Winter snows in Montana's Glacier National Park constantly threaten to cascade down the park's high, steep slopes, burying the heavily trafficked railroad lines that lie along the southern borders.
So the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway is seeking permission to employ an earth-shattering preventative measure: blasting the park with artillery.
BNSF has asked the U.S. National Park Service for permission to fire artillery shells at hillsides near rail lines to create controlled avalanches.
The technique, the rail company says, would be the most efficient and cost-effective method for preventing otherwise unpredictable avalanches from harming the lines and delaying or even derailing trains.
But the request has been met with protest from environmentalists, who say that blasting presents a threat to the park's abundant wildlife, including endangered species such as grizzly bears, lynx, and bald eagles.
"This is a safety issue for both visitors and wildlife," said Steve Thompson, Glacier National Park program manager for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.
Thompson notes that human visitors cross-country ski and snowshoe through the area in winter as well (related news: "Avalanche Expert on How to Survive Snow Slides" [April 16, 2004]).
"This is one of the best places in the world to see wildlife," he said, "which is why the idea of bombing Glacier is an inappropriate place for this type of activity."
Snow Shed
Using 105-millimeter artillery shells to control avalanches is a technique employed in many places in the U.S. West.
But little research has been done to determine how wide-scale blasting affects wildlife, such as whether it disturbs hibernating grizzly bears.
Much of Glacier's wildlife roams year-round through the southern end of the park, where BNSF has proposed shelling the hillsides.
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