Category Archives: Environmental Issues

B.C. introduces mining and energy ban legislation to protect Flathead

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

From an announcement sent out by Dave Hadden of Headwaters Montana . . .

British Columbia’s new premier, Christie Clark, has made good on her predecessor Gordon Campbell’s commitment to ban mining and energy extraction in the headwaters of the transboundary Flathead River.

Yesterday, her Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Steve Thomson, introduced Bill 2, the Flathead Watershed Area Conservation Act.

With the certain passage of this bill this year, B.C. will have completed its commitment to ban mining and energy extraction as one part of the historic B.C. – Montana MOU signed in February 2010 at the start of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and The Nature Conservancy of Montana (TNC) will provide $9.4 million to fund the conservation aspects of the agreement and compensate the ‘sunk costs’ of mining and energy companies with leases (tenures) in the watershed.

On the Montana side, senators Baucus and Tester’s senate bill 233, the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2011, awaits Senate committee action…

A related note by Jon Frederick, NFPA President:

If you want to send money to help make the Memorandum of Understanding complete — that is, to help the Nature Conservancies of The U.S. and Canada pay for expenditures of the exploration companies in the Flathead of British Columbia — write a check to The Nature Conservancy and send it to The Nature Conservancy, 32 South Ewing Street, Helena, MT 59601. Write “Flathead Now! Campaign” in the lower left corner or it won’t go where you wish.

Deal reached on cleanup for Montana watersheds to protect native fish

Environmental Issues, News

From the Missoulian . . .

An agreement on how to clean up western Montana’s rivers takes a big-picture look at a problem that’s been in the courts since 1997.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Montana Department of Environmental Quality settled with the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan to look at whole watersheds instead of individual rivers and streams when trying to meet federal Clean Water Act standards.

The agreement requires plans for cleaning 664 pollutants in 28 watersheds be in place by 2014. The clean-up efforts must improve habitat for bull trout and other native fish in the Clark Fork, Flathead, Blackfoot, Bitterroot and Kootenai rivers in Montana.

Continue reading . . .

Feds ready to delist wolves in Wyoming, shoot on sight

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

An AP article posted in today’s Missoulian . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a plan Tuesday to remove wolves in Wyoming from federal protection and allow them to be shot on sight in most of the state.

The draft plan posted online and set for publication in the Federal Register on Wednesday opens the way for Wyoming’s wolves to be removed from the endangered list perhaps next summer and no later than a year from now.

The proposal follows a delisting framework that Fish and Wildlife and Wyoming officials agreed to last summer after months of negotiations.

Continue reading . . .

More grizzly bears moving out of high country and into town

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

An interesting report from the Missoulian . . .

Like a bucket filled beyond its brim, Montana’s wild spaces are spilling grizzly bears.

In August, a homeowner’s remote camera recorded a 250-pound grizzly bear foraging along Ashley Creek – two blocks from the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional headquarters in Kalispell.

“The pool’s closed and the big money’s paid out – we’ve had our first grizzly in Kalispell,” FWP Region 1 bear specialist Erik Wenum joked. “It walked itself right out of town. It wasn’t collared, but it wasn’t doing anything bad. It was just a location issue.”

Those location issues may become more common…

Continue reading . . .

Seriously cold-water bugs

Environmental Issues, News, ,

An interesting article on rare, cold-water insect species found in Glacier National Park and, if you read carefully, the North Fork . . .

Slowly but surely, Joe Giersch has been scouring streams below glaciers and snowfields in Glacier National Park for rare and mysterious aquatic insects that in some cases haven’t been detected anywhere else on earth.

The effort has been paying off for Giersch, an aquatic entomologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who is based out of West Glacier.

“There’s a whole host of these alpine stream insects that are not only isolated below these high alpine streams, but many of these species are only found in this part of the world,” Giersch said.

Continue reading . . .

Proposed bill could open up Glacier Park to Homeland Security projects

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

An important story posted to this week’s Hungry Horse News concerning the so-called “National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act.” Recommended reading . . .

Glacier National Park’s border with Canada is marked by broad prairies and majestic mountains. A bill in Congress co-sponsored by Rep. Dennis Rehberg could conceivably allow the Department of Homeland Security to put roads and other access venues in areas currently managed as wilderness.

The proposed “National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act” would give Homeland Security broad powers over land that borders foreign countries.

According to the bill, “The Secretary of Homeland Security shall have immediate access to any public land managed by the federal government (including land managed by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture) for purposes of conducting activities that assist in securing the border (including access to maintain and construct roads, construct a fence, use vehicles to patrol, and set up monitoring equipment).”

The bill also would allow Homeland Security to waive a host of environmental laws…

Continue reading . . .

Grizzly population study planned for Idaho and Montana

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From the Flathead Beacon . . .

Researchers are planning to collect grizzly bear fur samples snagged on barbed wire as part of a three-year study in northern Idaho and northwestern Montana.

The study, which begins next summer, should give a more precise estimate of the number of grizzlies in the 2.4-million acre Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem, said Kate Kendall, a U.S. Geological Service scientist at Glacier National Park.

She also said researchers will also be able to use DNA to determine blood lines and gender.

Continue reading . . .

Web site aims to protect Glacier Park and its surroundings

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From this week’s Hungry Horse News . . .

A new Web site created by the National Parks Conservation Association aims to expose some of the threats facing Glacier National Park.

ProtectGlacier.com keeps an eye on the Park’s environmental news and showcases legislation NPCA and other partners support, most notably the North Fork Watershed Protection Act.

The Act, sponsored by Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, would ban any future mining and energy development in the North Fork watershed.

Continue reading . . .

U.S. Customs and Border Protection asks for input on Northern Border environmental study

Environmental Issues,

Customs and Border Protection has completed a draft “programmatic environmental impact statement” on the effects of its entire operation along the U.S. northern border. This would, of course, include the North Fork.

I am not making this up.

Anyways, the “Northern Border PEIS” is in its 45-day public comment period. There is even a dedicated web site where the public can find information about the study and leave comments. The web site includes the full text of the study, as well as supporting materials and a schedule of public meetings.

A hat-tip to Richard Wackrow for pointing out this fine example of government-sponsored surrealism.

Related links:

Press release announcing the comment period for the Northern Border PEIS

Northern Border PEIS web site

The devil’s in the details: Resolving state mineral rights in the North Fork Flathead Valley

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

From the most recent Headwaters Montana newsletter . . .

When Gov. Schweitzer and BC Premier Gordon Campbell signed the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the North Fork Flathead River in February 2010 Headwaters Montana heralded that event as an “historic breakthrough”.  And indeed it was.  But like all signed agreements, the MOU was only a beginning.

Unless fulfilled (i.e. made concrete with legislation and other actions) the MOU and the protections it promised could be lost for another generation to fight…

Continue reading . . .