potential energy development outside the park may affect visitor opportunities in the future. It is recommended that these develop-ments be monitored in relation to wilderness character and ecological concerns.
Undeveloped quality: border clearing—The in-ternational border between the United States and Canada has been maintained to be kept clear. While there is likely a security based rationale, this administrative development degrades wilderness character. Wilderness character and border security issues are in-creasingly common. It is recommended that security operations continue to be scrutinized and only the minimum necessary tactics em-ployed.
Undeveloped quality: motor boats on Swiftcurrent, Josephine, Two Medicine, and Bowman Lake—According to the 2004 Com-mercial Services Plan and GIS data, Lake Josephine, Swiftcurrent, Two Medicine, and Bowman Lake are not in the visitor services zone. In 2012 guided motor boat tours are of-
fered on Lake Josephine, Swiftcurrent, and Two Medicine Lake. Small motors are allowed on Bowman Lake. Future park and wilderness stewardship planning should clarify the status of these lakes.
Undeveloped quality: environmental compliance—Currently the project process for environmental compliance includes a question about whether the proposed project will occur in wilderness. While reviewing compliance documents, very few, but some projects were mistakenly identified as not being in the pro-posed / recommended wilderness. Increased awareness about the wilderness boundaries is encouraged.
To assist in tracking the use of motorized and mechanized equipment, it is recommended that a follow-up question be added to deter-mine what, if any, motorized or mechanized equipment is being considered for the project. This would increase precision and ease in tracking trends in the undeveloped quality of wilderness character. Wild and scenic river planning—It is recom-mended that the park integrate wilderness character into emerging plans and regulations related to visitor use of the bordering rivers.
Designating Glacier Wilderness—Here are the words of recently retired park Chief of Sci-ence and Resources Management, Jack Pot-ter (2009). “You cannot escape politics at all levels—local, regional, and for Glacier even national—so you must know how to work in that reality.”
Getting the wild country in Glacier National Park congressionally designated will enhance and promote the protection of wilderness character. Continued integration of and edu-cation about the wilderness character frame-work will also help. Congressional designation will signify the engagement of and shared future vision for park values and wilderness values. Wilderness education is an excellent tool to increase understanding and awareness of wilderness stewardship.
Section 23 of the State of the Wilderness and Backcountry reports gives more suggestions on strategies to enhance and promote the wil-derness values and experiences in the park.
National Park Service 24
References
Ashley, P. 2007. Toward an understanding and definition of wilderness spirituality. Australian Geographer 38:53-69. Borrie, W.T., and Roggenbuck, J.W. 1998. Providing an authentic wilderness experience? Thinking beyond the Wilderness Act of 1964. In: Kulhavy, D.L.; Legg, M.H., eds. Wilderness and natural areas in Eastern North America: research, management, and planning. Nacogdoches, TX: Stephen F. Austin State University: 34-44. Cafaro, P. 2001. Thoreau, Leopold, and Carson: toward an environmental virtue ethics. Environmental Ethics 22:3-17. Clinton, W.J. 1999. Executive Order 13112 of February 3, 1999—invasive species. Federal Register. 64(25): February 8, 1999.
Cordell, H.K.; Bergstrom, J.C.; Bowker, J.M., eds. 2005. The multiple values of wilderness. State College, PA: Venture Publishing. 297 p. Cowley, J., Landres, P., Memory, M., Scott, D., and Lindholm, A. (2012) Integrating cultural resources and wilderness character. Park Science 28(3):44-48. Hall, T.E. 2001. Hikers’ perspectives on solitude and wilderness. International Journal of Wilderness. 7(2): 20-24.
Hammitt, W.E.; Rutlin, W.M. 1995. Use encounter standards and curves for achieved privacy in wilderness. Leisure Sciences. 17: 245-262. Johnson, B.J., Hall, T.E., Cole, D.N. 2005. Naturalness, primitiveness, remoteness and wilderness: wilderness visitors’ understand ing of Wilderness Act concepts. Unpublished report. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho.
Landres, P., Barns, C., Dennis, J.G., Devine, T., Geissler, P., McCasland, C.S., Merigliano, L., Seastrand, J., and Swain, Ralph. 2008. Keeping it wild: an interagency strategy to monitor trends in wilderness character across the National Wilderness Preservation System. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-212. Fort Collins, CO: USDA, Forest Service, Rocky Moun tain Research Station. 77 p.
Landres, P., Boutcher, S., Dean, L., Hall, T., Blett, T., Carlson, T., Mebane, A., Hardy, C., Rinehart, S., Merigliano, L., Cole, D.N., Leach, A., Wright, P., and Bumpus, D. 2009. Technical guide for monitoring selected conditions related to wilderness character. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-WO-80. Fort Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Re- search Station. 258 p. Lee, C., MacDonald, J., Scarpone, C., Rapoza, A., and Fleming, G. 2009. Baseline ambient sound levels in Glacier National Park. Cambridge, MA: US Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. 175 p.
McCool, S.F. 2004. Wilderness character and the notion of an “unconfined” experience. International Journal of Wilderness. 10(3): 15-17. Moore, K.D. 2007. In the shadow of the cedars: the spiritual values of old-growth forests. Conservation Biology 21:1120-1123. Roggenbuck, J.W. 2004. Managing for primitive recreation in wilderness. International Journal of Wilderness 10(3):21-24.
Schweiger, E.W., O’Gan, L., Britten, M., Shorrock, D., Draft in review. Glacier National Park stream ecological integrity: Rocky Mountain Inventory & Monitoring Network 2007 - 2009 stream monitoring report 1: survey. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/XXXX/NRTR—20XX/XXX. Fort Collins, Colorado: National Park Service. Selleck, J. and Keller Lynn, K. 2009. Jack Potter: Glacier National Park’s veteran of resource management. Park Science 26(2): (online) http://www.nature.nps.gov/ParkScience/index.cfm?ArticleID=326&Page=1.
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A™
Glacier National ParkWest Glacier, Montana 59936
National Park ServiceU.S. Department of the Interior