Last month, the Glacier National Park Fund and Glacier Natural History Association announced that both nonprofits would merge next year and form the Glacier National Park Conservancy. Officials say the merger will bring more money to the park and focus efforts on conservation and preservation.
“We’ll be one organization that can give more to the park,” said Jane Ratzlaff, executive director of the Glacier National Park Fund.
Currently, there are four nonprofit groups that support Glacier National Park. The Glacier Association and Glacier National Park Fund primarily raise money for the park through fundraisers or merchandise sales. The two other groups, the Glacier Institute and Glacier National Park Associates, also support the park through research and volunteering.
Ratzlaff said the effort to merge the two groups began in 2011 in hopes of finding more ways to help the park, as well as simplify things for the general public. In the coming weeks and months, the two organizations will look at how to combine staffs, records and resources. Ratzlaff said for now, both the Fund’s office in Columbia Falls and the Association’s retail store in the West Glacier train station would remain open.
“We’re in the process right now of figuring out what we’ll look like,” she said. “I don’t think the public will notice a big difference, but it will provide more opportunities to purchase items and donate.”
Both nonprofits are led by advisory boards and those will be combined in January. The new board of directors will decide on who will become the new executive director in the coming weeks. Together, the two nonprofits have seven full-time employees, all of whom will retain their jobs.
“We’re quite the lean machines already,” Ratzlaff said.
Glacier National Park spokesperson Denise Germann said the National Park Service has worked with both organizations to ensure a smooth transition. She said the newly formed Glacier National Park Conservancy would result in more consistent messaging.
“We greatly appreciate the support these organizations provide to the park and we look forward to working with the Glacier National Park Conservancy in the future,” Germann said.
The Glacier National Park Fund was formed in 1999 as a fundraising partner for the park. Ratzlaff said the group raises about $1 million annually and much of that goes toward work inside the park, including trail maintenance, research, preservation and visitor experience. The Glacier Association, also known as the Glacier Natural History Association, was formed in 1946 and for more than six decades has helped preserve the history and culture of the park and surrounding region. Ratzlaff said the two groups made a natural fit.
“We support the same areas. The Association is more into the preservation and history, but both groups give to the park,” she said. “That’s why we exist.”
For more information about either group visit www.glacierassociation.org or www.glacierfund.org.