Glacier Park Flooding, Airport Runway Shutdown & a Cat Crisis

This week, host Taylor Inman covers the biggest headlines shaping Northwest Montana — from flood-driven closures in Glacier National Park to a $21 million runway overhaul grounding flights at Glacier Park International Airport, a potential reopening for a shuttered Kalispell mental health crisis center, and a local animal rescue calling the surge in abandoned cats an "epidemic."

Heavy rains this week triggered flooding and closures across Glacier National Park, temporarily shutting down part of the Going-to-the-Sun Road and forcing evacuations in the Many Glacier Valley. The road has since fully reopened, and as of Wednesday, the Many Glacier Hotel, Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and several trails were back open to visitors — though park officials are urging extra caution near swift, cold glacial streams.

Starting next week, Glacier Park International Airport will significantly scale back operations for four weeks during peak tourism season to overhaul its aging runway. The Flathead Valley's transit hub will close Monday evenings through Friday mornings from July 6 to July 31, with airport officials expecting a 40% drop in July flights and warning travelers to arrive two hours early on operating days.

A shuttered mental health crisis stabilization center in North Kalispell, Glacier House, may reopen after a $100,000 infusion of state funding. AWARE Inc., the nonprofit now acquiring the facility's assets, says staffing and long-term funding remain unresolved, so no reopening date has been set.

And local shelters are sounding the alarm on cat abandonment: KittyMOM's Rescue took in 17 more cats and kittens this week alone, and both the Flathead County Animal Shelter and the Humane Society of Northwest Montana say they're operating at capacity.

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Transcript

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Happy 4th of July and welcome to News Now. I'm your host, Taylor Inman. We're going over the biggest headlines this week for Northwest Montana. After hearing the lowdown from this week, check out our special publication celebrating the 250th anniversary of America, where Hagadone newspapers looked back on 250 years of history across the region. You can find it inside any of our weekly papers from this week or in the Friday edition of the Daily Interlake. Glacier National Park saw flooding this week that temporarily closed part of the Going to the Sun Road and led to closures and evacuations in the Mini Glacier Valley. Heavy rains over the weekend caused flooding that spurred closures in the park on Sunday and Monday. The Going to the Sun Road fully reopened on Tuesday evening after the Alpine section was closed for two days. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Mini Glacier Road was reopened and the Mini Glacier Hotel and Swift Current Motor Inn were open for guest check-in and visitor services. The Mini Glacier Campground was projected to open July 2nd, contingent on safe conditions returning to the area. There were some trails reopening in Mini Glacier by Wednesday as well, including Grinnell Lake via the south shore of Lake Josephine, Appacoonie Falls, and the Swift Current Lake Loop. Park officials will make announcements on reopenings as conditions improve. Visit the current conditions page at nps.gov slash GLAC to see what is currently open. Visitors are reminded to be extra vigilant near water. Swift, cold glacial streams and rivers, slick rocks and slippery logs all present dangers. Never walk, play, or climb on slippery rocks and logs, especially around waterfalls. Visitors should expect rivers and streams to remain high with swiftly flowing water. Starting next week, Glacier Park International Airport will significantly limit operations for four weeks during peak tourism season to overhaul its aging runway. The Flathead Valley Transit Hub will be closed for runway repairs on Mondays, starting at 6 p.m. through Fridays at 10 a.m. from July 6th to July 31st. The runway will reopen for flights every weekend to align with peak travel demand, according to airport officials. Airport Director Rob Rukowski urged travelers to arrive two hours early, warning that the airport will be near capacity on the days it is open. He said the airport will be about as busy as a typical summer Saturday when it is open for travel. The airport anticipates seeing 40% less flights in July. Carriers did not increase trips during open hours as Rykowski had hoped for. The asphalt was last resurfaced 16 years ago and has started to show visible signs of stress and age, precipitating the project. The weather was ultimately the reason for the undertaking's less than ideal timing. While repaving the runway, the temperature cannot drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and there must be little to no rain during the repairs, per Federal Aviation Administration requirements. After looking through five years of weather data, July had the best chance of yielding the right conditions, according to Rutkowski. After the pavement cures for 30 days over August, the runway will be closed nightly in September for grooving. Thousands of grooves will be etched into the runway to shed water and snow. The project must be finished before temperatures drop below freezing. The grooving machine uses a semi-truck load of water every night to cool its blades. Rikowski said that if water froze on the runway, it would create a hazard. Rikowski said he expects crews to hit the ground running once the project starts, because they have spent the last two months reconstructing a taxiway on the west side of the runway. The taxiway needs thicker pavement to accommodate heavier airplanes, according to Rikkowski. The project price tag comes in at $21 million and is being funded through the Airport Improvement Program, a supplemental grant program funded through the Biden administration's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Rikkowski said that he plans to release a weekly status update as construction gets underway. A shuttered mental health crisis stabilization center in North Kalispo may reopen after receiving an infusion of state funding. Glacier House is now owned by Aware Inc., a Montana-based nonprofit in the process of acquiring Western Montana Mental Health Center's assets. Alyssa Kapinski, Director of Development and Marketing, said in a statement that the organization is working on throwing the doors open at the facility. Kapinski said in an email, quote, We are doing everything possible to reopen Glacier House because we recognize the community's need for crisis stabilization. Unfortunately, funding and staffing remain significant issues, so we don't have a reopening date scheduled at this time. Facilities like Glacier House are designed to stabilize individuals experiencing a mental health or substance abuse disorder crisis, often within 72 hours, and refer that individual to longer-term care. Flathead County Commissioners amended a subcontract with Western Montana Mental Health Center on June 9th, which allotted $100,000 of state funding for startup operational costs to reopen and re-establish the facility. The funding is part of $300 million allocated to the Montana Department for Public Health and Human Services to bolster mental health care by the Montana Legislature in 2023, according to James Pike, Behavioral Health Coordinator for the Flathead City County Health Department. Before closing in 2021, Glacier House was operated by Western Montana Mental Health Center through an agreement with Flathead County and funded by alcohol tax revenue. The five-bed facility faced staffing challenges when it was open. The stressful workplace and insufficient pay, weighed down by low Medicaid reimbursement rates, meant Western struggled to hire or retain enough employees to keep the crisis center open. That's according to former CEO Levi Anderson, who spoke to the Interlake about the facility's closure in 2023. Anderson said at the time the mental health organization had attempted to reopen the center for over a year, but gave up hope that they would find the required staff. Low Medicaid reimbursements remain a challenge to facilities like Glacier House, according to Pike, who spoke about the county's crisis intervention team at a June 1st, Kalisbell City Council meeting. He told counselors that while a 24-hour crisis facility in Flathead County is needed, there isn't enough funding to operate one. State grants could support a facility for 18 months, but after that, Medicaid reimbursements would be unable to cover the operational costs, according to Pike. Western Montana Mental Health Center CEO Bob Lopp said he is concerned with a lack of long-term funding solution to keep the doors of Glacier House open. He said he knows everyone is working diligently at the state and local level to figure out a business model that's sustainable. AWARE Inc. worked closely with Western for several years before a decision was made last summer to take over assets from the organization as it went through a dissolution process overseen by the Montana Attorney General's office. Lobb said that process is nearly finished. As the organization settles its remaining debts, what's left over in terms of assets gets transferred to AWARE, so the organization can continue to deliver behavioral health services. Seventeen more felines were found and delivered to Kitty Mom's rescue organization in the last week, including one adult and four litters of kittens. They were found in wood piles along roadsides and near lakes. One litter was found near its mother who died giving birth. Another litter's mom had been killed by a dog, and the third litter's mother had not yet been found. Darcy Albert, president of the rescue group, said that they are only taking emergencies right now. If cats are being fed and are in a safe place, the organization is having to say no. Albert said with more than 80 cats in its foster homes, Kitty Moms is seeing an epidemic level of cat abandonment in the valley. Flathead Valley is served by one public and one nonprofit animal shelter, the Flathead County Animal Shelter south of Kalispell, and the Humane Society of Northwest Montana, north of Kalispel. Floodhead City County Health Department Director, Jin Renkowski, is serving as the interim director of the County Animal Shelter. She said the rising demand for services in the county has been ongoing for several years, and the shelter has responded by continuing to provide services and resources to support the community. Rinkowski added that providing appropriate housing, medical care, and daily support to the animals in its care has reduced the shelter's ability to accept owner-surrendered pets. She said the shelter continues to receive a steady influx of animals brought in by animal control officers and members of the public. Both shelters suggest that people who need to surrender a pet check websites home-home.org and rehome.adoptapet.com. Rinkowski added that they continue to evaluate shelter capacity on an ongoing basis and work with pet owners to identify alternative resources whenever possible. Both shelter directors say they are operating at capacity, but the actual capacity of the county shelter is not a set number. Rinkowski said available space can vary from day to day based on several factors, including ongoing legal holds, animals brought in by animal control officers, stray animal intake, and the age and temperament of animals currently in their care. She said the policy regarding strays affects capacity too, because strays must be held for a minimum of 72 hours for the owner to reclaim the pet. If the owner does not arrive, the pet undergoes medical evaluation, vaccination, and spray and neuter procedures before becoming available for adoption. Executive Director of the Humane Society, Stacey De Bolt, said the shelter facilitates about 500 adoptions each year and always operates at capacity, which is about 24 dogs and 48 to 50 cats. The Humane Society intake statistics for January through June of this year show that it has accepted 46 adult cats and 35 kittens from owner surrenders, and another 38 felines were transferred into the facility. DeBolt said she has noticed an increase in the number of owner surrendered pets recently. She said there's a conversation that needs to be had, including how the economy and housing issues affect the number of surrenders. She said there was an influx last year, but this year they are continuing to see the trend go up. Read the full version of this story at Whitefishpilot.com. Thanks for joining us. NewsNow is a podcast from the Daily Interlake. We're proud to be the largest independent newsroom in Montana and the longest continuously published newspaper in the region. Today's stories were written by yours truly, and Daily Interlake reporters Haley Smalley and Jack Underhill, Hungry Horse News Editor Chris Peterson, and Whitefish Pilot Reporter Julie Engler. You can read the full versions of these stories at Dailyinterlake.com. And if you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel to never miss an episode of the pod. Everybody stay safe and have a great week.