Tag Archives: Cline Mining

North Fork fifth on US endangered rivers list

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Today’s Daily Inter Lake reports that the North Fork Flathead River ranks fifth on American Rivers’  2009 list of endangered rivers due to the threats posed by resource development in the Canadian Flathead.

Here’s the lead . . .

An “indefinite opportunity” for coal mining and other resource development in Canada has put the North Fork Flathead River on a list of the nation’s 10 most endangered rivers.

American Rivers, the country’s leading river conservation organization, ranks the North Fork fifth on its 2009 list.

Read the entire article . . .

Flathead tops list of BC’s most endangered rivers

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The Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia (ORBC) started publishing a list of the most endangered rivers in the province in 2006. This year, the Flathead River is in the #1 spot, as it was in 2007, mostly because of the proposed Cline Coal Mine. An excerpt from today’s press release . . .

The Flathead River, which flows through southeastern BC into Montana, tops British Columbia’s most endangered rivers list for 2009 due to concerns about a controversial proposed open pit coal mine. The Flathead, which was number two on last year’s list, is widely considered one of North America’s wildest and most beautiful waterways. “The Flathead supports important trans-boundary fish populations while also sustaining the highest density of inland grizzly bears anywhere in North America”, said Mark Angelo, Rivers Chair for the Outdoor Recreation Council and an Order of Canada recipient.

Yet, while the US section is protected, the BC stretch faces a number of threats, the most prominent being the proposed Cline open pit coal mine. Given the size and location of the mine in the river’s headwaters, water quality would be impacted and recreational, wildlife and wilderness values would be greatly compromised.

For the full text of the press release and the associated backgrounder document, see the ORBC’s Endangered Rivers page.

UPDATE: Not strictly related to the Canadian Flathead — at least, not yet — but the ORBC is also concerned with the impact of “green” power projects on a number of B.C.’s rivers. The Vancouver Sun has coverage of this issue.

Groups renew call to expand Waterton into B. C. river valley

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From the Saturday, January 31, 2009 online edition of the Calgary Herald . . .

Conservation groups are renewing calls for Waterton Lakes National Park to be expanded into the Flathead River Valley, despite British Columbia’s decision to close the door to coal bed methane development in the ecologically key area in southeastern B.C.

The Sierra Club, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Wildsight and others say the relatively untouched valley is still imperilled.

“Until we have permanent protection for the Flathead River Valley in the form of a national park, it is still threatened by future coal bed methane proposals,” said Sarah Cox, a spokeswoman for Sierra Club B. C. “And it’s under threat from a proposal for strip mining coal and other minerals.”

Read the entire article . . .

Stalemate, some success, retirement

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From the Sunday, January 11, 2009 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

The coal was here, hidden by a thin skin of wilderness, long before Rich Moy arrived; and it was still here, against all odds, when he left.

That, he considers, is at least some sort of success, although much more work will be required to keep it there, buried beneath what’s wild.

“In many ways, it’s been a stalemate for 30 years,” Moy said. “We haven’t lost much ground, but we haven’t gained any, either. The Canadian Flathead and the wilderness north of Glacier National Park have been and will be a flashpoint of international controversy.”

When Moy arrived on this backcountry battlefield, nearly three decades ago, the then-new controversy centered on a proposed Canadian coal mine to be built just a few miles north of Glacier Park.

When he finally retired last month, on the last day of 2008, the now-old controversy centered on yet another coal mine proposed in the headwaters, and a second coal mine in the river bottom, and a gold mine, and a phosphate mine, and an ongoing search for coalbed methane.

“In all these decades,” he said, “the British Columbia government has never wavered in its desire to industrialize the Flathead.”

Read the entire article . . .

B.C. coal mine threat to trans-border trout: Scientists

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Further information on the proposed Cline mine’s impact on bull trout from the Canada.com web site . . .

U.S. government scientists studying the Flathead River watershed straddling the B.C.-Montana border say they’ve discovered the prime spawning site for a threatened species of trout – on the Canadian side of the system, and in the very shadow of a proposed mountaintop coal mine that drew fire from U.S. president-elect Barack Obama during his drive to the White House.

Biologists with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Montana state Wildlife Department say the findings pinpoint the mouth of Foisey Creek in southeastern B.C. – near the planned site of a controversial open-pit coal operation proposed by Toronto-based Cline Mining Corp. – as a “critical” site in the life-cycle of the protected bull trout, which often migrates from U.S. waters to Canada to reproduce.

It’s a discovery, the scientists say, that adds to previous evidence showing threats to the watershed’s population of cross-border cutthroat trout, and which should clinch the environmental case against the mine.

Read the entire article . . .

Canada: Mine planned atop habitat for bull trout

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From the Friday, November 28, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

A controversial Canadian coal mine, proposed high in the headwaters above Glacier National Park, would be built atop the most productive bull trout spawning habitat in the entire river basin.

“That site, immediately below the proposed mine site, is incredibly important bull trout habitat,” said Mark Deleray, a fisheries biologist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Read the entire article . . .
(Link updated on 30 November. The darn Missoulian sometimes changes the link when they archive articles.)

Canadians Say Flathead Energy Projects Will Face ‘Comprehensive’ Review

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From the Tuesday, January 15, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .

Canadian regulators say potential coal and gas projects north of Glacier National Park face many hurdles, including regulatory review.

Montana officials have criticized potential development of a coal mine and a coal-bed methane operation in southeastern British Columbia. On Tuesday, the Montana Legislature’s Environmental Quality Council invited Canadian officials to provide their perspective at a meeting in Helena.

British Columbia officials reiterated the projects have not begun clearing regulatory hurdles. Garry Alexander of the province’s Environmental Assessment Office said the government will conduct a “comprehensive” evaluation.

Other Canadian regulators, speaking by conference call, said Montana agencies and residents will have an opportunity to comment on plans as they move forward. Proposed projects often are modified during the permit process, the regulators said.

Read the entire article . . .