Montana
Couple build unauthorized house in Glacier National Park
California couple John and Stacy Ambler are in the midst of a legal fight to keep their home after building it without permission in Glacier National Park in Montana.
Newsweek contacted the Amblers’ legal team, the Flathead Conservation District’s legal team, and the Friends of Montana’s Streams and Rivers for comment via email.
Why It Matters
National parks in the United States are under constant pressure from environmental damages. While the Ambler house is small, allowing it to remain could have major ramifications for how construction in national parks is handled in the future.
The case could also set a precedent for how these kinds of disputes are handled.
What To Know
The Amblers built their home on the McDonald Creek, in Flathead County, Montana, but they quickly faced opposition over environmental issues.
“Glacier National Park did not ‘allow’ the construction on this private property,” the Flathead Conservation District said in a January 2024 court filing. “Glacier National Park has no regulations related to construction on private property. There are rigorous rules related to construction within Glacier National Park (and all federal lands), none of which were complied with by the plaintiffs…The plaintiffs obtained no valid permit, contract or agreement with the United States.”
The Amblers are now facing a federal lawsuit after suing the Flathead Conservation District, arguing that private inholding properties inside the national park are immune from state law as they are a federal jurisdiction.
According to Cowboy State Daily, the Amblers’ home is located in an area where there are no floodplain designations from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) because it wasn’t mapped. Due to this, the county is limited to regulate floodplain development.
The Amblers’ new neighbors, who were annoyed at the loophole that they used to try and continue building the home, organized the Friends of Montana’s Streams and Rivers (FMSR), which campaigns to protect the integrity of the park’s streams.
The Cowboy State Daily reported that the house can be seen from a nearby bridge, where neighbors keep tabs on the property as they continue to organize against it.
Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Rob Farris-Olsen, an attorney representing Friends of Montana’s Streams and Rivers, said in a statement to the Cowboy State Daily: “It’s frustrating. There’s no continuity of regulation between downstream and upstream. For Wyoming, there’s not a lot of inholdings within Yellowstone. And the ceding of the Grand Tetons to the feds, that was very different than Glacier. I’m not really sure how much of an effect this will have on future Wyoming cases. However, it creates this regulatory void for a lot of inholdings because there’s no building permits necessarily.”
What Happens Next
The case remains ongoing in federal court. If the Amblers are successful, the court could grant them immunity from state law, allowing them to keep the house.
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MISSOULA, Mont. — In this week’s Amazing America, NBC Montana is highlighting smokejumpers and their efforts to keep our communities safe during wildfire season.
NBC Montana caught up with a current and a former smokejumper to learn more about the work they do and how the job has changed throughout the years.
Jim Kitchen was a smokejumper for 20 seasons, fought over 100 fires and raised his three daughters on a smokejumper base, where he served as base commander.
Kitchen says he’ll never forget his first jump, when he started training in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1987.
“I went, ‘That was amazing,’ and he goes, ‘Yeah,’ and I go, ‘Have you ever done anything as amazing in your life? I mean, we just made our first jump,” said Kitchen.
Kitchen told NBC Montana when he laughed his crew had to do 50 pushups.
Kitchen saw several changes during his career, including women entering a historically male-dominated field. He told NBC Montana Deanne Shulman, the first woman smokejumper, paved the way for the industry.
He recalled a time when he was on a trip to Washington, D.C. , in the early ’90s to coordinate emergency response, when a U.S. Department of State official asked him a question.
“He goes, ‘I didn’t realize men were smokejumpers.’ And I had to go, ‘Peter, I’ll have you know, there’s quite a few of us, and actually, it’s the women that are rare,’” said Kitchen “The early ladies in smokejumping, they always met and exceeded the bar, and they were instrumental in doing these winter details.”
Another change he oversaw as base commander, was moving from round parachutes used in World War II, to the ones used today.
“Ram-Air parachutes that inflate make the shape of the wing and they actually have about a 20 mph forward speed. And so you can you can fly those in much windier conditions, higher elevations,” said Kitchen.
Kitchen says the job requires you to roll with the punches and make quick decisions on the fly.
He said while training new jumpers, he taught them early to prepare and never hesitate.
“The only thing that we ask of you is that you take all the information that you can and then make a decision,” said Kitchen.
Nick Holloway, a current Missoula smokejumper, who’s been working for 14 seasons, says it’s important to rely on your training, stay positive and persevere.
“Having done this for a few years, it’s just trying to know that essentially every season is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Just stay healthy, stay focused and keep having a good time,” said Holloway.
NBC Montana asked both men what they were most proud of during their time jumping.
Kitchen recalled fighting a fire near the Grand Canyon, when he and his crew decided to manage a fire instead of suppressing it when they ponderosa pine trees.
The crew let the fire burn to a plateau, “The Ponderosa pine has about a 20 to 30-year fire return interval in that area,” said Kitchen. “That’s one of the high points as far as land stewardship of my career is seeing fire on a landscape escape and not necessarily suppressing it but allowing it to burn, because then you’re saying it’s good for decades after that.”
Holloway told NBC Montana, while he has “too many to count,” he’s most proud that recently he jumped a 3- to 5-acre fire at Yellowstone National Park.
The fire grew to 8 acres, “So seven days later we got around everything, put it all out and essentially with a good product upon departure. So it’s just a classic example of a smokejumper fire.”
Holloway says staying fit for annual trainings, regardless of experience, is critical to staying fire-ready.
“Pushups, pullups, sit-ups, a certain amount and then a mile and a half in a certain time as well,” said Holloway.
Kitchen told NBC Montana he still does his pullups, pushups and sit-ups.
“Many of my colleagues are still in really fit shape even in their 60s, 70s and 80s,” he said.
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