She’s very friendly, unless you’re a bighorn sheep getting too close to the parking lot.
One of the busiest spotsin Montana’sGlacier National Park , for people and wildlife alike , isLogan Pass . With persuasion of hulk pile and carpeted with wildflowers in the summer , it ’s where the east side and west side of the continental water parting foregather , and the highest point approachable in the park , on the most traffic arterial blood vessel : theGoing - to - the - Sun road .
Grizzly bears will lumber through occasionally , but visitors are more probable to see off - white mountain goats and statuesque bighorn sheep . The parking lot at Logan Pass is especially appealing : at times , when they are saltiness - lacking , they’ll lick the antifreeze off the mineral pitch . They get so close “ you’re able to sometimes even hear them break their horns when they ’re campaign , ” says a friend who is a frequent visitant .
That can be a little too close for comfort , and that ’s whereGraciecomes in . An prescribed Glacier National ParkB.A.R.K. Ranger , she ’s black and white and fuzzy with a very official orangeness vest that says “ Wildlife Working Dog . ” Twice a week in the summer you ’ll find the 10 - yr - old Border Collie and her possessor - handler Mark Biel , a Natural Resources Program Manager , patrolling Logan Pass in an feat to suppress wildlife encounters .
Gracie the B.A.R.K. Ranger at work monitoring some bighorn rams.|National Park Service/Alice W. Biel
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Putting Allen to work was Biel ’s idea : in 2015 , in response to carry on business concern from the public and common employees , he begin count for originative way to keep wildlife and visitors safely apart . After doing some research , he learned about other locations that use dogs for wildlife shepherding and “ hazing , ” which refer to various non - deadly methods of discouraging excessively familiar wildlife . After obtaining a grant from the Glacier National Park Conservancy , Biel accompany Gracie for ten weeks of grooming atWind River Bear Institute , in Florence , Montana .
The institute commonly trains hardy Karelian Bear Dogs to defuse grizzly bear meeting ( mostly by sniffing the bear out and scaring them away with meretricious bark before anything can really happen ) , but Gracie ’s employment is strictly relegate to ungulates , or hoof it mammal . She trained with domestic sheep , learn commands to verify upper and movement , but most importantly , how to snap out of whatever she was focusing on to return to her coach . She also learned how to greet and interact with stranger , which would hail in ready to hand in a national park surround .
On a typical summer dayat Logan Pass , Gracie and Biel usually begin with doing a lap around the perimeter of the parking lot , to sweep for any wildlife nearby . If bighorn sheep or mountain caprine animal are spotted , they supervise the position . And if either start moving towards the parking lot then Gracie and Biel take action .
Gracie and her handler, Mark Biel.|National Park Service/Alice W. Biel
The job is to figure out the safest agency to head the animals off so they stay the perfect distance away : far enough for base hit ’s saki but close enough for wildlife viewing . It ’s done by make the wildlife uncomfortable . Fearless , Gracie crouch and slinks ahead , with Biel tether to her by a 30 - ft trinity . The whelp then locks eyes with the brute . If they do n’t react she continues to grovel towards them until they retreat . “ To humans , Gracie is a fluffy ducky . But wild ungulates see her as a wolf - similar animal . That ’s why the hazing is effective , ” says Grace Hassler , on behalf of the National Park Service Office of Public Affairs , over email . In other words , she may reckon adorable , but Gracie is kind of a badass .
She ’s also not the only work dog in the National Park Service . There are sled click employed in Denali , dogs that assist Search and Rescue teams , dogs that help locate endangered species ( like thedetection dogs in Yosemitetrained to whiff out the poop of the tough and endangered Sierra Nevada red fox ) , and NPS K9 policeman who support law enforcement action including patrols and detection of banned content .
While these put to work dog may put themselves in danger every day for the sake of keep our internal park secure and incident - barren , your own furred Quaker can persuade the B.A.R.K. Ranger statute title , with less grooming involved . The B.A.R.K. Ranger Program merely need you and your favored assurance to maintain proper etiquette on public farming . B – Bag your pet ’s waste , A – Always leash your pet , R – Respect wildlife , and K — have it away where you’re able to go .
Gracie and her handler, Mark Biel.|National Park Service/Alice W. Biel
Not all national parks have dearie - friendly areas , that ’s something to chequer websites for ahead of time , but you ’ll definitely find pet well-disposed trails inAcadia , Yosemite , and Cuyahoga Valley National Parks . ensure theB.A.R.K. Ranger Pageto see what other perk may be useable for you and your four - legged friends . Some parks , likeWashington - Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail , have a badge broadcast for your dearie . Others likeFort Smith Historic Sitehave activity booklets and the hazard to get a coolheaded bounder tag .
If you recollect your ducky can palm a trivial more responsibility and be a model pet citizen , some internal parks haveB.A.R.K. Ranger Ambassador Programs , where visitors and their deary can ratify up to aid school the populace on canine resources , and the grandness of being on a leash or staying in assailable - pet areas . Another name for this program ? Paw Patrol .
In the wintertime , when the Going - to - the - Sun road is closed and Logan Pass inaccessible , Gracie move on to patrolling Glacier National Park ’s headquarters and residential field for deer . Her task is to encourage them to stay out of doors of the populated orbit . “ Their presence attracts mountain Leo to the sphere where many hoi polloi work and live , including fry . ” says Hassler .
Sizing each other up.|National Park Service/Alice W. Biel
And when there ’s no wildlife to be curbed at Logan Pass , in her downtime Gracie Allen pose for photos and induce portion of pets while Biel explain to visitors why Gracie ’s job is important . “ Gracie is a citizenry attractor , ” says Hassler .
If Gracie is n’t around , there are other “ hazing methods ” that Glacier employees use to move the mint goat and bighorn sheep out of the Logan Pass parking lot and away from people . They include arm - waving , shouting , using femme fatale , and shake cans of rocks . But these traditional methods only move the animals for a poor period of sentence , state Hassler . They often get back in about 15 minutes . When Gracie gets into gear , however , the deer and goats outride out of the populated area for up to a humongous 19 hour .
She may be cute , but she ’s just that fierce .
Always on alert.|National Park Service/Alice W. Biel
