When it comes to tourism in northwest Montana, there’s no greater draw than Glacier National Park. So, the ongoing government shutdown, even though it’s occurring long after the peak of the summer tourist season, is having a “ripple effect” on the local economy, according to local business owners.
Although Glacier Park remains open with limited services, not everyone has received that message, and some vacationers are canceling their reservations, said Rhonda Fitzgerald, owner of the Garden Wall Inn in nearby Whitefish. Even those who know Glacier is open — nearly four weeks after the government shut down all non-essential services — have shown reluctance to travel to the national park, fearing the government might shut it down later, as has happened during past shutdowns.
“People’s vacation time is so valuable, and so they just don’t want to take the risk,” Fitzgerald said.
Zak Anderson, executive director of Explore Whitefish and the Whitefish Convention & Visitors Bureau, said concrete visitation figures showing how the shutdown has affected tourism won’t be available until next month at the earliest, the Montana Free Press reports.
However, anecdotally, he has heard that other inns and hotels have experienced increased vacancies due to uncertainty surrounding the shutdown. According to a recent NPS study, in 2024, Glacier National Park, with 3.2 million visitors, generated more than $656 million for northwest Montana’s economy and supported 5,190 jobs.
During previous government shutdowns in 1995 and 2013, national parks were shuttered to protect the resources. NPS officials argued that their mandate to “conserve… unimpaired” was more important than allowing public access. However, during shutdowns in the first Trump administration in 2018 and in this one, the federal government has kept parks open with limited services and few staff.
This decision has faced criticism from groups like the National Parks Conservation Association, which argues that keeping parks open with only a skeleton crew endangers wildlife, historic sites, natural resources and visitors. More “year-round” parks, like California’s Joshua Tree, are already experiencing the effects of reduced sanitation, with trash accumulating and toilets overflowing. In Yosemite National Park, Illegal base-jumping off El Capitan has been rampant during the shutdown.
So far, there have been no reports of major problems inside Glacier Park since the government shutdown, apart from a few people trying to drive oversized vehicles on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, according to the National Park Conservation Association’s Glacier field office. (With the exception of the famous “Red Buses,” no vehicles longer than 21 feet are allowed on the road.)
The shutdown and associated service cuts could reduce visitation in October, which is quickly becoming a popular month to visit Glacier. Last year, October visitation increased by 19% compared to the same month the previous year, making it the busiest October on record. Anderson said that this is welcome news for organizations like his that have long promoted “shoulder season” travel to Northwest Montana.
But Anderson said he’s less worried about how the government shutdown will affect visitation to Glacier this fall and more concerned about how recent cuts by the Trump administration will impact the National Park Service, and Glacier in particular, over the long term.
The National Parks Conservation Association estimates that more than 4,000 NPS staff members have left their jobs since Trump took office, as a result of early retirement offers and layoffs, and that a nine-month hiring freeze has prevented key positions from being filled. NPCA also revealed that court filings suggest the Department of the Interior plans to cut 2,000 more positions, including over 200 at the Park Service.
Sarah Lundstrum, NPCA’s Glacier Program Manager, said that since the start of the year, Glacier Park has seen its year-round staff — usually between 120 and 130 people — reduced by about 25%. She said that many of those who have left are scientists who help make significant decisions regarding the park’s overall health.
“These are the people who do the science that informs decisions that protect the resources there,” she said.
Watch previous coverage: Government shutdown impacts small business near Glacier National Park
Jobs that have survived include those that directly interact with the public. As a result, the visitor experience has remained largely unchanged at major parks this summer. However, former Glacier Park Superintendent Jeff Mow said that could change. Mow led Glacier from 2013 until 2022, and before that, he was superintendent of three other parks and the NPS’s regional director in Alaska. In an interview with MTFP last week, he said he keeps in touch with his former colleagues across the system.
“I’ve heard from several superintendents who have said, ‘Well, we made it through this summer, but next summer might not be so easy,’” Mow said.
Mow was one of 40 superintendents who signed a recent letter urging Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to close the parks during the government shutdown to prevent vandalism. Mow said he is less concerned about vandalism in Glacier because of the park’s seasonal nature, but the skeleton staff there (some law enforcement rangers are still working) could be overwhelmed if there were an emergency.
More than anything, he worries about park employees who aren’t getting paid, following months of having to do more with less due to the administration’s cuts.
“None of this has been great for morale, and I’d say it’s at a low point for a lot of folks,” Mow said. “It’s disheartening.”
Lundstrum, with the conservation association, said she is encouraging people to reach out to Montana’s delegation in Washington, D.C., and speak out against cuts to the National Park Service. She also had some advice for those who do go to the park during the shutdown.
“If you go hiking, bring a garbage bag,” she said.
This story was originally published by Montana Free Press at montanafreepress.org.
