From the Wednesday, February 27, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .
The announcement by British Petroleum last week that it was dropping plans to drill for coal-bed methane in the Canadian Flathead was cause for celebration for just about everyone in Montana downstream of the proposed project. But BP’s pullback only underscores the ongoing proposals to mine and drill in the area that remain.
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From the Monday, February 25, 2008 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The apparent abandonment of coalbed methane development in the Canadian Flathead should be considered a huge victory for Montana.
British Petroleum announced last week that it would not be pursuing gas development in the drainage, and most importantly, the British Columbia provincial government has chosen the same course.
A provincial official said the Flathead was not included as part of the tenure referral granted to BP last week: “The province recognizes the environmental sensitivity of the Flathead area and has not included this area in the tenure referral.”
That’s big news, because it suggests for the first time a more permanent view of the Canadian Flathead as a natural resource worth protecting.
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From the Friday, February 22, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
A controversial plan to extract coal-bed methane from the Canadian wilds north of Glacier National Park was scuttled Thursday, a surprise turnaround that drew praise from many downstream Montanans.
“I’m very, very happy,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. “This is good news.”
Baucus and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., had scheduled a town hall meeting in Kalispell to discuss coal and coal-bed methane proposals north of the border; neither expected to make any substantive announcements.
But hours before the event, the senator received a call from Bob Malone, chairman and president of BP America Inc. That company was pursuing the right to explore for gas across some 200 square miles of British Columbia, just north of the Montana line.
“He said they have definitely decided not to proceed with coal-bed methane development in the North Fork of the Flathead,” Baucus said. The company will, however, continue to pursue coal-bed methane in the adjacent Elk River Valley, which drains into Montana’s Koocanusa Reservoir.
BP spokeswoman Anita Perry confirmed that news, saying that “the Flathead is no longer on the table, and we’re fine with the decision that’s been made. We heard people’s concerns, and we no longer have any plans for the Canadian Flathead.”
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From the Friday, February 22, 2008 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
A forum on potential development in the Canadian Flathead drainage opened with a bang Thursday, with Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announcing that energy giant BP is withdrawing plans for coal-bed methane development in the basin.
“Just several hours ago, I got a call from the head of BP … and he told me they’ve made a final decision: They’re not going to develop coal-bed methane in the Flathead,” Baucus said, getting a rousing cheer from an audience of about 200 at Flathead Valley Community College.
Baucus said he further pressed BP America President Bob Malone in the conversation, asking if the decision was indeed final, “and he said yes.”
In a parallel action on Wednesday, the British Columbia Ministry of Energy issued BP “tenure referral” — an exclusive right to pursue permits for methane development in the Crowsnest coal field northeast of the Flathead River drainage.
“The Flathead Valley is not part of the tenure area,” confirmed Jamie Edwardson, a ministry spokesman. “The province recognizes the environmental sensitivity of the Flathead area and has not included this area in the tenure referral.”
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From the Thursday, February 21, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .
With the peaks of Glacier National Park visible through the window, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus told a crowd at Flathead Valley Community College Thursday that British Petroleum is dropping its plans for coal-bed methane exploration in the headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead River in British Columbia. Baucus said he received a phone call earlier in the day from Robert Malone, chairman and president of BP America, informing him that the company was backing off.
“I think it’s basically because we all worked very hard to prevent that from happening,” Baucus said. “I take this very personally.”
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From the Thursday, February 21, 2008 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
A proposed British Columbia natural-gas project that raised environmental alarms in Montana is being dropped.
Energy giant BP and British Columbia officials decided that drilling for coal-bed methane, a type of natural gas, will not be pursued on the Canadian side of the Flathead River Basin, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., told The Associated Press on Thursday as he prepared to hold a Kalispell public meeting about possible industrial development in the southeastern area of the Canadian province.
BP Canada spokeswoman Anita Perry confirmed the coal-bed methane development has been dropped before getting started. Perry deferred to provincial officials when asked for further information. Jake Jacobs, a spokesman for the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, did not immediately return a reporter’s telephone call.
From the Monday, February 18, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Congress is coming to Kalispell this week for a town hall meeting to discuss the proposed industrialization of Canadian wilds bordering Glacier National Park’s northern edge.
Canada’s Flathead River cuts through a valley thought to be rich with coal and coalbed methane before spilling south into Montana, where it forms the western boundary of Glacier Park.
For decades, Montana and British Columbia have clashed over energy development there, with downstream interests worried about impacts to Montana’s fish, wildlife and water quality.
Currently, two Canadian projects dominate the debate – a coal mine in the river’s headwaters and a basinwide hunt for coalbed methane by British Petroleum’s national arm, BP Canada.
On Thursday, Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Democrats, will arrive in Kalispell to receive updates on the Canadian proposals, to gather input on what might be done, and to offer suggestions on what they think is politically possible.
[…]
Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester will meet with officials and the public at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Arts and Technology Building on the Kalispell campus of Flathead Valley Community College. The topic: proposed industrialization of Canada’s Flathead River Valley. The session is open to all.
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From the Thursday, February 14, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Line by line. Page by page. In a nearly three-hour long meeting, the Flathead County Planning Board had a give and take session with North Forkers on their neighborhood plan last Wednesday.
The conversation was a civil affair and in the end, it looks like the plan will see some tweaking, but not a major overhaul.
Part of the conversation centered on whether the plan is regulatory or advisory. Neighborhood plans, by design, are supposed to be a framework for zoning. The intent was to make them advisory and then having zoning that followed their direction.
But a recent Montana Supreme Court decision interpreted Flathead County’s neighborhood plans as regulatory — saying, in short, that if a neighborhood plan was more stringent than the zoning, then the county had to follow the neighborhood plan.
That throws the North Fork Neighborhood Plan for a loop in some instances, because the neighborhood plan has some subjective language — particularly when it comes to commercial development.
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From the Tuesday, February 12, 2008 online edition of the Billings Gazette . . .
Proposed coal and coal-bed methane extraction in southeastern British Columbia will be the focus of a public meeting that Montana’s U.S. senators plan in Kalispell.
Democrats Max Baucus and Jon Tester say the February 21st meeting will be an opportunity to receive information from representatives of the state water management bureau, Glacier National Park, a University of Montana professor and conservation activists.
Proposals for new coal mining and coal-bed methane work in the province have raised concern in Montana about possible environmental harm in the transboundary Flathead Basin. Officials in Canada have said thorough environmental studies will take place, and the concern is premature.
From the Saturday, February 9, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
The annual budget for Glacier National Park has started trickling in, but still to arrive is a promised $886,000 intended to study the environment of southwestern British Columbia.
“I’ll be much happier when I see the money in hand,” said Jack Potter, who heads up scientific research in the park. “It hasn’t come yet, but we’re working on the assumption that it’s on the way.”
The money, secured with the help of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is intended to help gather baseline environmental data from an area north of the park targeted for coal and coalbed methane development.
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