From the Thursday, August 26, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
Despite urgent pleas from state and federal leaders, British Columbia's government wrapped up an auction Wednesday to lease coalbed methane fields north of Glacier National Park.
The auction ended at noon Wednesday, but provincial officials said they would not post the results until Thursday morning.
"We're disappointed, of course," said Brad Keena, spokesman for Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont. "The next step is to go directly to British Columbia on this. There's still time now to get the environmental assessments before they start drilling."
Rehberg wrote to both the Canadian and U.S. federal governments recently, asking that the countries undertake a bi-national environmental study before the auction took place.
Similar requests were made by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., as well as heads of several federal, state and tribal land-use agencies. Montana Gov. Judy Martz also wrote to British Columbia and Ottawa, asking the Canadians to collect baseline watershed data before auctioning the lands.
The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce also signed on requesting study before the auction, as did the town council in Fernie, British Columbia.
Their concern was that the coalbed methane fields at issue are located near the Montana border, and development could impact wildlife and water quality south of the border. They were particularly worried about lands in and around Glacier Park and Koocanusa Reservoir.
But according to Keena, Rehberg's office has heard no response from Canada's federal government, and the U.S. State Department sent only a "noncommittal" letter.
"It takes time," Rehberg said in a phone interview Wednesday. "Any time you're involved in international relations, you just don't order people around. Working in diplomacy always takes time."
And while Rehberg and others were diplomatically sending letters back and forth, British Columbia was quietly moving ahead with the "tenure" auction. The companies that win tenure receive a five-year right to explore for methane. They also are saddled with an obligation, and must actively explore or else lose tenure on the land.
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