From the Wednesday, November 21, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
It was a last-minute decision, and I’m glad I made the right choice. I got a call from Will Hammerquist mid-afternoon on Monday. He asked if either Chris Peterson, Heidi Desch or I would be coming to the Flathead Coalition open house that evening.
The event was more than an open house at the Bohemian Grange Hall south of Whitefish. It was an opportunity for people concerned about the proposed Cline coal mine and coal bed methane (CBM) exploration in the headwaters of the Flathead River north of Glacier National Park to get an update on what the thoughts were — north of the border. Chris was off Monday and Heidi was covering the city council meeting. I had a 7 o’clock meeting on my schedule, but I told Will that I would stop in for an hour or so and meet some of the primary players in the effort to halt the exploration plans. I’m glad I did.
As people there for the open house socialized with some good conversation and food — thanks to the Northern Lights Saloon and Polebridge Mercantile — the ground floor at the Grange Hall filled. Long-time Coalition member John Frederick hauled a big pot of chili from Polebridge, some of it left on the floor of his vehicle due to a couple of bumps in the road en route to the Grange Hall. Everyone appeared to be in a jovial mood. Part of that was the grub, but the basic reason is the impact being made by resistance to potential coal bed methane mining and the dumping of phosphates in Flathead water.
Coalition chairman Dave Hadden herded everyone upstairs just after 6 p.m. There was a scramble to set up more chairs to accommodate the overflow crowd. After all, it’s a hot issue in the Flathead, especially south of the Canadian-U.S. border.
What was most impressive to me is that everyone there — at least those who spoke — saw the damage that coal bed mining by British Petroleum (BP) in the Canadian Flathead would do to the Flathead River and Glacier National Park in general.
Read the entire article . . .