The Best of Montana: Glacier National Park

It's clear that Montanans love Glacier and don't want to see it polluted by drilling runoff. If we want Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to protect Glacier, we need to show him just how much the park means to us.

National parks have been called America’s “best idea,” and Glacier National Park is one of the greatest examples. The millions of people who flock to Glacier every year to enjoy the park’s endless winding trails, breathtaking Going-to-the-Sun road, and crystal clear waters are living proof.

Unfortunately, the park is threatened by oil and gas drilling leases just outside its boundaries in the Flathead River Valley. The Flathead River boasts some of the cleanest, most pristine water in the world; drilling outside of the park in the Flathead River watershed would pollute this water, harming wildlife inside and outside the park and damaging the recreation industries that rely on the river. Drilling would also tear up the landscape of the Flathead Valley, destroying one of the world's wildest valley, and marring many of the most beautiful vistas visible from the park's lookout points.

Glacier's more than 1 million acres of forests, alpine meadows and lakes are a habitat for rare and endangered species such as grizzly bears, bald eagles, mountain lions and wolverines. Drilling outside the park would pollute the river that these animals rely on and wreak havoc on the landscape they call home. The Flathead River is one of the cleanest, most pristine waterways in the country. It provides drinking water for Montanans and is a favorite spot for fishing. In 2009, the Flathead River was fifth on American River's Most Endangered Rivers list due to threats from mining and drilling.

Through its new America's Great Outdoors program, the Department of the Interior is working to better protect America's most treasured landscapes. This summer, they're asking the public to weigh in on which places we should protect first. This is our chance to make the case for Glacier's future: Cancel all the existing leases in the Flathead National Forest, and support and expand Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester's bill to prevent any new mining in nearly 600,000 acres of public land in the North Fork area of the Flathead River Valley. Environment Montana is working to make sure that the senators' bill, named the North Fork Watershed Protection Act (S. 3075), is expanded to include all of the wild and scenic areas in Flathead National Forest, not just the North Fork.

Montana Governor Schweitzer has called on the Department of the Interior to cancel the existing leases, and Montana Sens. Baucus and Tester have introduced a bill to prevent new drilling in the North Fork area. The National Parks Conservation Association and many other environmental groups support protecting Glacier National Park.

Environment Montana is working hard to have a strong commitment from our government to protect Glacier National Park by the end of the summer. We urge Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to commit to canceling the existing oil and gas leases of the federal land, and we are working hard to strengthen and move the North Fork Watershed Protection Act out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

We know that protecting Glacier won't be easy, but in order to make sure this happens we will be building a movement pf public support across the state. This summer we'll use this support to get Secretary Salazar to put protecting Glacier from drilling on his America's Great Outdoors agenda and cancel existing drilling leases, while moving Sens. Baucus and Tester's bill forwards.

Tell Secretary Salazar that you don't want Glacier National Park ruined by drilling pollution. Click here to send the government a message.

You can also 'sign' our photo petition to Secretary Salazar (top of the page).

Another great way to get involved is to support Environment Montana with a donation.