"Their proposal is pretty much the same," Flathead National Forest Supervisor Anthony Botello told the Flathead Beacon on October 1, 2026. That was the day Pursuit filed its new plan for a sightseeing tram up Columbia Mountain, the ridge that rises east of Columbia Falls above Bad Rock Canyon.
The "Glacier View Tram" uses about the same footprint and general design the Forest Service turned down at the end of 2022. The company describes the main project change as year-round operation. In 2022, one of the agency's reasons for not reconsidering was that its Forest Plan was too new to amend. That plan is now eight years old. The 2026 review will depend less on the tram itself and more on whether the agency is willing to rewrite the rules for one corner of Columbia Mountain.
The proposal, as filed this month
Pursuit's release, reported by the Hungry Horse News, describes two 100-passenger cabins that would climb more than 3,000 vertical feet in about six minutes, with accessible trails, walking paths and viewing areas at both stations. The base would be in Hungry Horse. The upper station would sit on the mountain's northwest face, the same face where Bonneville Power Administration high-voltage lines run from Hungry Horse Dam.
Pursuit COO Gary Rodgers gave the Beacon more detail:
- Cabins of 100 to 125 passengers are being considered, with departures every 10 minutes.
- Peak capacity would be about 1,000 passengers per hour. The company expects peak demand of about 600 per hour.
- The upper station would sit about 1,000 feet below the summit and include a small cafe and viewing area.
- The base would sit on a Forest Service parcel south of Highway 2, with a full-service restaurant, retail space, parking and an information center.
- The project would be privately financed. No road would be built, and the tram would be fully accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rodgers said the company sees the tram as a way to reach visitors already driving U.S. 2 toward Glacier National Park, not as a destination by itself. He cited Montana Department of Transportation data showing an average of 10,700 vehicles a day passing the site in 2025. Pursuit has not released daily or annual ridership projections or operating hours. The company's release cites an economic analysis estimating about 230 jobs. Rodgers told the Beacon that the consultant's report behind that estimate is not part of the submission.
Pursuit, formerly Glacier Park Inc., owns most of the commercial businesses in West Glacier.
Why the first version stopped at screening
The first round never reached a public review. Pursuit first approached the Forest Service in December 2021, according to the Daily Inter Lake, and the Whitefish Pilot reported that it submitted its plan that June. The agency rejected it during preliminary screening. As the Beacon reported in December 2022, the Forest Service said most of Columbia Mountain was designated primitive non-motorized under the 2018 Flathead Forest Plan, that a tram didn't fit that setting, that the upper station would be in an Inventoried Roadless Area, and that a Forest Plan amendment would be required.
Then-Forest Supervisor Kurt Steele declined to propose that amendment. The Beacon's 2026 coverage says his denial letter, dated January 2023, gave a specific reason: the plan was less than five years old.
Here is how the two submissions compare, based on the reporting so far:
| 2022 proposal | 2026 proposal | |
|---|---|---|
| Design and footprint | Two-cabin tram, base in Hungry Horse | Described by Pursuit and the Forest Service as substantially the same |
| Operating season | Not year-round | Year-round, now listed as the main project change |
| Public input during screening | None; Swan View Coalition later said the agency kept the proposal out of public view | Pursuit taking comments online; Forest Service plans early outreach |
| Age of the 2018 Forest Plan | Under five years, cited in the denial | About eight years |
| Forest Supervisor | Kurt Steele | Anthony Botello, in the role since November 2023 |
Whether the Forest Plan can be amended
Botello told the Beacon the agency will test the same questions again. This time it has years of experience applying the plan to inform the answer.
"Fast forward five years down the road, we have more data on how we are implementing the forest plan. I think it'll help in that determination, whether or not [an amendment] is needed and whether or not we're willing to do that."
He said any amendment would be site-specific, handled through environmental review, and announced to the public up front.
The details of where the stations would sit explain why the amendment question matters so much. Forest Service officials told the Beacon the base would be in Management Area 6C, general forest managed for high-intensity vegetation management. The upper terminal would be in Management Area 5B, a backcountry area open to motorized use year-round. A separate system, the recreation opportunity spectrum, rates the upper terminal's summer setting as semi-primitive non-motorized and its winter setting as semi-primitive motorized. The 2023 rejection letter cited the non-motorized setting. A Pursuit spokesperson said the company understands the concerns about the 5B designation and will ask the agency to look at similar facilities in other 5B areas.
The roadless question is also less settled than it was in 2022. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule. As of the Federal Register notice published August 20, 2026, that rescission is still a proposal, the original rule's restrictions remain in effect, and the comment period has closed. Botello said that with no road planned, the question is less about road building and more about whether the project fits the Forest Plan. He said no decisions have been made based on pending federal changes and called the plan the agency's "North Star."
Wildlife is part of the review too. Forest Service records place the upper terminal in core grizzly bear habitat. Botello said the evaluation will include how year-round operation affects threatened and endangered species, including grizzlies and lynx, as well as public safety.
What happens next, and when
Because the plan-amendment question decides the outcome, the order of the review matters. Here is how the process works as described this month:
- Screening. The proposal goes through nine initial standards and five second-level benchmarks covering consistency with the Forest Plan, public need, and Pursuit's technical and financial ability. The agency aims to respond within 60 days of the October 1 filing, which would be about the end of November. Botello said a complex proposal could take 90 days, which would push the response toward the end of December.
- Early outreach. The Forest Service doesn't usually seek public input while screening an unsolicited proposal. It plans to this time because of the level of interest. KPAX reported that Botello said the agency would seek views from community members, Tribes, elected officials and other stakeholders.
- Application and NEPA. If the proposal passes screening, it becomes an application and moves into environmental review with formal public involvement under the National Environmental Policy Act. That is the stage where any site-specific plan amendment would be considered.
Pursuit is collecting questions and comments at glacierviewtram.com. The site says the project is not approved, that comments sent there go to the company and are separate from any future Forest Service comment process, and that a formal federal comment period would follow only if the proposal advances. The proposal documents themselves aren't public yet. The Forest Service declined to release them, citing possible proprietary information, and the Beacon has filed a Freedom of Information Act request.
Organized reaction started within days. On October 3, the Swan View Coalition urged the Forest Service to reject the tram, citing habitat fragmentation and effects on the viewshed. On October 10, Peter Metcalf, executive director of the Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance, wrote in a Daily Inter Lake guest opinion that the proposal is incompatible with the Forest Plan. Rodgers, for his part, told the Beacon that "public lands belong to everybody, and that's why this process matters."
Where the trail fits in
For many people in Columbia Falls, Columbia Mountain is a hike before it is a news story. Swan Range trail advocates list it as Columbia Mountain Trail No. 51. They put the summit at 7,234 feet and describe a double waterfall and alpine wildflowers along the route. The Flathead Beacon's 2023 trail guide called it a steep out-and-back of roughly 12 miles with nearly 5,000 feet of climbing. To reach the trailhead from Columbia Falls, the guide says to drive east on U.S. 2 toward Hungry Horse, continue about 3.5 miles past the Montana 206 junction, and turn right onto an unmarked dirt road. In winter, the Hungry Horse News has described Bad Rock Canyon and the Columbia Mountain trailhead as popular access for ice climbing.
The filed proposal mostly leaves the trail out. Rodgers told the Beacon it includes no hiking trails beyond small loops within the site. He expects connections to existing trails to come up during environmental review and said nothing in the proposal would prevent them. The company's website talks more broadly about accessible trails and connections. The Forest Service hasn't yet determined what effect the project would have on Trail No. 51. If the proposal reaches the NEPA stage, that is where any trail connections would first be described in writing.
Proposals like this one can raise practical questions for people who own along the Highway 2 corridor between Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse, or who are weighing a property decision there while the review plays out. If you'd like to talk through what a pending public-land proposal does and doesn't change for your plans, the team at All Montana Real Estate is glad to help. Contact Us.
