Monthly Archives: July 2010

BP sells Canadian coalbed methane assets

BP is selling off a number of assets world-wide to raise money to pay for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, including their Mist Mountain coalbed methane project near Fernie, BC. As long-time readers may recall, BP originally intended coalbed methane development in the Canadian Flathead as well, but pulled out of that region in response to public outcry. Presumably, the new owner, Apache Corporation, will continue to honor this restriction.

More reading . . .

BP sells Fernie coal bed methane project to Apache Corp (the Fernie Free Press)

BP shops assets to cover oil spill costs (Reuters)

Draft North Fork Road corridor study document is now available; meeting on July 27th

According to an email sent out yesterday afternoon by Pam Murray of PB Americas, the draft North Fork Road corridor study document is now available online and, for those of you traveling down-valley, on paper. (If you came late to the party, the corridor study is a $125K project looking at alternatives for improving the condition of the North Fork Road from Blankenship Road to Camas Junction.)

Ms. Murray said,

The draft corridor study document is now available for your review, please visit the website: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/documents.shtml and if the link does not work you can find the document by going to the study webpage at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/ From the menu on the left go to “documents” and then clicking section by section on the draft document.

The whole document is available as one file, however it is a very large file (over 20 M) and will probably time out for most people before the download is complete.

Paper copies of the draft corridor study document are also available at these locations:

  • The Columbia Falls Library, 130 6th  Street West
  • Flathead County Offices, 800 South Main Street, Kalispell
  • MDT Office, 85 5th Ave East North, Kalispell

Please review the draft corridor study document.  We also invite you to attend the public meeting on July 27, 2010 at Discovery Square, Sperry Auditorium anytime between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm…

The purpose of the public meeting is to receive your comments on the draft corridor study document.  If you are unable to attend the meeting next week you can provide us comments on the draft corridor study document using the “comment on this study” link from the study webpage (see above link).

Additional information…

The entire current set of documents discussing the corridor study includes:

The following poster includes more information about the meeting on July 27th. Note this little item near the bottom: “For reasonable accommodations to participate in the meeting, please contact Paul Grant at 406/444.9415 at least two days before the meeting.” In other words, if you want to get up and say something, call ahead.

Corridor Study Announcement

B.C. Premier expects to know mining costs soon on North Fork deal

From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

Accepting the Flathead Lakers’ 2010 Stewardship Award for signing an agreement with British Columbia protecting the North Fork from mining and drilling, Gov. Brian Schweitzer gave much of the credit to his counterpart in the negotiations: Premier Gordon Campbell.

Describing the fragile talks, held secretly in Spokane, Schweitzer emphasized that – from mining royalties to political capital – it was Campbell who had the most at stake.

Read the full article . . .

Protecting the North Fork must be a team effort

Dave Hadden, Executive Director of Headwaters Montana, had a letter to the editor published in today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

The North Fork of the Flathead River (a.k.a. the Transboundary Flathead) continues to play in the news of late. The news media report that Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are at odds over how to best protect our river, Glacier Park and Flathead Lake from upstream industrial activity. While a bit confusing to the reader, we think it’s important to keep the North Fork in the news for one simple reason: Our fabulous North Fork ain’t protected yet.

Read the complete letter . . .

Flathead Lakers recognize Gov. Schweitzer for North Fork agreement with Canada

Posted yesterday to the KECI-TV website . . .

The Flathead Lakers recognized Governor Brian Schweitzer for his efforts to protect the Flathead.  They gave Schweitzer an award for his agreement with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell.

The agreement between Montana and British Columbia halts mining in the Canadian portion of the North Fork drainage.  Schweitzer praised the Premier saying Canada gave up more than seven billion dollars in possible royalties.  On Thursday night, the Flathead Lakers gave both the Premier and the Govenor the Stewardship Award. (The Premier was unable to attend.)

Read the full article . . .

See also the Flathead Lakers website . . .

Two more energy companies agree to retire North Fork leases

From an Associated Press article posted this afternoon . . .

Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester say two more energy companies have agreed to retire their leases in the North Fork watershed of Montana’s Flathead River.

Louisiana-based Allen and Kirmse, Ltd. will relinquish its interest in 50,889 acres of land in the region, which borders Glacier National Park and extends into British Columbia. Texas-based Anadarko will relinquish its interest in 24,111 acres.

Read the full article . . .

Wolf hunt quota set at 186

As expected, Montana FWP set this year’s wolf hunt quota at 186. The Associated Press has a write-up . . .

Montana wildlife regulators on Thursday set this year’s wolf-hunt quota at 186, more than doubling 2009’s quota, with the aim of reducing the state’s wolf population for the first time since they were reintroduced to the Northern Rockies in 1995.

Advocates for the wolf hunt hailed the decision, although some said they would still like to see a bigger number.

But whether a hunting season actually happens may be in the hands of a federal judge…

Read the full article . . .

Flathead Lakers to present Stewardship Award to Gov. Schweitzer and BC Premier Campbell

From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

The Flathead Lakers will present their annual Stewardship Award to Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell at their annual meeting on July 15.

The award will recognize the landmark agreement the two leaders signed in February banning mining and oil-and-gas development in the North Fork Flathead watershed, headwaters to Flathead Lake.

Read the entire article . . .

Montana FWP will recommend wolf hunt quota of 186, up from 75 last year

The Montana FWP commission will likely set this year’s wolf hunt quota at 186 this Thursday, up from last year’s 75. No word on quotas for the North Fork or other specific management areas yet.

State wildlife officials will recommend increasing the quota of wolves allowed to be killed by hunters this year to 186, compared to 75 in last year’s inaugural hunt.

The increased hunting quota could decrease the state’s wolf population for the first time since the gray wolf was reintroduced to the Northern Rockies in 1995.

Read the full article for details . . .