Category Archives: Commentary

Wilson discusses North Fork watershed resolution and aftermath

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , , ,

This week’s Hungry Horse News column by Larry Wilson discusses the recent actions on both sides of the border to protect the North Fork watershed and takes a look at what might be coming next. His column is, as usual, recommended reading . . .

Since Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed a memorandum of understanding with British Columbia, which promised up to 17 million dollars to Canadian companies for reimbursement for cash already spent, we have all wondered where he would find the money. Montana could not pay and for months efforts were made, without success, to get Uncle Sam to foot the bill.

Now it seems that an answer has been found! The Nature Conservancy of Canada and the U.S. Nature Conservancy have committed $9.4 million to the government of British Columbia to conclude the British Columbia-Montana memo of understanding signed a year ago. As part of the deal, the province of British Columbia will enact legislation banning the extraction of minerals, oil, gas, and coal within the watershed. With the two nature conservancy groups coming up with this money, protection of the upper North Fork is an important step towards completion.

Continue reading . . .

B.C. legislation for Flathead only first step towards long-term protection

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , ,

This article on the Sierra Club BC’s web site does a good job of putting the current actions by the B.C. government to protect the Canadian part of the Flathead valley in context.

Here’s the lead-in . . .

Legislation to prohibit mining and energy development in the Flathead River Valley is only the first of three steps the B.C. government must take to protect the Flathead permanently, said Sierra Club BC in a recent press release.

On February 15, 2011, the B.C. premier’s office issued a statement that “the Province has signed an agreement to sustain environmental values in the Flathead Valley, and will introduce legislation to support the 2010 MOU on Environmental Protection, Climate Action and Energy with the State of Montana.”

“While the legislation is an important step, it does not equate to long-term conservation for the Flathead River Valley,” said Sierra Club BC spokesperson Sarah Cox. “It’s a complete stretch to say that the Flathead is forever protected.”

Continue reading . . .

Rainbow trout shows dilemma over manipulation of nature

Commentary, Environmental Issues,

Sally Mauk, news director at KUFM, Montana Public Radio, runs a twice-monthly column in the Missoulian. Her most recent discusses the world-wide spread of rainbow trout from its native home on the Pacific Rim. I’ve tossed it in here because it is pretty interesting and because there’s a North Fork connection.

Here’s an excerpt from the North Fork reference . . .

And then there’s the Frankenstein effect. All this mucking with nature has created fish hybrids, especially in waters where rainbow and westslope cutthroat trout have interbred. Halverson was fishing once in the North Fork of the Flathead, where it’s catch-and-release only for westslope cutthroat, when he caught a trout that was so hybridized, he was stumped.

Read the entire article . . .

Commentary: North Fork deal is a winner

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , ,

The Daily Inter Lake has nice things to say today about the recently concluded deal to protect the Flathead drainage . . .

It’s hard to overstate the significance of the recently announced commitment of the Nature Conservancy to provide about $9.4 million to seal a deal between Montana and British Columbia that will prevent mining in the Canadian headwaters of the Flathead River Basin.

It’s even harder to overstate what a sweet deal it is. Montana businesses, conservation groups and political leaders have been battling mining proposals in the British Columbia Flathead drainage for the last 30 years, never really knowing when the next battle would come.

Now, because of a memorandum of understanding between the province and the state that was announced a year ago, there is a prohibition on mining in the remote and pristine drainage that feeds Montana’s North Fork Flathead River.

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson on Christmas parties past and present

Commentary, History, , ,

Larry Wilson’s column this week reminds everyone of the upcoming North Fork community Christmas party at Sondreson Hall and provides a nice retrospective on past events. It’s recommended reading, as usual.

(And, no, I have no idea why Larry’s column is online sometimes and sometimes not. The Hungry Horse News follows its own, incrutable logic in such matters.)

Ben Lamb: Why the Baucus/Tester wolf delisting bill is the better choice

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , ,

Ben Lamb had an excellent guest commentary posted to last Wednesday’s New West. He’s lost patience with all the political posturing over wolf management. It’s an entertaining read . . .

The political wrangling over wolves since the latest relisting in August is now in full force. It’s unfortunate that we’ve arrived at a place where the only solution that most Montanans see regarding wolves is political in nature.

Looking back over 100 years of wildlife conservation in the state of Montana, political solutions have rarely helped wildlife. In the past, hunter-conservationists struggled mightily to remove political influence from wildlife management, and we were largely successful. . .

Read the entire article . . .