The giant Pursuit corporation is asking the Flathead National Forest to permit its building of a 1000-person-per-hour tram on your public land from Hungry Horse to a high ridge on Columbia Mountain! Tell the Forest Supervisor today to dismiss this proposal outright, as his predecessor did with a more limited proposal in 2023!
This idea was dismissed in 2023 because it did not comply with the Flathead Forest Plan's semi-primitive non-motorized designation of Columbia Mountain, had not been shown to be in the public interest and was duplicative of similar experiences already offered on public land at the nearby Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Now Pursuit is back, changing the proposal from summertime to year-round and noting the potential to connect the upper lift station to proposed and existing trails!
“This tramway would further fragment wildlife habitat and their north-south travel, which is already fragmented by Highway 2, a railroad, power lines, and high human use of the Flathead River corridor. It will also destroy the views of that mountainside and river corridor," said Swan View Chair Keith Hammer.
“This is a rich-get-richer scheme and the greed is already apparent,” Hammer said. “What will come next, more trails to connect with other trails, downhill mountain bike trails, maybe a downhill ski run or two? Once these rich guys get started, they’ll be wanting more from public taxpayers and public lands in order to increase their profits."
Hammer points to the expansion of the Big Mountain Ski Resort into the year-round Whitefish Mountain Resort, as well as the expansion of the Blacktail Mountain Ski Area into a year-round recreation business as examples of how Forest Service special use permits inevitably grow into larger-scale operations on public lands than initially proposed to the public.
The Pursuit tram proposal is starting out huge and will inevitably seek to expand its footprint as it pumps 600-1000 people per hour onto that now-pristine mountainside! What are people going to do up there after a quick 6-minute tram ride?
“I hope the Forest Service and Pursuit hear loud and clear from the public that people are fed up with seeing the Montana they love destroyed by big corporations wanting to cash in on public lands,” Hammer concluded.
Please email Flathead Forest Supervisor Anthony Botello today and tell him you oppose this tram and don't want him spending your tax dollars and his staff time trying to justify a now-bloated proposal that has previously been rejected as inconsistent with the Flathead Forest Plan!
Click here to read about this proposal and our reaction to it in the Flathead Beacon.
Click here for our press release, which includes the 2023 documents rejecting the prior seasonal tram proposal.
Click here to read the Flathead National Forest press release.
Visit https://www.glacierviewtram.com/ to see Pursuits super-slick promotion of its proposed Glacier View Tram. You can scroll down there to tell Pursuit what you think about it - but it is most important you tell the Flathead Forest Supervisor how you feel!
Thank you for taking a few minutes to have your say in the management of your public lands!
