SEELEY LAKE – Glacier Country Tourism (GCT) held a Town Hall session in Seeley Lake Nov. 1 to gather community input on their Destination Stewardship Plan. The session was the first of two meetings in Missoula County. A Virtual Town Hall is scheduled for the County Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. To participate visit https://partners.glaciermt.com/destination-stewardship/town-hall-meetings
Glacier Country Regional Tourism Commission President CEO Racene Friede explained that originally, when Montana’s lodging tax was created in 1987, the money was mostly mandated for travel promotion. It was used to market Montana as a destination for non-resident visitation.
Friede said that in the last five or six years they have transitioned into destination management. Instead of just pure tourism growth they have started looking at sustainable tourism. She gave the example of overcrowding at Glacier National Park. In the last five years, they have quit promoting the Park and shifted those resources to promoting other areas in the region.
A half dozen residents and business owners attended the Town Hall and provided their thoughts on tourism benefits, issues created and possible solutions or new opportunities to expand tourism.
The main benefit of tourism identified was supporting the local economy. Without tourists many businesses would close.
Issues identified
• Lack of infrastructure including a sewer system
• Lack of workforce and affordable housing for workers
• Few single night lodging opportunities since hotels are no longer available and many vacation rental homes require multi night stays
• Garbage left in the woods and at local businesses
• Improper use of resources such as driving off roads and trails
• Traffic congestion
Ideas to solve tourists’ impacts
• Better collaboration between groups in Seeley Lake
• Disperse tourists so trails like Morrell Falls are not as crowded
• Create new recreational opportunities such as mountain bike trails and motorized trails
• Spread different recreational uses out to reduce the conflict between the different user groups
• More campgrounds away from lakes
• Better education of tourists so they know where and how to enjoy the different kinds of recreational opportunities
• Money operated dumpster for tourists.
Ideal visitor and opportunities to expand tourism
• Multi-day visitors
• Respects the environment
• Year round visitors, not just in the summer
• Mountain bike and motorized trails
To learn more about the project and to take the public survey visit https://partners.glaciermt.com/destination-stewardship
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