Billings Area Attractions

Non-Resident Annual Passes Available for State Parks

Visitors to Montana State Parks who are non-residents can now purchase a 2012 State Park Non-Resident Annual Pass to visit any of Montana’s 54 state parks. The Non-Resident Annual Pass is $25 dollars per vehicle for the first vehicle and $20 for additional passes.

Non-Resident Annual Passes can be purchased online through the Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) licensing system at https://app.mt.gov/Als/Index or go to fwp.mt.gov and click on “Buy a License,” through walk-in to FWP Regional Offices, or at any of Montana’s 24 State Parks.

Since non-residents do not contribute to Montana’s state park system through the vehicle registration fee, they will be charged a daily entrance fee of $5 per day, unless they have a non-resident annual pass, said Ron Aasheim, FWP spokesman in Helena.

The Montana State Park Non-Resident Annual Pass is valid for one year from the month of issue.

For more information visit stateparks.mt.gov.

Is Yellowstone Park in Danger? Officials Invite Public Comment

The National Park Service is seeking public comment on a draft report on progress made addressing threats to Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone was designated as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1978. The World Heritage Committee placed Yellowstone on its List of World Heritage in Danger in 1995.

This is the sixth report to the World Heritage Committee on the conditions of the park since the park was removed from the list in 2003. It includes plans and actions currently underway that specifically seek to redress the 1995 threats and dangers. The report follows a visit this past summer from the Director of the World Heritage Centre and a representative of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), during which they observed the state of the park’s resources and progress in addressing conservation challenges.

All member nations of the World Heritage Committee voluntarily nominate their own sites embracing outstanding natural or cultural values. Member nations retain complete sovereignty over each site and over the operation of locations added to the World Heritage List.

The draft progress report is available for public review and comment from January 3–20 through the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment Web site at http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID= 39938.

All comments will be reviewed by the National Park Service and transmitted, in their entirety, along with the final report to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for consideration by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session in 2012.

Yellowstone National Park Open for the Winter Season

Yellowstone National Park opened to the public for the winter season December 15.

Visitors are able to travel on commercially-guided snowmobiles or rubber-tracked snowcoaches between the park’s South Entrance and Old Faithful. Businesses which normally offer commercially guided snowmobile and snowcoach tours will be temporarily allowed to use either rubber-tracked snowcoaches or wheeled vehicles to transport visitors from West Yellowstone and Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful. Rubber-tracked snowcoaches will be permitted to travel between Norris and Canyon.

Rubber-tracked snowcoaches and snowmobiles will be allowed to travel between the East Entrance through Sylvan Pass to Fishing Bridge and West Thumb. Currently, steel-tracked vehicles are not allowed on this route until more snow accumulates on the roads.

The rest of the interior park roads have too much ice and snow to allow visitor travel by commercial-wheeled vehicles, but not enough snow yet to permit commercially-guided snowmobile or snowcoach travel.

Park staff members will continue to closely monitor conditions and weather forecasts. Additional sections of the park will be opened to commercially-guided snowmobile and snowcoach travel as soon as enough new snow falls to permit the roads to be packed and groomed for safe oversnow travel.

The road from the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs and on to Cooke City, Montana, outside the park’s Northeast Entrance is open to automobile travel all year.

At Old Faithful, the Geyser Grill, the Bear Den Gift Shop, and the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center opened for the season December 15. The Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Cabins and the Obsidian Dining Room opened Sunday, December 18.

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, dining room, and gift shop opened for the season on Tuesday, December 20. The Yellowstone General Store, the medical clinic, campground, post office, 24-hour gasoline pumps, and the Albright Visitor Center at Mammoth Hot Springs are open all year.

All communities around and on the way to Yellowstone are open year-round, with local businesses offering a wide range of winter recreation opportunities. Extensive information and assistance for planning a visit to Yellowstone may be found on the park’s Web site at http://www.nps.gov/yell.

Glacier National Park is a Winter Wonderland

As the snow accumulates in Glacier National Park, snowshoeing and skiing are the favorite recreational activities for park visitors.

For winter 2012, the popular guided snowshoe walks are offered Saturdays and Sundays, 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., from January 7 through March 18. The walks depart from the Apgar Visitor Center. Snowshoe rental is available at the Apgar Visitor Center or in the Flathead Valley adjacent to the park. Please call the visitor center on the weekends after 9 a.m. to find out if conditions will permit the walk, 406-888-7939.

Vehicle access is more limited during the winter as Apgar Village, 11 miles of the Going-to-the-Sun Road on the west side, and a mile and a half on the east side are the only roads maintained in the winter. Click on Current Road Status at http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm to find out which roads are open for vehicle travel. For road conditions outside of the park, please visit the Montana Department of Transportation road conditions report.

Auto camping is available at the Apgar Picnic Area and St. Mary Campground. There is no charge for camping in the winter. A free backcountry permit is required to camp in the backcountry and is available on both sides of the park. Please call ahead to find out the most convenient location to obtain your permit, 406-888-7800.

Visitor information can be obtained in person at Glacier Park Headquarters Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except holidays, and at the Apgar Visitor Center, which is open weekends from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by phone at 406-888-7800.

Little Bighorn Battlefield Announces Winter Hours

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is changing its hours of operation to 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. beginning Monday, October 24, announced Superintendent Kate Hammond. The self-guiding Deep Ravine Trail and tour road to the Reno-Benteen Battlefield will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Custer National Cemetery hours are commensurate with the monument hours.

An orientation video, “Their Shots Quit Coming,” on the Battle of the Little Bighorn is shown daily.

Entrance fees are $10 per private vehicle/motorcycle or $5 per person. The Interagency Annual Pass for $8 is available and valid for one year from date of purchase at National Park Service fee areas. The Senior Pass, a lifetime pass into all National Park fee areas is available to U.S. senior citizens 62 years of age or older for a one-time charge of $10. The Access Pass is also available to permanently handicapped U.S. citizens free of charge.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, one of 395 units of the National Park Service, preserves the site of one of the most famous battles in American history, the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer Battle). For additional information, call 406-638-3217.