How would you manage mythical Glacier Canyon National Park?

If you were given 500,000 acres from which to design a national park, how would you do it, where would you start? Would you see your role as protector of this unique ecosystem, or developer?

Your landscape -- mythical Glacier Canyon National Park -- is near the northern border of the United States, with deep, boreal forests rimming plunging canyons through which rivers roar. Wolves, grizzlies, wolverines, moose, elk, mountain goats and bighorn sheep are at home here, as are golden eagles and falcons, and the lakes and rivers are flush with native trout fisheries.

It is, if you will, an untouched ecosystem. You are the final arbiter of what to do with this verdant wilderness sanctuary. How many roads would you approve, how many lodges, what activities would you deem appropriate? Would you designate portions as official wilderness, would hiking and mountain biking trails traverse the park, what fees would you charge?

Would you have multiple tiers of lodging prices, or one across-the-board style of lodging for one set fee to make it as affordable for as many as possible?

Understandably, this is an academic discussion, (unless you happen to own 500,000 acres and would give it over to the National Park System). But at the same time, it's a sociological one as well to see where we stand today. From this discusson, it might be extrapolated to the real-life discussion of how the park system we have should evolve in the 21st century.

There are those who no doubt would want to locate four or five lodges within our Glacier Canyon National Park. And possibly some who would want to locate the lodges outside the park, with only a few dead-end roads leading into the core for use in transporting backcountry travelers to trailheads and river put-ins. Others might opt for snowmobile trails and hunting seasons.

How much development is enough, and how much is too much? Is this park intended to truly preserve the natural resources and settings and provide a place for relaxation, inspiration, and rejuvenation, or is it envisioned as a human playground, one to be cut with adrenalin-pumping experiences -- hang-gliding, zip lines, BASE jumping? Would you cap visitation on a daily basis? Annual basis? 

Answer these questions and you just might see the future of the existing National Park System. More and more adrenalin sports are standing at the gate, demanding access. Other interest groups want more lodges (but at what prices?), others want to place human activities at the top of the scale, with wildlife management decisions flowing from there, and more demands in general are being placed on the national parks and what roles they should play.