Thanks, Zinke

As Congressman Ryan Zinke winds down his long career of public service, I would like to recognize his contributions to Glacier National Park and the Montana families and businesses that rely on it.

He was a champion of the Land Water Conservation Fund: listening to his constituents, working with his colleagues to fully fund the most powerful tool for conservation in our country’s history.  

Furthermore, he has long championed a functional shuttle system for Glacier National Park. While this remains an ongoing challenge, he consistently recognized the vital role public transportation plays in our national parks.

Most recently, he has been instrumental in ending the Covid-era ticketed entry policy. Ticketed entry is not the answer to congestion in Glacier; it harms local businesses: hundreds of thousands of American families chose not to come to Montana while the ticket entry regime was in place. Ticketed entry also endangers wildlife by pushing tourist traffic into the dawn and dusk hours when animals are most active. Finally, it burdens the Park Service with thousands of administrative hours and significant lost revenue.

As we celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary, it is important to remember that such barriers are contrary to our founding values: No citizen should have to check in and pay big tech to access public lands.

Our state’s legacy of logging, farming and ranching has taught generations that when you want to achieve something, you must get up early and make hay while the sun shines. Montanans have long known that the early bird gets the worm, buck, campsite or sunrise parking spot at Logan Pass. 

Thank you, Ryan Zinke, for your service and for standing up for the fundamental American and Montana values of freedom and public land access.

Will Hammerquist, Polebridge