Gov. Brian Schweitzer isn’t done jousting with federal officials over a deal with Canada to protect the area surrounding Glacier National Park.

Montana’s governor used the bully pulpit over the weekend as chairman of the Western governors to again criticize his federal partners in the deal — even as the Obama administration was talking with the Canada about moving the state-level pact along.

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Gov. Brian Schweitzer called on Montana’s federal delegation Sunday to support legislation by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, dedicated to restoring the Columbia River Basin, as a way to fund commitments in the agreement between Montana and British Columbia to protect the North Fork from mining and drilling in Canada.

“Don’t be running after the bus, get on the bus and sit beside the driver,” Schweitzer said. “And this bill is the vehicle.”

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No park is an island.

That was the message from Whitefish, where governors from Western states met early this week to discuss, among other things, how to protect wildlife and ecosystems that span jurisdictional boundaries.

Montana shares borders with Idaho, and with Wyoming and the Dakotas and with two Canadian provinces, “and wildlife, water and air don’t declare allegiance to any of those borders,” . . .

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