U.N. scientists assess mining threats to Waterton-Glacier Park

We’re starting to see more complete news coverage of this week’s visit by a U.N. scientific delegation investigating mining and other resource development threats to Waterton-Glacier Park.

The Missoulian posted an excellent article on the first day’s activities very early this morning. Here’s the lead-in . . .

A team of scientists from the United Nations is visiting Glacier National Park, assessing potential threats posed by mining plans in Canadian wildlands upstream of the park.

Glacier, in partnership with adjacent Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, was named a World Heritage Site in 1995; that UNESCO designation recognizes the area’s spectacular natural resources, including its diversity of wildlife and its role as a “biological crossroads.

But several Canadian companies are interested in resources that lie just beyond the two park boundaries – namely coal, gold and coalbed methane. British Columbia’s provincial government already has granted exploration permits in the Canadian Flathead River drainage, which flows south into Montana to form Glacier Park’s western boundary.

Read the entire article . . .