Hospitality Company Proposes West Glacier ‘Work Camp’ to Centralize Seasonal Staff
Pursuit, the travel and lodging company with business interests spread across West Glacier, wants to build cabins and dormitories to house 230 workers from May to October; neighbors have raised traffic and public safety concerns
By Tristan Scott
The multi-national travel and hospitality company with business interests concentrated in and around Glacier National Park is seeking approval to build a “work camp” in West Glacier to accommodate 230 seasonal employees.
Pursuit submitted its application for a minor land use review to the Flathead County Planning and Zoning office in December. According to the application, the seasonal workforce housing complex would consist of cabins, dormitories and RV parking spaces on a 24-acre parcel it owns in West Glacier, adjoining a previously developed RV park and more than 100 acres of Pursuit-owned property that is undeveloped.
The housing complex at 100 R.E.A. Road would use existing water and septic systems and would feature a gravel parking area with approximately 135 parking spaces, the application states. The existing point of access would be modified into a 22-foot gravel roadway, with looping roads to provide fire access.
A Pursuit spokesperson framed the housing development as “a consolidation, not an expansion,” and described a need to centralize segments of an 800-person seasonal workforce dispersed throughout the park, from West Glacier to Waterton. In West Glacier, Pursuit employs about 230 seasonal workers each summer, housing them at properties spanning the Middle Fork Flathead River corridor from Columbia Falls to West Glacier. The piecemeal style of the housing arrangement has been a perennial challenge for workers, many of whom are international employees who live and work in the region during the summer months on a J-1 Visa Summer Work Travel Program, according to the spokesperson, who added that about 75% of Pursuit’s seasonal employees do not drive.
The county planning department must consider the application based on the parameters outlined in the Canyon Area Land Use Plan, which doesn’t set limits on work camps based on their size alone but does impose other development standards, including privacy screens and barriers.
Gary Rodgers, Pursuit’s chief operating officer for the Pacific Northwest, said unlike the company’s business holdings in other areas of the park, such as East Glacier, St. Mary and Waterton, its employee housing in West Glacier is “provided over a dispersed number of Pursuit-owned properties throughout the Middle Canyon area, a combination of individual homes and condominiums as well as dormitory-style accommodation.”
“Longterm, our goal is to create a centralized employee housing campus on the boundary of West Glacier to relocate our workforce housing closer to their place of work,” Rodgers said.
To accomplish that, Rodgers said Pursuit “applied for a Minor Land Use Review for this project on a Pursuit-owned site nearby to the West Glacier RV Park. This will be a phased process over a number of years and aims to provide a combination of accommodations options including site for RVs, dormitory housing and management cabins.”
Prior to rebranding as Pursuit, the company operated as Glacier Park, Inc., and was the primary concessioner with Glacier National Park until 2013, when it lost the contract to operate the hotels and lodges in the park to Xanterra Parks and Resorts. Since 2014, Pursuit has continued to grow its portfolio of businesses in and around Glacier Park, most notably in and around West Glacier, where it owns most of the commercial properties.
“Pursuit is committed to providing a quality housing experience for all of our seasonal team members,” Rodgers added.
Although Flathead County planning officials received Pursuit’s application in late December, some residents and neighbors to the proposed housing development didn’t learn about it until earlier this month, when an online petition called on county officials to deny the review. The petition raised public safety concerns related to congestion, which has been a challenge during peak summer visitation months for years.
“In the event of a wildfire, adding 230 more people to this specific bottleneck could lead to a catastrophic failure of emergency evacuation efforts,” the petition states. It also raises as concerns threats to wildlife, the erosion of community character, and a shortage of emergency and law enforcement resources.
According to social media posts by the West Glacier Community Preservation Association, “putting a high-density ‘work camp’ of 230 people inside the historic village of West Glacier is not just poor planning — it is a public safety disaster waiting to happen.”
On Feb. 5, Pursuit hosted a public information meeting at the Coram-West Glacier Fire Department to address community concerns. Company officials said that by consolidating workforce housing on its West Glacier property, it would be returning rental options to the local housing pool while reducing workers’ commute time, and thereby reducing congestion.
Larry Parsons, a West Glacier resident, said he understands the benefits to seasonal workers that Pursuit is attempting to provide through the project, and believes there’s an opportunity for privacy barriers to limit potential conflicts with and nuisance complaints from neighbors.
“Speaking for myself, I see more pros than I do cons to the actual proposed development,” Parsons said. “It seems well designed from the standpoint of giving some consideration to neighbors by the cabin and dormitory placements.”
Still, Parsons knows firsthand that traffic congestions has become a serious problem, and while he acknowledged that no single entity bears sole responsibility for Glacier Park’s upward visitation trajectory, he encouraged Pursuit to engage other stakeholders, including Flathead County, BNSF and state highway officials, to play a more proactive role in coordinating a long-term safety plan for West Glacier and the Middle Canyon.
“One way in, one way out,” Parsons said. “God forbid we have to evacuate this park and town … We are not prepared.”
“Flathead County must take the lead in providing a solution to this threat and problem that continues to get worse,” Parsons wrote in a comment he submitted to planning officials. “Flathead County should take the primary responsibility and require the help and cooperation of [other stakeholders].”
For Pursuit’s part, the company has been on a steady pace of acquisitions since 2014 when it purchased multiple businesses in West Glacier from the Lundgren family, including the West Glacier Motel and Cabins; the West Glacier Restaurant and Bar; the West Glacier Mercantile; the West Glacier Gift Shop; and other guest services. Additionally, the deal with the Lundgrens included nearly 4 acres of inholding within Glacier National Park in Apgar, the Apgar Village Lodge, the Cedar Tree Gift Shop and staff housing units in Apgar and West Glacier.
In 2022, Pursuit purchased Glacier Raft Company, which included the Glacier Outdoor Center, located a half-mile from the west entrance to Glacier National Park, on a 50-acre parcel overlooking the park and the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Previous owners built 13 log cabins, a main lodge, retail store, and a wedding venue.
In November 2024, the company acquired Eddie’s Cafe and Mercantile in Apgar Village and, several months later, bought the Montana House, also in Apgar Village.
Other Pursuit-owned businesses include the historic Belton Chalet and the Glacier Park Lodge, which is located in East Glacier and was built by the Great Northern Railroad in 1912, two years after the creation of Glacier National Park.
Planning officials will accept public comment on the application until Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. People who want to comment can email [email protected].