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.
Not to be outdone by the folks north of the 49th parallel, U.S. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester will introduce legislation banning mining and energy development on federal lands in the North Fork Flathead drainage.
The Missoulian has the story . . .
Two days after British Columbia placed the area north of Glacier National Park off limits to mining, Montana’s leadership announced it would do the same on federal lands here.
“We need to show the Canadians we’re working in good faith on our side of the border, as well,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.
From yesterday’s Missoulian . . .
University of Montana professor Ric Hauer will discuss threats to the water quality of Flathead Lake and the Flathead River at the next program sponsored by the Mission Mountain Audubon Society.
“Pristine waters and biodiversity threatened in the North Fork Flathead River” will be the subject of Hauer’s talk Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. in the Polson City Library meeting room. The public is welcome to attend.
[Trivia department: For those of you who follow us on Twitter, this post generated our 100th “tweet.” Are we fashion-forward or what?]
Here is the press release from last Tuesday’s visit to the North Fork by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, accompanied by Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester. It’s also available online at 7thSpace Interactive.
It’s worth reading. There are a few gems buried in the midst of the obligatory political verbiage.
Salazar, Baucus, Tester Announce Study of Potential Threats to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
KALISPELL, Mt – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester today announced the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the World Heritage Center will conduct a review early this fall of the potential threats, such as proposed coal mining and oil and gas development, to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in Montana and Alberta, Canada.
In June, the 21-nation World Heritage Committee, part of the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO), called for the review as it considers whether the park should be placed on its list of World Heritage Sites that are in danger. The scientific review will take place September 20 to 26.
“Senators Baucus and Tester and I have serious concerns about the potential impact of energy development on the park’s water, wildlife and other resources,” Salazar said. “With the support of Canada, I am pleased that just three months after the World Heritage Committee called for this review, scientists will be on the ground to give us an objective assessment of the possible threats to the park.”
“The North Fork is a gem for Montana. I’ve been working for decades to keep it protected, and I wanted to bring Secretary Salazar out here so he could see it with his own eyes. When you see how magnificent this place is it is a no brainer that we need to protect it. Secretary Salazar is a westerner and a friend, and I am so glad that he is going to be such a strong ally in our fight. This review is a good step and will give the world a chance to see the value of this resource and the threats it will face until we have long-term protections in place. I will never rest until this place is protected for our kids and grandkids,” said Senator Baucus.
“Glacier National Park is one of the world’s most important places,” said Tester, a member of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. “Taking inventory of any challenges we face in the future will help us protect Montana’s clean water and make sure that Glacier will always inspire visitors from around the world.”
Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana on the United States side and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta on the Canadian side, were designated by law as the world’s first International Peace Park in 1932. The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is traversed by the Lewis Range and contains outstanding glacial lakes and alpine scenery and is significant as a habitat exceptionally rich in plant and mammal life.
The park protects an important biological crossroads at the point where the Rocky Mountains reach their narrowest width. It also serves as a celebration of the longest undefended contiguous border between two nations and a reminder that our natural resources have no boundaries.
The United States is concerned that proposed mining and energy developments in the mostly pristine Canadian Flathead region could potentially threaten the Flathead River in Montana which forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park.
The 21-nation World Heritage Committee oversees the list of World Heritage Sites that are of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity. Sites that are deemed to be in jeopardy are placed on the endangered list. Both the United States and Canada would have to agree to the designation before it could be made.
The Committee requested the mission take place as soon as possible so that the results can be considered by the Committee in its next session in the summer of 2010. The United States and Canada have committed to complete a State of Conservation Report by February 1, 2010.
Contact: Hugh Vickery (202) 208-6416
Yesterday’s visit to the North Fork by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, accompanied by Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, and Chas Cartwright, superintendent of Glacier National Park, is getting lots of coverage.
Here’s the lede from the Flathead Beacon’s write-up . . .
Standing near the bridge below the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Flathead Rivers, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday he hopes there can be some type of designation protecting Glacier National Park and the Flathead Basin from upstream natural resource development in place by next year.
Uh, oh. It appears the threat of a gold mining operation in the trans-boundary North Fork is growing. From today’s online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Expanded gold exploration north of Glacier National Park has Montana interests worried about downstream environmental and economic impacts.
“The mining company has apparently made a business decision that investment in the Canadian Flathead may bear fruit for them,” said Will Hammerquist of the National Parks Conservation Association. Hammerquist called the gold exploration “just one more example of an industrial land use that fails to recognize the importance of this area.”
Located about 10 miles north of the Montana border, the mining zone drains south into the North Fork Flathead River. That waterway forms the western edge of Glacier Park before spilling into Flathead Lake.
For decades, the two countries have battled over Canadian coal mining proposals, often pulling the federal governments into the fray.
Read the entire article . . . [link repaired]
Looks like Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, as well as both of Montana’s Senators will be visiting the North Fork today. There’s the story from the Missoulian . . .
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will travel into the remote North Fork Flathead River Valley on Tuesday, a watershed long threatened by mining proposals from the Canadian north.
He will be accompanied by Montana’s Democratic U.S. senators, Jon Tester and Max Baucus.
Read the entire story . . . [link repaired]
Dan Testa has an excellent piece in the Flathead Beacon discussing trout studies in the North Fork — on both sides of the border — and the general importance of this sort of baseline study in connection with the upcoming UNESCO scientific mission to study threats to Waterton-Glacier Park.
Here’s a sampler . . .
The research of these scientists is likely to be heavily relied upon by members of a United Nations fact-finding mission arriving in the region some time in the next year to determine whether Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park should be designated a “World Heritage Site in Danger.” The unanimous June vote in Seville, Spain, by a 21-country panel of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) could mean widespread attention will once again be drawn to the issue of threats from mining and drilling operations in southeastern British Columbia along the headwaters of the North Fork, which serves as the western boundary of Glacier National Park.
From this week’s online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Sen. Max Baucus last week said he would push to have the North Fork of the Flathead designated as a World Heritage Site in Danger, a dubious distinction as Glacier National Park turns 100 next year.
The North Fork will see the international limelight in June, when Will Hammerquist, the Glacier representative of the National Park Conservation Association and Ryland Nelson, of the Canadian environmental organization Wildsight, will testify in front of a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage panel.
Read the entire article . . .
With all the coverage the Trans-boundary Flathead has gotten over the past few weeks, it seemed appropriate to point out that the U.S.-based National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) also has a dog in that fight. They maintain a web page discussing the threats to Glacier Park and the adjoining Flathead River Valley arising from potential resource development in the Canadian Flathead, as well as links to a great deal of supporting material and related documentation. The NPCA is also advocating for the U.N. to designate Waterton-Glacier Park as an endangered World Heritage Site, a move that would focus additional international attention on the situation.