A version of this commentary ran in the Daily Inter Lake Saturday, January 13, as an op-ed. It will likely appear in the Missoulian this Monday, January 22, before the Wednesday hearings. It is posted here by permission of the author, Ben Long.
Anyone who has hunted or fished or just explored up the North Fork of the Flathead learns one thing quickly — water, fish and wildlife don’t give a hoot about the border between the United States and Canada.
Elk, trout and other wildlife have dual citizenship, even if hunting and fishing licenses don’t apply equally on opposite sides of “the Medicine Line.” Mother Nature ignores human boundaries.
That is why many of us are deeply concerned about the giant, mountain-removal strip mine an international mining company has proposed 22 air miles north of the international border. The plan is to tear down a mountain, remove the coal, and leave the slag in the upper tributaries of the North Fork.
Experts from the University of Montana determined that water (and thus water pollution) seeping from the mine site would flow into Montana within hours. That same water, and whatever nastiness it carries, will pass under the Old Steel Bridge within days.
The North Fork is some of the best wildlife habitat – and thus some of the best hunting and fishing – anywhere in the world. Fish and game populations vary over time, but as long as the habitat remains, we can count on the North Fork producing elk, moose, mule deer and whitetails, mountain lions and bears. Rare animals like lynx and wolverine add spice to this combination.
But moreover, the North Fork is a remarkably clean river. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has long listed the North Fork among Montana’s famed “blue ribbon” trout streams for its native trout, which absolutely depend on cold, clean water. I saw my first bull trout spawner in a North Fork tributary and caught my first westslope cutthroat trout on a fly from its transparent green waters.
A year ago, eight hook-and-bullet groups from both sides of the border — Fernie Rod and Gun Club, Flathead Wildlife Inc., Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Wapiti River Flyfishers — along with eight outfitters who depend on the area, wrote a letter expressing their concerns to Canadian authorities.
But this issue is far greater than just our outdoor traditions. Montana’s way of life and our economic prosperity depends on clean water. The economic value of Flathead Lake alone outweighs the value of all the coal in the Flathead Basin. We all want responsible energy development and part of being responsible is recognizing that some places are just too valuable to be ripped apart for short-term gain.
Montanans have long recognized that the Flathead Basin is special. Many folks have forgotten that the US federal government wanted to dam the North Fork and flood from Glacier Rim to Round Prairie. We stopped that. And few remember that once, a paper company wanted to build a major pulp mill south of Columbia Falls and release its effluent into the Flathead River. We stopped that, too. We long ago banned phosphate in detergents sold locally.
There are some places where coal mines are inappropriate. The Flathead Basin is one of them. A project of this size simply cannot be mitigated.
So far, the Canadian authorities have done a dismal job of studying this proposal. So far, they’ve limited their analysis to the “footprint” of the mining operations themselves. They seem not to understand that the problem isn’t only the hole in the ground, but the poisons that will flow downhill from it throughout the Flathead and Clark Fork basins.
Montana officials — Gov. Schweitzer, Sen. Baucus and Rep. Rehberg — have done yeomen’s work making our concerns heard across the border. It will take all their diplomatic skills to change the course of Canadian authorities.
They need our help. Speak up at a hearing 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Missoula’s Doubletree Inn. To learn more, visit www.flatheadbasincommission.org.
I have a son who is almost 3 who loves the very idea of fishing. He bobs his toy fishing pole in the bathtub. I want him to grow up and marvel at the clean cobble bottom of the North Fork of the Flathead River, casting for a native trout. No one has the right to take that from him. From all of us.
Ben Long, of Kalispell, has hunted, fished, hiked and worked up the North Fork since 1986. He is chairman of the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.