Work still needs to be done to protect wildlife in the Flathead and surrounding areas, and to ensure that Rocky Mountain wildlife connectivity is not compromised by forestry practices and other development, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee said today in a “state of conservation” report.

The state of conservation report recommends “development of a pro-active plan for enhancing connectivity” in the Flathead River Valley and adjoining areas. It also raises concerns about proposed mine expansions in southeastern British Columbia, adjacent to the Flathead, “in a corridor providing vital habitat connectivity to the Rocky Mountains World Heritage property in Alberta” [the Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks].

Read the entire article . . .

To pave or not to pave? The question of what to do with the North Fork Road was further debated Tuesday night in Columbia Falls. Residents, local business owners and Flathead County officials gathered at the Glacier Discovery Square to discuss the recently released draft of a $125,000 study on the corridor.

Read the full article . . .

To pave or not to pave may not be the question.

Due to lack of money, Flathead County Commissioner Jim Dupont said the long-talked-about paving of the North Fork Road will not likely happen anytime soon unless the federal government decides to pay for it.

Read the full article . . .

Note that public comments are due by August 10. Send e-mail to mdtnffrteam@mt.gov or write to Lani Eggertsen-Goff, PB 488 E. Wincester Street, Suite 400, Murray, UT 84107. The draft corridor study can be viewed online at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/. (Warning! Some big files.)

Here’s the lead-in from the HHN write-up . . .

The public was invited to give comment at the North Fork Flathead Road meeting Tuesday, July 27, which will be entered as part of the final Corridor Study Document.

At the meeting, representatives from Parsons Brinckerhoff — the group commissioned to conduct the study — answered questions.

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A report commissioned by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is calling for a “conservation and wildlife management plan” for the transboundary Flathead and a new management plan for the Flathead River Valley that “gives priority to natural ecological values and wildlife conservation.”…

The 50-page report, released today at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia, recommends:

• A new B.C. Southern Rocky Mountains Management Plan “that gives priority to natural ecological values and wildlife conservation.”
• Taking steps to minimize barriers to wildlife connectivity, including a long-term moratorium on further mining developments in south eastern B.C., including in the Elk Valley, “in the corridor of natural terrain that creates vital habitat connectivity and allows the unimpeded movement of carnivores and ungulates” between Waterton-Glacier and Canada’s Rocky Mountains national parks.
• A single conservation and wildlife management plan for the transboundary Flathead.
• Inscription of Waterton-Glacier on the list of World Heritage in Danger if development of the proposed Lodgepole coal strip mine had proceeded (the B.C. government banned Flathead mining and energy development in February 2010 after receiving a draft copy of the mission report).

For those of you who prefer to get your information directly from source documents, we’ve made the full report available for direct viewing/download (50 pages, PDF format, 2MB).

An open-house-style meeting has been scheduled for the public to review and give comments on the corridor study of a portion of the North Fork Road.

The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 27, at the Discovery Center at 540 Nucleus Ave., Columbia Falls. As an open-house style meeting, no formal presentation will be given.

Read the entire article . . .

We’ll provide access to the report once it becomes available.

Ms. Murray said,

The draft corridor study document is now available for your review, please visit the website: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/documents.shtml and if the link does not work you can find the document by going to the study webpage at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/ From the menu on the left go to “documents” and then clicking section by section on the draft document.

The whole document is available as one file, however it is a very large file (over 20 M) and will probably time out for most people before the download is complete.

Paper copies of the draft corridor study document are also available at these locations:

• The Columbia Falls Library, 130 6th  Street West
• Flathead County Offices, 800 South Main Street, Kalispell
• MDT Office, 85 5th Ave East North, Kalispell

Please review the draft corridor study document.  We also invite you to attend the public meeting on July 27, 2010 at Discovery Square, Sperry Auditorium anytime between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm…

The purpose of the public meeting is to receive your comments on the draft corridor study document.  If you are unable to attend the meeting next week you can provide us comments on the draft corridor study document using the “comment on this study” link from the study webpage (see above link).

Additional information…

The entire current set of documents discussing the corridor study includes:

• The main draft corridor study (56 pages, 20.2MB) and three appendices –
• Appendix A: Environmental Scan Report (40 pages, 3.7MB),
• Appendix B: Consultation and Coordination, Public Involvement (209 pages, 12.3MB), and
• Appendix C: Improvement Options (7 pages, 82KB).

The following poster includes more information about the meeting on July 27th. Note this little item near the bottom: “For reasonable accommodations to participate in the meeting, please contact Paul Grant at 406/444.9415 at least two days before the meeting.” In other words, if you want to get up and say something, call ahead.

Accepting the Flathead Lakers’ 2010 Stewardship Award for signing an agreement with British Columbia protecting the North Fork from mining and drilling, Gov. Brian Schweitzer gave much of the credit to his counterpart in the negotiations: Premier Gordon Campbell.

Describing the fragile talks, held secretly in Spokane, Schweitzer emphasized that – from mining royalties to political capital – it was Campbell who had the most at stake.

Read the full article . . .

The North Fork of the Flathead River (a.k.a. the Transboundary Flathead) continues to play in the news of late. The news media report that Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are at odds over how to best protect our river, Glacier Park and Flathead Lake from upstream industrial activity. While a bit confusing to the reader, we think it’s important to keep the North Fork in the news for one simple reason: Our fabulous North Fork ain’t protected yet.

Read the complete letter . . .