Here’s a pretty good article on Chip Weber, the new Flathead National Supervisor, from Thursday’s Daily Inter Lake . . .
Chip Weber has a diverse background and broad interests in forest management, all of which should be helpful for the new supervisor of the Flathead National Forest.
Weber came to the Flathead about two months ago after five years as a district ranger on the Willamette National Forest in Oregon . . .
Here’s some more information on the upcoming public meeting on the North Fork Road corridor study from yesterday’s Daily Inter Lake . . .
An open-house-style meeting has been scheduled for the public to review and give comments on the corridor study of a portion of the North Fork Road.
The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 27, at the Discovery Center at 540 Nucleus Ave., Columbia Falls. As an open-house style meeting, no formal presentation will be given.
According to a post on the Flathead Wild site today, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee report on threats to Waterton-Glacier Park and its environs will be released at the committee’s meeting in Brasilia, which begins tomorrow.
We’ll provide access to the report once it becomes available.
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)
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.
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.
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.)
See also the Flathead Lakers website . . .
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.
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…
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.