January 27, 2007

Coal mine comments fill governor’s inbox

From the Saturday, January 27, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s office has been slammed with e-mails pertaining to proposed coal mining in the British Columbia headwaters that feed Montana’s Flathead River system.

The e-mail inbox at the governor’s constituency services office was overloaded with about 50,000 e-mails in the last week, Communications Director Sara Elliot said Friday.

Elliot said the office frequently gets e-mail “blasts” from various constituency groups, but the volume from the last week is unprecedented.

“It’s at least double what we normally get for blast e-mails,” she said. “It’s caused quite a backup in the computer system in our constituency services office.”

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 04:33 PM

January 25, 2007

Canadians against Cline mine as well

From the Thursday, January 25, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

Canadian residents seem to be just as concerned about a proposed coal mine near Fernie, British Columbia, as their American counterparts.

A standing room only crowd attended a meeting in Fernie last week hosted by Cline Mining Co. About 25 people chose to make comments on the proposal. The meeting is one of the steps Cline must go through during an environmental assessment of the proposal for the Lodgepole mine.

Casey Brennan with Wildsight, questioned British Columbia's ability to protect the area and complete baseline scientific studies involved in the assessment. Wildsight is a Canadian group that works to protect Canada's Rocky Mountain region.

“A place as pristine as the Flathead deserves as much study as possible,” he said.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 06:39 PM

January 22, 2007

Big Canadian Coal Mine = Big Montana Problem!

This op-ed ran in the Daily Inter Lake on Friday, January 12. It is posted here by permission of the author, Dave Hadden.

To paraphrase baseball icon, Yogi Berra, the new Canadian coal strip mine proposed for the headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead River is "deja vu all over again."

International coal mine companies first sought the coal of North Fork in 1975 with the Cabin Creek coal mine proposal. Our community coalition, the Flathead Coalition, formed that year to challenge the proposed mine's clear threat to Flathead Valley water and way of life.

More than a decade of intense public scrutiny and effort eventually killed that ill-considered project. The Flathead Coalition never disbanded. We recognized that as long as the coal remained in the ground, some multi-national mining conglomerate would come along and make another grab at it –- and once again threaten our clean water.

They're back.

Now Montana faces yet another mountain coal strip-mine proposal: the Cline Mining Company's Lodgepole Coal Mine, located on Foisey Creek, a major tributary of the North Fork Flathead River. The proposal is to remove a mountain, just 22 air miles north of the border, ship out the coal and leave behind the slag heaps.

Let's not mince words or understate the threat this mine poses to our water, wildlife and way of life. If the Cline mine proceeds we Montanans, sooner or later, will have a mess on our hands.

We can look at similar Canadian drainages that have seen similar mines. If those are any indication, Montana can expect 25-times the normal level of the toxic metal Selenium in our water; pollutants of nitrates and nitrites will be off the charts; we'll have fewer, if any bull trout; wildlife habitat and wildlife migration routes will be seriously compromised or destroyed; Glacier National Park's western boundary and Flathead Lake will receive all that toxic water.

Fortunately we have –- as in the past –- an excellent chance to stop this Canadian mine from becoming our polluted water. But only if Flathead Valley residents unite as they have in the past to defeat this inappropriate industrial development in our headwaters.

Governor Schweitzer has demonstrated great leadership on this issue. He has met with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and established two teams of experts to present Montana's interests and concerns. The Flathead Basin Commission –- under the Governor's executive authority -– has diligently investigated the proposed mine.

The Basin Commission will hold a formal public hearing to collect testimony from Montanans on the propose Cline mine because the British Columbia won't come to Montana to do so. Please attend this hearing. Two sessions have been planned: 9-noon and 7-9p.m. on Monday, January 15, at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell.

The Governor has set the stage for Montanans to step up to the plate and tell British Columbia what we think about mountain-top coal strip mines in our headwaters. Let's take advantage of it.

Together we can send a strong message to British Columbia: Glacier Park, Flathead Lake and Flathead Valley cannot be put at risk.

Dave Hadden is a conservationist, president of the Flathead Coalition, and an avid boater and swimmer who raised his family near Flathead Lake in Bigfork.

Posted by nfpa at 08:42 PM

January 21, 2007

North Fork River Pollution Ignores Boundaries

A version of this commentary ran in the Daily Inter Lake Saturday, January 13, as an op-ed. It will likely appear in the Missoulian this Monday, January 22, before the Wednesday hearings. It is posted here by permission of the author, Ben Long.

Anyone who has hunted or fished or just explored up the North Fork of the Flathead learns one thing quickly — water, fish and wildlife don’t give a hoot about the border between the United States and Canada.

Elk, trout and other wildlife have dual citizenship, even if hunting and fishing licenses don’t apply equally on opposite sides of “the Medicine Line.” Mother Nature ignores human boundaries.

That is why many of us are deeply concerned about the giant, mountain-removal strip mine an international mining company has proposed 22 air miles north of the international border. The plan is to tear down a mountain, remove the coal, and leave the slag in the upper tributaries of the North Fork.

Experts from the University of Montana determined that water (and thus water pollution) seeping from the mine site would flow into Montana within hours. That same water, and whatever nastiness it carries, will pass under the Old Steel Bridge within days.

The North Fork is some of the best wildlife habitat – and thus some of the best hunting and fishing – anywhere in the world. Fish and game populations vary over time, but as long as the habitat remains, we can count on the North Fork producing elk, moose, mule deer and whitetails, mountain lions and bears. Rare animals like lynx and wolverine add spice to this combination.

But moreover, the North Fork is a remarkably clean river. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has long listed the North Fork among Montana’s famed “blue ribbon” trout streams for its native trout, which absolutely depend on cold, clean water. I saw my first bull trout spawner in a North Fork tributary and caught my first westslope cutthroat trout on a fly from its transparent green waters.

A year ago, eight hook-and-bullet groups from both sides of the border — Fernie Rod and Gun Club, Flathead Wildlife Inc., Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Wapiti River Flyfishers — along with eight outfitters who depend on the area, wrote a letter expressing their concerns to Canadian authorities.

But this issue is far greater than just our outdoor traditions. Montana’s way of life and our economic prosperity depends on clean water. The economic value of Flathead Lake alone outweighs the value of all the coal in the Flathead Basin. We all want responsible energy development and part of being responsible is recognizing that some places are just too valuable to be ripped apart for short-term gain.

Montanans have long recognized that the Flathead Basin is special. Many folks have forgotten that the US federal government wanted to dam the North Fork and flood from Glacier Rim to Round Prairie. We stopped that. And few remember that once, a paper company wanted to build a major pulp mill south of Columbia Falls and release its effluent into the Flathead River. We stopped that, too. We long ago banned phosphate in detergents sold locally.

There are some places where coal mines are inappropriate. The Flathead Basin is one of them. A project of this size simply cannot be mitigated.

So far, the Canadian authorities have done a dismal job of studying this proposal. So far, they’ve limited their analysis to the “footprint” of the mining operations themselves. They seem not to understand that the problem isn’t only the hole in the ground, but the poisons that will flow downhill from it throughout the Flathead and Clark Fork basins.

Montana officials — Gov. Schweitzer, Sen. Baucus and Rep. Rehberg — have done yeomen’s work making our concerns heard across the border. It will take all their diplomatic skills to change the course of Canadian authorities.

They need our help. Speak up at a hearing 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Missoula’s Doubletree Inn. To learn more, visit www.flatheadbasincommission.org.

I have a son who is almost 3 who loves the very idea of fishing. He bobs his toy fishing pole in the bathtub. I want him to grow up and marvel at the clean cobble bottom of the North Fork of the Flathead River, casting for a native trout. No one has the right to take that from him. From all of us.

Ben Long, of Kalispell, has hunted, fished, hiked and worked up the North Fork since 1986. He is chairman of the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.

Posted by nfpa at 05:20 PM

Canadians hopeful for talks on Cline mine

From the Sunday, January 21, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

Even as Gov. Brian Schweitzer looks to federal intervention in a transboundary dispute with British Columbia, his Canadian counterparts are seeking to resolve the issues locally.

“British Columbia recognizes and indeed shares many of Montana's concerns,” Canadian officials wrote to state lawmakers last week. “B.C. has maintained the position that issues are best resolved through an ongoing bilateral dialogue between B.C. and Montana.”

That's in sharp contrast to statements made earlier in the week by Schweitzer, who said during a meeting in Kalispell that collaborative efforts between the state and province seemed not to be working, and federal intervention would be needed.

“I was hoping we could work this out with British Columbia directly,” Schweitzer said Monday. “I haven't seen anything that looks like a collaborative agreement.”

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 04:59 PM

"Water, wilderness and wildlife"

From the Sunday, January 21, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

The Flathead National Forest has been sizing up changes for its recreation program, including fee increases and cost reductions.

But the forest is proposing mostly minor changes during a five-year period, compared to site closures and fee increases that have been proposed on other national forests across the country.

The forest’s proposals will be the focus of an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the WestCoast Outlaw Hotel in Kalispell.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 04:54 PM

January 20, 2007

Public meetings in B.C. not going well for Cline Mining

According to a note on the Flathead Coalition website, during "the three Environmental Assessment Office public comment sessions in Fernie, Sparwood and Elko, not a single British Columbian spoke in favour of Cline Mining's scheme to undertake mountain-top removal coal mining in the headwaters of the Flathead River." See their website for more details, including a photo.

By and large, this matches reports we're getting from other meeting attendees. Local residents are not just objecting to the mine itself, but also to the attendant heavy truck traffic and load-out infrastructure.

Posted by nfpa at 11:48 AM

January 19, 2007

Mine proposal stirs up controversy

From the Friday, January 19, 2007 online edition of the Kootenay Advertiser in Cranbrook, B.C. . . .

The Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) of BC is holding a series of public hearings in the South Country and Elk Valley this week to collect input from people in the region on how to minimize the environmental impact of a proposed mining project in the Flathead Valley. The area of operations is located about 30 kilometres south of Fernie and Gary Alexander, Project Director with the EAO says the project is still in the early stages.

The proposal by Cline Mining to construct an open pit mine is in the pre-application stage right now, Alexander explains. The EAO is working with the proponent at this time to finalize the terms of reference. Alexander describes this document as “kind of like a table of contents” of areas that need to be addresses. The formal public comment period will be discussing the draft terms of reference.

Cline Mining wants to construct a conventional “trucks and shovels” open pit mine, similar to other operations in the Elk Valley, says Gordon Gomley, Chief Operating Officer for Cline Mining. He believes the mine would have great economic benefits for the province. He also sees many positive attributes this operation would have compared to others in the area. There is a compact deposit with a fit coal section, he explains, and only one dump area would be required.

[...]

Gomley hopes his company will get a chance to show government and the public the facts of the operation. Casey Brennan is the Program Manager for Energy and Mining with Wildsight in the Elk Valley. He says it is hard to find a local citizen’s group that is supportive of the mine.

“This place is a special area that needs protection,” Brennan claims and says politicians in BC need to be pressured to see that they need to change their two zone mining policy. It divides the Province in areas where mining is allowed on the one hand and protected areas, such as National and Provincial Parks on the other. Brennan emphasizes Wildsight is getting support from various individuals and organizations, including the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, hunting groups and guide outfitters as well as Governors and Senators from south of the border.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 11:00 PM

The Cline Mining Corporation plans to remove an entire ridge above Foisey Creek

From the Thursday, January 18, 2007 online edition of the Bigfork Eagle (includes a nice aerial photo) . . .

Flathead Lake’s water quality, fisheries and area wildlife could be seriously degraded if a Canada-based mining company gets its way, officials told a group of about 40 at a public meeting in Kalispell Monday evening.

The Cline Mining Corporation plans to remove a mountain ridge in southeastern British Columbia, about 25 miles north of the U.S. - Canada border, to extract two million tons of coal per year for 20 years, Flathead Basin Commission chair Rich Moy said during the meeting. The Lodgepole mine would be built above Foisey Creek, a tributary of Canada’s Flathead River headwaters, which flows into the North Fork along the western boundary of Glacier National Park and into Flathead Lake.

Sen. Max Baucus and Gov. Brian Schweitzer spoke to about 180 people on the same topic at a similar meeting Monday morning. Each expressed concern over the mine’s possible damage to Montana.

Moy and other panelists expressed deep concern about the proposed mine’s probable impacts on the Flathead Valley.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 07:12 PM

January 18, 2007

Conservation council criticizes Cline proposal

From the Thursday, January 18, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Wednesday unanimously endorsed a letter raising concerns about potential coal mining in British Columbia’s Flathead drainage.

The letter, drafted by Montana’s representatives on the council, was discussed at the council’s meeting in Vancouver, Wash. It will be sent to the British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office in Victoria.

“The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is deeply concerned about the potential of negative downriver impacts to fish, wildlife and overall water conditions in the Flathead and Columbia basins from the proposed Cline Mine just north of the Montana-British Columbia border on the North Fork of the Flathead River,” according to the letter.

“The council extensively funds mitigation projects for critical species in the Flathead drainage, including bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout, which will be impacted by the proposed mine,” it continues.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 10:43 AM

January 17, 2007

Montana governor, senator seek ways to stop B.C. coal mine

From the Tuesday, January 16, 2007 online edition of the Globe and Mail . . .

The U.S. and Canadian governments may have to intervene to stop a proposed coal mine north of Glacier National Park that critics fear would pollute water flowing into the park and the Flathead River, Montana Gov. Schweitzer said Monday.

“I think this is now going to be in the lap of the State Department,” Mr. Schweitzer said.

The U.S. State Department and the Canadian department of Foreign Affairs have the power to refer transboundary water disputes to an international commission for resolution. Two decades ago, another Canadian coal mine plan raised similar concerns — that mine pollutants would impact waterways south of the border.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 02:48 PM

Mine could impact everything from fish to grizzlies

From the Wednesday, January 17, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

Environmental experts continue to warn against the creation of a huge coal mine just north of the border.

The Cline Mining Corp. is proposing to create a coal mine in the North Fork of the Flathead. The company plans to mine coal from the open pit project for 20 years as well as upgrade a road system into the drainage.

Representatives from several state agencies spoke on the mine at a meeting Monday hosted by the Flathead Basin Commission in Kalispell.

“(Canada) has everything to gain. We have everything to lose if this mine goes through,” said Rich Moy, chairman of the commission.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 02:41 PM

Support sought for monitoring money

From the Wednesday, January 17, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

The Flathead Basin Commission is requesting help from the Montana Legislature to fund water quality and other studies of the proposed mine.

The Commission Monday asked residents to support House Bill 189, which would provide funding for baseline scientific data.

Doug Cordier, who represents House District 3 which includes Columbia Falls, is one of the sponsors of the bill.

The bill would spend about $300,000 to continue studying areas north of the border for two years. Also considered is funding the creation of an environmental specialist position to collect data and coordinate between Montana and British Columbia.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 02:31 PM

Coal mine takes center stage

From the Wednesday, January 17, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

Gov. Brian Schweitzer Monday promised to take the fight against a proposed coal mine in the Canadian Flathead to the federal level.

Sen. Max Baucus promised to pursue the matter as well. Both spoke at the Flathead Basin Commission's meeting on Cline Mining Co.'s proposal to dig a coal mine 22 miles north of Glacier National Park.

“I'm interested in developing alternative sources of energy, but this is not what has been proposed in the upper Flathead,” Schweitzer told a crowd of about 200 people.

The mine has been a controversial proposal with area groups saying it would impact the Flathead River drainage.

The mine would take off the top of a mountain in the Foisey Creek drainage, which is a tributary of the North Fork of the Flathead.

Schweitzer said he would ask the federal government to intervene.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 02:26 PM

Mining impact must be assessed

A strong editorial statement appearing in the Wednesday, January 17, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

The urgency and tenor of opposition to potential coal mining in the Canadian headwaters of the Flathead Basin has reached a new pitch.

And rightly so. The Flathead river system and Flathead Lake cannot become the septic system for Canadian mining profits, but that’s exactly what it would become if coal mining is allowed to proceed in the Canadian Flathead.

The British Columbia government went through the motions of including a delegation from Montana to help develop terms and conditions that the Cline Mining Co. must meet in developing its own environmental assessment for an open pit coal mine 22 miles north of the border.

But the Montana delegation’s recommendations were ignored. The proposed terms only require Cline to assess environmental impacts in the immediate vicinity of the mining operation, without any broader study of the impacts of the mine or of future mining operations that might follow.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 02:21 PM

January 16, 2007

B.C. mine proposal runs into flak in U.S.

The local Cline Mine public meetings are getting some coverage in Canada. Here's an article from the Tuesday, January 16, 2007 online edition of the CBC News . . .

Hundreds of residents of Montana turned out at a public meeting Monday night to speak against a controversial coal mine proposed in southeastern B.C. near the Canada-U.S. border.

Canadian-based Cline Mining plans to develop a mine in the Flathead Valley, just upstream from the Montana border.

If the B.C. government gives final approval to the mine near the mountain resort community of Fernie, it would produce two million tonnes of coal a year from a valley renowned for its abundance of wildlife and lack of development.

The company says the mine will meet B.C.'s environmental standards. But many Montana residents have expressed fears it will pollute their pristine mountain valley.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 08:54 PM

Mine fight may go to higher level

From the Tuesday, January 16, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

Gov. Brian Schweitzer says Montana’s issues with proposed coal mine development in British Columbia’s Flathead drainage will have to be taken to the federal level.

And Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., says he will pursue the matter at that level in several ways.

The two headlined a meeting Monday in Kalispell organized by the Flathead Basin Commission to drum up Montana comments for a British Columbia environmental review process.

The Toronto-based Cline Mining Co. wants to develop a mountaintop removal mine above Foisey Creek, a tributary that flows into Canada’s Flathead River, which becomes the North Fork Flathead River as it flows south of the border, eventually into Flathead Lake.

Schweitzer told a crowd of about 180 people that his efforts to convince the British Columbia government to address Montana concerns have not been as successful as he had hoped.

“I was hoping that we could work this out with British Columbia directly,” he said. “But for the life of me, I’ve been looking for the things that would amount to a collaborative agreement and I haven’t seen anything that looks like a collaborative agreement.”

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 03:19 PM

State to seek federal intervention on Canadian coal mine

From the Tuesday, January 16, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

A controversial coal mine proposal north of Glacier National Park is fast becoming an international point of contention, and may soon require federal attention from both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.

That's the word from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who on Monday told a crowd of more than 200 that although he appreciates the ongoing collaborative efforts with British Columbian officials, “I think this is now going to be in the lap of the State Department.”

The U.S. State Department and its Canadian counterpart have the power to refer transboundary water disputes to an international commission for resolution. Two decades ago, a similar Canadian coal mine plan raised similar concerns - specifically that mine pollutants would impact waterways south of the border.

The two federal governments intervened, empowering a binational panel that declared the mine unworkable in 1988.

That level of consideration, Schweitzer said, appears needed again.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 03:15 PM

January 15, 2007

Many Cline Mine resources available online

For those of you who will be submitting comments on the proposed Cline Coal Mine or are planning to attend one of the public meetings or just want to learn more on the subject, there are some excellent online sites maintained by a number of local organizations.

As mentioned in an earlier posting, the Flathead Basin Commission is developing a substantial collection of resources. It includes photographs, maps, background information and links to current materials and news about this project.

The Flathead Lakers have also posted an alert, as well as a great deal of subsidiary material.

This site, too, has links to many articles discussing the Cline Mine issue, the schedule of public meetings and how to take advantage of the comment period. As of this date, a search brings up some 52 posts concerning this potential threat to water quality in the Flathead drainage.

Posted by nfpa at 12:23 AM

January 14, 2007

Montanans can comment on Canadian mine

From the Sunday, January 14, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

A controversial proposal to mine coal north of Glacier National Park continues to generate downstream concern, prompting public meetings in both Kalispell and Missoula this month.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will attend the first of those meetings, set for Monday morning in Kalispell. Organizers will collect comments on the scope of environmental assessment needed before a Canadian coal mine can be built in southeastern British Columbia.

The region has long been contentious, with the state and province sparring over the future of industrial development in sensitive watersheds. Two decades back, an international commission recommended mining plans be dropped there due to the likelihood of pollution flowing south of the border.

British Columbia's Flathead River Basin drains into Montana's North Fork Flathead River, a wild and scenic waterway forming the western edge of Glacier Park before spilling into Flathead Lake.

Montana officials have fought coal mine development there since the late 1970s.

The most recent proposal, by Cline Mining Corp., involves a mountaintop-removal mine generating 2 million tons of coal per year for 20 years. If approved, it would be built in the headwaters of the Flathead River system, about 20 miles north of the park.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 10:43 PM

Mine plans take center stage on Monday

From the Sunday, January 14, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

The Flathead Basin Commission will hold meetings in Kalispell on Monday aimed at gathering comments from Montanans on a proposed open-pit coal mine in British Columbia’s Flathead River drainage.

That river flows south, crossing the border to become the North Fork Flathead River. The Flathead Basin Commission, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Glacier National Park and other state and federal agencies have raised concerns about impacts that could result from the Cline Mining Co.’s proposed mine, which would tower over headwater streams that lead to Flathead Lake.

The British Columbia provincial government is conducting a public comment process to get input on the terms and conditions that Cline must meet when it develops an environmental assessment for the project.

The draft “terms of reference” have been unsatisfactory to officials south of the border, mainly because they would require that Cline only assess impacts in the immediate vicinity of the mine site. They are concerned that there could be far broader impacts to transboundary populations of fish, wildlife and water quality.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 10:38 PM

January 13, 2007

Commissioners endorse funding for mine research

From the Wednesday, January 10, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

The Flathead County commissioners unanimously endorsed legislation Tuesday that would provide funding for Montana’s ongoing engagement with British Columbia about potential coal mining in the headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River.

The vote follows a similar endorsement from the Lake County commissioners.

“We believe that this funding is imperative to safeguard the economic and environmental integrity of water quality and other natural resources,” the commissioners said in their written endorsement of House Bill 189.

Sponsored by Rep. Doug Cordier, D-Columbia Falls, the bill would provide funding for continued studies to gather “baseline” data on environmental conditions in the North Fork on both sides of the border. It also would provide funding for state officials’ travel to British Columbia for ongoing negotiations about resource development with potential impacts in Montana.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 06:10 PM

January 10, 2007

Cline mine meeting next week in Kalispell

From the Wednesday, January 10, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

The Flathead Basin Commission has announced it will lead a meeting of its own on a proposed coal mine 22 miles north of Glacier National Park in British Columbia.

Montana Sen. Max Baucus is expected to kick off the meeting Jan. 15 at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell from 9 a.m. to noon. A second session will also be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on the same date. Gov. Brian Schweitzer is also expected to attend. Both representatives are expected at the morning session.

Comments on the mine will be taken and forwarded to the British Columbia Environmental Offices, said Caryn Miske, executive director of the Commission.

Miske said written comments will also be accepted and they, too, will be forwarded to British Columbia as well.

The prospects for the mine have raised a red flag in the U.S. and Canada.

The Cline mine, in short, would take off the top of a mountain in the Foisey Creek drainage, a tributary to the North Fork of the Flathead.

The company plans to mine coal from the open pit project for 20 years as well as upgrade a road system into the drainage. They plan on removing about 250,000 metric tons of coal per year.

The company claims the mine is far enough away from the Flathead River and Glacier National Park to minimize impacts.

American interests aren't buying that notion, however.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 08:57 PM

Canadian coal mine plan under scrutiny

From the Wednesday, January 10, 2007 online edition of the Billings Gazette . . .

A coal mine proposal for southeastern British Columbia will be examined here Monday at a public meeting the governor and Montana's senior U.S. senator plan to attend.

The session is an opportunity for the public to provide comments, which will be sent to the provincial government "as part of Montana's ongoing effort to make B.C. aware of opposition" to the mine, the Flathead Basin Commission said.

The Montana-based commission announced the meeting, which Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., plans to attend along with Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Canada's Cline Mining Co. wants to develop an open-pit coal project just north of the Montana-British Columbia border. The provincial government has prepared draft terms and conditions that would be required in operating the mine, but Montana officials find the draft unsatisfactory.

In Montana, the mine has raised concern about effects on the quality of water in the transboundary Flathead River system. The North Fork flows into Montana's Flathead Lake and serves as the western boundary of Glacier National Park.

Speakers at the meeting are to include representatives of the park, state and federal wildlife agencies and the Flathead Lake Biological Station. The commission said the meeting is part of its effort "to inform Montana residents of the range of environmental threats posed by the proposed mining project."

The meeting Monday at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Baucus and Schweitzer plan to be at the early session. A similar meeting is scheduled for Jan. 24 in Missoula.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 08:52 PM

January 05, 2007

Coal taking center stage next week

From the Friday, January 5, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will headline one of two meetings Jan. 15 in Kalispell on coal-mine development in British Columbia’s Flathead drainage.

In a significant development, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is taking up the issue at its meeting this month.

Two meetings are scheduled Jan. 15 at the Red Lion Hotel Kalispell — one from 9 a.m. to noon, and a second from 7 to 9 p.m.

Schweitzer and Baucus will attend the early meeting, said Caryn Miske, executive director of the Flathead Basin Commission, a state agency that is organizing Montana comments to be submitted to the British Columbia provincial government.

Miske said an additional meeting will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Doubletree Hotel in Missoula.

The meetings will include presentations from representatives of Glacier National Park, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the University of Montana’s Yellow Bay Biological Station. Opportunities for public comment will be available.

British Columbia, in cooperation with the Cline Mining Co., is holding meetings this month in Elko, Sparwood and Fernie, B.C.. Those meetings will gather comments on draft terms and conditions that the mining company must meet in developing an environmental assessment for its proposed open-pit coal mine in the headwaters of the Flathead River, which flows south into Montana’s Flathead Basin.

Although the Canadian meetings were advertised in Montana newspapers, Miske said it would be difficult for many Montanans to get to those venues.

“We felt it was necessary to give folks the opportunity to comment here,” she said.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 08:47 PM

January 04, 2007

Judge to Park inholder: take a hike (or ski)

From the Thursday, January 4, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

A federal judge has ruled that a North Fork inholder has no easement rights to access his property by vehicle in Glacier National Park in the winter months.

In early November, U.S. Judge Donald Molloy ruled in favor of the Park Service, in short saying that John (Jack) McFarland's property rights have not been violated by a Park Service decision that requires him to ski, snowshoe or ride a horse to his land wholly inside Glacier in the winter.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 08:45 PM

January 03, 2007

New Cline Coal Mine information site debuts

The Flathead Basin Commission is developing a substantial online collection of resources on the proposed Cline Coal Mine. It includes photographs, maps, background information and links to current materials and news about this project, which is the most immediate potential threat to water quality in the transboundary Flathead watershed.

We've added a permanent link to this site in the "Related Links" section of our home page.

Posted by nfpa at 09:55 PM