Railway’s avalanche control opposed
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Artillery shells should not be lobbed into Glacier National Park during the winter.
That is the “preferred alternative” of the National Park Service, which announced last week that it had exhaustively studied a proposal by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to launch artillery into the park as a means of avalanche control – and found it incompatible with the preservation of “park values.”
In winter in northwestern Montana, trains crossing the Rockies along the southern border of Glacier have always been vulnerable to avalanches, a risk railroads have effectively controlled for nearly a century by building snowsheds to shelter tracks.
But BNSF, a freight carrier that is enjoying record growth and increasing profits, has chosen not to rebuild some snowsheds there that have been damaged by fire, and not to build sheds in areas newly subject to slides from shifting snow. Instead, the railway asked permission to fire 105 mm artillery into the park.
In Alaska and parts of the West, the firing of artillery is a well-established practice for avalanche control. It is also much cheaper than building new snowsheds. BNSF estimated it would cost about $110 million to build about a mile of the sheds. Environmental groups say the railway, which is spending $2.4 billion this year on new infrastructure to handle record freight volumes, can afford the expense.
Park officials have expressed concern about the effect of artillery bombardment on wintering elk, wolverines, mountain goats and endangered grizzly bears. Scientists do not know if shelling would wake hibernating bears.
“We have determined that constructing less than one mile of snowsheds will best preserve park values while simultaneously providing the best protection for BNSF employees, freight and equipment,” said Mick Holm, superintendent at Glacier.
BNSF said in a statement that artillery is a “proven, safe and efficient” method of avalanche control and it is reviewing the Park Service’s decision, which will become final sometime after public hearings in December.
