From a “Breaking News” post in today’s online edition of the Missoulian . . .
UNESCO will send a mission to Canada to judge for itself the threat posed by a planned Canadian coal mine to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
The group’s World Heritage Commission, meeting in Seville, Spain, voted Friday to send the delegation, and also requested a report from the United States and Canada on the potential dangers.
The Flathead Beacon has picked up on the story about the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s decision to send a delegation to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier Park. Here’s the lead-in from a nicely written article by Dan Testa . . .
The United Nations plans to send a fact-finding mission to Canada to investigate environmental threats to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park due to proposed coal and energy mining activity in the area.
Representatives of U.S. and Canadian conservation groups opposed to mining activity that could harm the water quality and wildlife of the Flathead River Valley are in Seville, Spain, this week for a meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), petitioning to have Waterton-Glacier declared a “World Heritage Site in Danger.”
By a unanimous vote, the 21-country panel that governs those issues decided Friday to send a mission to the region to “evaluate and provide recommendations on the requirements for ensuring the protection” of Waterton-Glacier…
According to the Waterton-Glacier in Danger web log, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has voted unanimously to send a delegation to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier Park posed by resource development activities.
Here’s the lead-in from the press release. See the Waterton-Glacier in Danger site for details and breaking news . . .
Seville, Spain–UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee voted today to send a fact-finding mission to Canada to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park posed by energy and mining proposals in BC’s adjacent Flathead River Valley.
The 21-member committee voted unanimously for a 2009 World Heritage Centre mission that will “evaluate and provide recommendations on the requirements for ensuring the protection” of Waterton-Glacier, citing concern about the threats that potential mining and energy development within the Flathead Valley would have on water and ecosystem connectivity. It asked Canada and the US to work together to prepare a report–by February 1, 2010– that examines all Flathead River Valley energy and mining proposals and their cumulative impacts.
Wth fire season approaching, this article that appeared in today’s Daily Inter Lake might be worth checking out . . .
Timberland owners in Northwest Montana have an “unprecedented” opportunity for free fuels reduction work with federal stimulus funding being offered through the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
The department is accepting grant proposals through July 10 to award about $4.8 million in 13 Western Montana counties through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“The logging community is very much aware of the grants and is actively seeking project areas,” said Rick Moore, a state service forester.
Landowners, however, are largely unaware of the program, Moore said.
Planning on a float trip down the North Fork? Better check the new regulations in effect this year. They cover such things as trash disposal (including — *ahem* — “solid human waste”), safety equipment and fire restrictions. More information is available on the Flathead National Forest web site and in a press release titled “River Enthusiasts Reminded to be Prepared“.
Today’s post on the Waterton-Glacier Endangered web log includes information on the UN World Heritage Committee draft resolution concerning the dangers posed to Waterton and Glacier parks by resource extraction in the Flathead headwaters region — the proposed Cline Mine, in particular. According to the posting, the first draft of the resolution does not explicitly call for placing Waterton-Glacier Park on the list of “Endangered World Heritage Sites,” nor does it yet address any indigenous concerns, including those views expressed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
The UN World Heritage Committee meeting in Seville, Spain runs through June 30th. The schedule document is more than a little opaque, so it is not clear when the resolution on Waterton-Glacier will come up for a final vote.
In case you missed it on the read-through of the article linked in the previous post, Will Hammerquist of the NPCA and Ryland Nelson of Wildsight “…have established a new Web site, savewatertonglacier.com, and will be blogging from Spain throughout the weeklong meeting, in addition to posting pictures and video from the conference.” There’s already a fair bit of material up there, including an initial video made just prior to the World Heritage Committee opening ceremonies.
Here’s an excellent article — with video — that appeared in today’s Missoulian . . .
Glacier National Park and its neighbor to the north are endangered by mining proposals, and the international community must intervene to protect the region’s natural and cultural heritage.
That’s the message being delivered this week by tribal leaders, community organizers, business interests and conservationists, whose concerns will be aired at the 33rd annual meeting of the United Nations World Heritage Committee.
“Our petition,” said Will Hammerquist, “asks the World Heritage Committee to hear the concerns of local communities and indigenous peoples by recognizing the threat these projects pose to a globally significant ecosystem.”
Hammerquist works for the National Parks Conservation Association, which joined a dozen other groups in petitioning for the endangered status.
Today’s top story in the online edition of the Missoulian is about the new owners of the Polebridge Mercantile. It even includes a short video! Here’s the lede . . .
Dan Kaufman has long lived in the cozy rooms upstairs, where fresh-baked smells have soaked the warm walls. But now, he’s moving out.
The saloonkeeper next door might put him up for the summer, in a hut out back, or a tent, or maybe even a treehouse. He’s in the barn, for now.
Kaufman’s in the barn because he and wife Deb have sold the Polebridge Mercantile – their rooms with the views, their gateway to Glacier – to a starry-eyed young couple from Missoula.
From today’s online edition of the Missoulian . . .
The state of conservation at two Northern Rockies national parks near a place eyed for possible coal mining will be reviewed by a UNESCO committee meeting in Spain this week.
Groups that say Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, consisting of a U.S. park and a Canadian park, is at risk hope the meeting in Seville, Spain, will bring their concern some global attention. They’ve petitioned UNESCO to declare the peace park endangered. But a lawmaker in the Canadian province of Alberta rejects any suggestion that coal mining or other industry threatens environmental quality in a slice of North America known for stunning alpine scenery and extraordinary wildlife habitat.
Also note that there’s still a chance to have your voice heard. The National Parks Conservation Association has an online form for sending letters to officials in the US and Canada, as well as the UN World Heritage Committee.