BNSF eyes artillery for avalanche control

KALISPELL, Mont. – The famed symbol of the Great Northern Railway was a mountain goat perched on a rock in Glacier National Park.

That railroad’s successor, BNSF Railway Co., now wants to lob artillery shells into mountain goat habitat inside the park. The shelling would help control winter avalanches that sometimes threaten BNSF freight trains, about 40 of which pass daily through mountains just south of the park’s border.

Besides seeking federal permission for the occasional wintertime bombardment of the park, the highly profitable railroad stands to benefit from little-known legislation – passed in the Senate and pending in the House – that would spend as much as $75 million in federal grants to pay for avalanche control.

The legislation, introduced by two senior Republican lawmakers from Alaska and written, in part, by an avalanche expert who is a paid consultant to BNSF, would approve the use of federal money to assist “avalanche artillery users.”

Those who probably would benefit include state highway departments, ski areas and BNSF, if it receives permission from the National Park Service to bombard Glacier. The consultant and a railway spokesman said the railroad had nothing to do with the crafting of the bill and has not lobbied for its passage.

Using artillery for avalanche control is a well-established practice in Alaska and parts of the mountainous West.

The 105 mm shells used are military ordnance that spray shrapnel.

But advocates for the national parks and some of the nation’s leading avalanche experts have strongly criticized BNSF’s request, calling subsidized shelling of the park aesthetically inappropriate and potentially harmful to wintering mountain goats, elk, deer, wolverines and endangered grizzly bears.

“There is a great hush over this park in the winter,” said Steve Thompson, Glacier program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group that works to protect the parks. “It would be a travesty to fire howitzers into the heart of one of our wildest natural lands.”

It is unknown whether shelling would rouse hibernating bears.

The Bush administration has strongly objected to the cost of the proposed avalanche legislation.

For most of the 100 years that trains have crossed the Rockies along the southern border of Glacier National Park, railroads have spent their own money to build and maintain snow sheds that cover the tracks. The sheds have worked well to protect passing trains, according to the Park Service.

Over the years, though, some snow sheds have been destroyed by fire. In addition, the snowpack in the park has been shifting, requiring avalanche protection on new stretches of track.

BNSF has chosen not to rebuild some burned sheds or to build new ones.

The railroad has opted for artillery bombardment as the “efficient, proven practice used in potential avalanche areas in North America,” said Gus Melonas, a spokesman for BNSF. He said the railroad prefers artillery because snow sheds are “time-consuming to construct and extremely expensive.”

The railroad has estimated the cost of building new snow sheds and replacing old ones at $110 million; they would cover about a mile of unprotected track.

While shelling is much less expensive, avalanche experts say snow sheds are safer and more reliable.

“Using explosives to release avalanches is not a surefire method to maintain a safe rail corridor,” said Don Bachman, president of the board of directors of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies in Silverton, Colo.

“It’s cheaper in the short run, but it could be terribly costly in the long run, not just in monetary cost, but lives and property.”

Bachman said BNSF should make the long-term investment in snow sheds, noting that it has the income to do so.

According to its annual report, the railroad is enjoying record growth and soaring profitability, with revenue of $13 billion last year and a 73 percent increase in operating income. To handle record freight volumes, the company said it plans to spend $2.4 billion this year on tracks, locomotives and technology.

“Our message to the railroad is this: You guys are making a lot of money, you can afford to do it right,” said Thompson, of the National Parks Conservation Association.

The National Park Service plans to release an assessment of the environmental consequences of using artillery in Glacier late this month.