Glacier National Park Comprehensive Interpretive Plan Glacier National Park Comprehensive Interpretive Plan
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Glacier National Park Montana Glacier National Park Comprehensive Interpretive Plan Glacier National Park Comprehensive Interpretive Plan Prepared by the Department of Interpretive Planning Harpers Ferry Center and Glacier National Park May 2006 National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Contents Introduction 1 Foundation for Planning 2 Park Purpose 2 Resource Significance 2 Interpretive Themes 2 Management Goals For Interpretation 9 Visitation And Visitor Use Data 10 Issues And Influences 15 Future Interpretive Program Description 17 Overview 17 Pre-Arrival/Outreach 17 Arrival Experience 18 Parkwide Recommendations 20 Going To The Sun Road Corridor 25 Many Glacier 43 Goat Haunt/Belly River 45 Two Medicine/Cutbank 49 North Folk/Middle Fork 51 Education Strategy 53 Implementation Plan 58 Appendices 61 Planning Team And Consultants 61 Bibliography 62 Scenic Point INTRODUCTION The year 2010 marks the centennial and activities into annual imple- of Glacier National Park (GLAC). mentation plans. It also provides a Commemoration of that event and context against which annual celebration of the park's continuing accomplishments can be evaluated. contributions to America's natural Any element recommended in this and cultural legacy will attract plan or any subsequent significant public attention. Implementation Plan that will affect facilities or resources will through This Comprehensive Interpretive normal management review and Plan (CIP) presents a vision for approval, and meet compliance visitor experiences at the park requirements prior to during the next decade. The CIP implementation. proposes interpretive activities and visitor experience opportunities The visitor experience planning that prepare the park for a mile- process used to develop this stone commemoration in 2010. It document prompted collaboration also identifies a media and activity among park staff, interpretive action plan that best meets current partners and media specialists. A and future visitor needs and team planning effort evaluated the effectively tells park stories. park's visitor use programs, and focused on the park's significant Based on purpose, significance and resources, themes, and contempo- mission identified in the park's 1999 rary issues. The proposals in this General Management Plan (GMP), CIP enhance opportunities for the CIP is a conceptual document. visitors to understand, enjoy and It lays a foundation for the next appreciate the reasons for which phases of a comprehensive Glacier National Park was interpretive planning process - established. media planning, design and produc- tion and the organization of staff Fall Color at St Mary 1 FOUNDATION FOR PLANNING PARK PURPOSE ecosystem, one of the most eco- logically intact areas remaining in As stated in the park's General the temperate regions of the Management Plan, the purpose for world. the establishment of Glacier National Park is to: Glacier's cultural resources chronicle the history of human Preserve and protect natural and activities (Native Americans, early cultural resources unimpaired for explorers, railroad development, the enjoyment of future and modern use and visitation) generations (1916 Organic Act). that show that people have long placed high value on the area's Provide opportunities to experi- natural features. ence, understand, appreciate, and enjoy Glacier National Park Waterton-Glacier is the world's consistent with the preservation first International Peace Park. of resources in a state of nature (1910 legislation establishing Key References Glacier National Park). Commercial Services Plan and FEIS Cultural Resources component of Celebrate the ongoing peace, RMP friendship, and goodwill among Director's Orders: #2; 6; 9; 28; 32 nations, recognizing the need for Education Strategy (TBD) cooperation in a world of shared Enabling Legislation, GLAC resources (1932 International Enabling Legislation, International Peace Park legislation). Peace Park General Management Plan (1999) RESOURCE GLAC Land Protection Plan SIGNIFICANCE Going-to-the-Sun Road Rehabilitation Plan and FEIS The following significance Government Performance and statements from the park's General Results Act (GPRA) Strategic Goals Management Plan capture the for Glacier National Park essence of this park's importance to North Fork Plan America's natural and cultural Resource Management Plan heritage. State of the Backcountry annual reports Glacier's scenery dramatically Wayside Exhibit Plan - revised illustrates an exceptionally long Wilderness and Backcountry geologic history and the many Management Plan geological processes associated Wildlife management plans and with mountain building and protocols glaciation. Glacier offers relatively accessible INTERPRETIVE THEMES spectacular scenery and Through the collaborative work of increasingly rare primitive the Division of Interpretation and wilderness experiences. Education staff, the park's audiences should be provided the Glacier is at the core of the opportunity to form personal "Crown of the Continent" connections with the purpose and 2 Foundation for Planning significance inherent in the park's uplift, mountain building, and over- resources, so that informed choices thrust events that provided the regarding the long-term steward- unique foundation for Glacier's nat- ship of the park may be made. ural beauty. Primary interpretive themes link to The Rocky Mountain range nar- the park's significance statements, rows in northern Montana to and describe ideas, concepts, or provide wildlife, human, and vege- messages about Glacier National tative convergence un-like most Park that provide the broadest places on earth. opportunities for visitors and audiences to make personal connec- The ice age glaciers that carved tions to the meanings and signifi- classic geologic features in the area cance of the park. At their best, pri- give insight into the beauty, power, mary themes relate a significant tan- and timelessness of the tremendous gible element of the park to a uni- forces that continue to shape the versal concept, using intangible earth. ideas. They provide guidelines for making decisions concerning inter- Glacier has one of the finest assem- pretive stories to be told, methods blages of ice-age alpine glacial fea- to be used, and facilities and activi- tures in the contiguous 48 states, ties required for telling those sto- and it has relatively accessible, ries. Primary themes may not small-scale active glaciers. include every topic interpreted, but the universal concepts they contain Glacier is at an apex of the conti- should directly support understand- nent and one of the few places in ing of the park's significance. All the world that has a triple divide. interpretive efforts, including media and personal services, will relate to Related Topics one or more primary interpretive Airshed theme. Animal life Changing climates Although stated separately, interpre- Deposition tive themes are connected and Erosion interrelated. Evolution Exposed rock Primary and Secondary Fault lines Interpretive Themes Fossil Fire ecology Geologic specimens Primary Theme Geologic time The geologic features of Glacier Glaciation National Park combine natural Glaciers beauty, examples of mountain- Geomorphology building, and the effects of glacia- Habitat diversity tion, revealing many chapters in Igneous intrusions the history of the Earth. Landscape (historically designed) Lavas - sills Sub-themes Metamorphic The geology of Glacier National Minerals Park provides a snapshot of the Mountain building tremendous forces of geologic 3 Foundation for Planning Natural processes recommended for designation as Overthrust fault wilderness, and therefore is man- Paleontology aged differently than other federal Plate tectonics lands in order to retain its primeval Rocks character and preserve it as a special Sedimentary place for humans to examine their Soundscape relationship to the natural world. Stromatolites The wilderness of Glacier National Triple Divide Park offers opportunities for per- Uplift sonal renewal. Vegetation Viewshed Glacier's wilderness contains Watershed primitive areas relatively undis- Weather patterns turbed by human activities where scientific research may reveal infor- Primary Theme mation about natural processes and Glacier National Park offers a living systems that may have variety of wilderness experiences wide-ranging applications as global that provide the challenges and indicators of ecological change. rewards of encountering nature on its own terms while conveying The Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of the necessity of stewardship for the most scenic roads in North the land. America, is a National Historic Landmark, and provides easy access Sub-themes to views of and entry points to Glacier's wilderness offers opportu- experience wilderness. nities for physical and mental challenge, risk and reward, renewal, Cultural resources, including arche- self-reliance, solitude, inspiration, ological sites found in Glacier artistic expression, pride springing National Park wilderness, can from a shared heritage, and the provide a more complete picture of prospect of hope for the future. human history and culture when treated with sensitivity and respect. The wilderness concept, codified into law, originated in the United Wilderness visitors must accept States with the conviction that some certain inherent risks associated wild land resources are most valu- with weather, terrain, water, able to Americans