
It has been more than eight decades since Canadians and Americans came together to forge Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the world's first cross-border park dedicated to protect unique ecosystems that flourish where the prairie rises up to the crooked spine of the Rocky Mountains. That concept -- an international park -- is gaining renewed attention, both due to this last fall's World Parks Congress, as well as next year's centennial of the National Park Service in the United States.
Though to many the Peace Park designation is likely viewed as little more than a concept for protecting this marvelous landscape and the flora and fauna within it, Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow is working to raise the profile of that designation. During the World Parks Congress that was held in Sydney, Australia, last November, Superintendent Mow made several presentations, and was struck by how many of the event's participants were familiar with Glacier.
"Glacier is looked upon as a model of the Peace Park," he told the Traveler. "We really are the model, being the first."
With the Park Service's centennial next year, Superintendent Mow wants to ensure that the Peace Park designation isn't in name only.
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