WEST GLACIER – A pair of boat check stations will be opening later this week at Glacier National Park.
Park officials say that in partnership with the Blackfeet Tribe, Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) inspection stations will open on July 20, 2023, at Two Medicine and St. Mary lakes for the first time since 2019.
An agreement between the Tribe and Glacier National Park calls for the check stations to be operated by Tribal inspectors.
St. Mary and Two Medicine lakes have been closed to boating since the end of the 2019 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lingering staffing challenges. According to a news release, the park attempted to operate the stations and in 2021 and 2022, but wasn’t able to recruit enough staff to work at all locations.
Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Tribe began discussions in 2022 to negotiate the use of tribal inspectors.
“Glacier National Park is pleased to enter into this agreement with the Blackfeet Nation to provide quality inspections for the protection of these lakes so that we can open them to boating after a four-year hiatus,” said Glacier National Park Superintendent Dave Roemer. “This is a good step towards our co-stewardship goals with the Tribe.”
This will be the first season motorized boating will be allowed on St. Mary Lake since mussels were detected in Montana in 2016.
St. Mary, Two Medicine and Lake McDonald are the only lakes in Glacier National Park that allow motorized boating, except for Bowman Lake which allows less than 10 horsepower, non-water-cooled motors.
All watercraft launched within Glacier National Park must be inspected for aquatic invasive species prior to launching.
The St. Mary and Two Medicine AIS inspection stations will operate daily from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. The St. Mary station is located at the St. Mary Visitor Center while the Two Medicine station is located just prior to the park entrance.
Visit https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/boating.htm for additional information, including the locations and hours of operation for all AIS stations in Glacier Nartional Park
