Top Ten Most-Endangered Public Lands

The Going-to-the-Sun Road is just that: a gorgeous drive that cuts through stunning Glacier National Park. But the road is crumbling, and the park's historic hotels are deteriorating. Lack of operating funds also compromises the park's scientific research, resource interpretation, and backcountry trail maintenance. The North Fork of the Flathead River is threatened by Canadian coal mines and intensive timber harvesting. In the U.S., this biologically diverse floodplain ecosystem is threatened by development of roads, airstrips, and residential subdivisions.

Recommended solution: The Park Service must design a rehabilitation plan for the park's hotels and historic structures, and Congress needs to allocate more money for the park's education and resource-protection programs. A transboundary agreement would bridge the international divide between the United States and Canada and create guidelines for future land use, saving the park's wildlife and the nearby river corridor.