Human Impact in Glacier National Park
Humans have a major impact on Glacier National Park. Recently, Glacier has had record-high amounts of visitors coming to visit the park. While the tourism is good for the park and the state financially, the impact on the organisms living there is not as positive. Building new trails and roads for tourists is part of habitat destruction at the park. Humans straying off of designated trails or campsites can be harmful to both them as well as the animals. Human pollution, including pollution in lake waters or stream waters, is another impact on the park. It's not just tourists that have human impact on the park, however. The local Blackfeet Native American tribe has a reservation by the park and the tribe also helps to run Glacier. Recently, the Blackfeet people have begun to develop oil and gas on their reservation, and scientists worry about the potential impact on the environment and animals. Chemicals and toxins, along with habitat destruction, are all negative effects of industry and human expansion.
Grace Madigan and Angelina Olson, 2013