The 2004 Activity Schedule for the North Fork Preservation Association is online.
For general reference, here is a map of the U.S./Canadian Flathead Valley and the surrounding area.
This is a section of a much larger topographic map available on the Atlas of Canada web site -- specifically, the Kootenai Lake sheet. The area to the east is covered by the Lethbridge sheet.
Thanks to James Conner for pointing out these maps to us.
We've posted a map of the "proposed tenure blocks" (I think that means coal leases) on the Canadian Flathead. It comes to us courtesy of David Thomas of Citizens Concerned about Coalbed Methane.
Note that this map is in "PDF" format. If you don't have it already, you will need the Adobe Reader to view this map.
The lead story in the Saturday, May 29, 2004 issue of the Missoulian is another excellent article by Michael Jamison . . .
KALISPELL - A Canadian proposal to mine coal near Glacier National Park has been shelved, although plans to develop coal bed methane fields in the area are still moving forward.
At a Friday morning meeting in Fernie, British Columbia, the province's Minister of Energy and Mines announced that the controversial coal mine plan would not be permitted.
Minister Richard Neufeld said the decision came after reviewing previous international reports and environmental agreements signed between Montana and British Columbia.
The controversy over the coal deposit dates back to the late 1970s, when Canadians first floated a plan to strip mine some five miles north of Glacier Park. That proposal raised concerns south of the border, particularly with regard to downstream water pollution in and around Glacier Park and the Flathead Valley.
The debate ultimately landed in the lap of the International Joint Commission, which is charged with resolving transboundary water disputes between the two countries.
After four years of scientific study, the IJC unanimously recommended in 1988 that the mining plan be abandoned.
The issue was resurrected early this year, however, when Toronto-based Cline Mining Corp. announced its intent to mine the coal.
Again, the process was begun in the United States to refer the project to the IJC, with Montana's governor and congressional senators requesting an international review. The U.S. State Department weighed in, saying it felt the 1988 IJC decision still applied.
Neufeld referred to that IJC decision as one of many reasons he decided to kill the mine proposal. He also said tentative environmental agreements between his province and the state of Montana helped form his decision, as did the proximity of Glacier Park and the adjacent Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.
He admitted to being somewhat reluctant to bury the mining plan, saying coal mining has been successful from both an environmental and business perspective elsewhere in British Columbia. Nevertheless, Neufeld said, refusing the mine "would be best, in the interest of all."
Read the entire article . . .
(This link may expire once the article moves to the newspaper's permanent archives.)
From the "Montana Tracker" section of the Missoulian . . .
Posted at 3:45 p.m. May 28 by the Associated Press
HELENA - A British Columbia coal mine proposed for a site six miles north of Glacier National Park will not be allowed to move forward, the province's minister of energy and mines said Friday.
"We've canceled the coal mine," said Richard Neufeld. Concerns about the project pursued by Cline Mining Co. were too great to let it proceed, Neufeld added.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link may expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the Thursday, May 27, 2004 issue of the Hungry Horse News . . .
A group of about 45 people from both Canada and the United States gathered last week to begin organizing an effort to oppose coal bed methane and coal mine development in the Canadian Flathead.
The Flathead Coalition first sprang to life in 1975 to organize campaigns against coal mining in the Canadian Flathead then. It was active in the 1980s and pretty much dismantled in the 1990s, when the coal market took a tumble and the prospect of mining coal north of the border diminished.
Now, with two projects on tap--coal bed methane development near Fernie and a coal mine proposed about six miles north of the Canadian border not far from Glacier National Park --the group has reformed.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link may expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the "Montana Tracker" section of the Missoulian . . .
Posted at 11:24 a.m. May 21 by the Associated Press
HELENA - A commission's 1988 ruling that a proposed coal mine near Glacier National Park would violate an international water treaty would likely still apply to a renewed effort to open the mine, the U.S. State Department says.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., asked the department last month to review the International Joint Commission's ruling concerning the proposed coal mining project in the Cabin Creek drainage, just north of the Canadian border.
The commission originally concluded unanimously that the mine would violate the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty because of the strong potential for damage to water quality on the U.S. side of the Flathead River Basin. The company behind the mine eventually withdrew its plans.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link may expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the Friday, May 21, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
KALISPELL - The U.S. State Department has waded into a water quality dispute between Montana and Canada, saying a 1988 decision to reject Canadian coal mining plans still stands.
"They're basically saying they agree with us," said Barrett Kaiser, "which is a huge step forward to protecting this treasured place."
Kaiser is spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who on April 30 wrote a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
In his letter to Powell, Baucus asked the State Department to once again take up the issue of coal mining in southeastern British Columbia.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link will expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the Friday, May 21, 2004 issue of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Gov. Judy Martz added her name to a growing list of Montana voices concerned about the potential for a coal mine and coal bed methane development in the Canadian Flathead.
But how much impact it will have in Canada remains to be seen.
"I don't think it will have any impact" on coal bed methane development, said Mike Morton, press secretary for Gordon Campbell, the premier of British Columbia on Monday.
Morton said the province's plan is to develop coal bed methane there, polite letters or not.
Last Thursday, May 13, Martz asked the International Joint Commission to become involved. She also asked the British Columbia government to defer mine permitting for the Cabin/Howell Creek areas until the IJC investigates the matter.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link will expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the May 19, 2004 issue of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Three of the Montana gubernatorial candidates who appeared in Kalispell Tuesday did not appear concerned about proposed coal mining and methane extraction north of Glacier Park, though two others flatly opposed it.
Five candidates appeared at a luncheon sponsored by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, and were asked about their positions on potential coal bed methane development and open-pit coal mining along the headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River in British Columbia.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link will expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
Michael Jamison has an excellent article on the revival of the Flathead Coalition scheduled for the May 13, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
KALISPELL - For more than two decades, a group of Flathead sportsmen, business owners, conservationists and civic leaders has lain low, dormant but viable like so many seeds waiting a spring rain.
At the end of this month, they plan to emerge, spreading their leaves to shade out a Canadian proposal that would mine coal and methane gas not far from Glacier National Park.
"We're going to hop back on this horse and ride again," said Dick Kuhl, current president of the Flathead Coalition.
The coalition was formed in 1975, when a Canadian coal company first proposed two open-pit strip mines about five miles from Glacier Park's northwestern boundary. The mines would straddle the headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River, which forms the western boundary of the park and pours into Flathead Lake.
[...]
The first meeting of the Flathead Coalition since 1989 is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 20, in the Mezzanine Meeting Room of Kalispell's historic KM Building. It is open to the public, and organizers hope all past member groups, as well as those new to the issue, will attend.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link may expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
Senator Conrad Burns released a statement today, May 10, 2004, on the recent resolution by the Flathead Basin Commission concerning coal mining and coal bed methane development in the Canadian section of Flathead River Basin:
"We have received the resolution from the Flathead Basin Commission and are reviewing it. I will be writing a letter to the International Joint Commission urging them to review this situation immediately. Anytime you're talking about water quality, you have to be concerned. I feel if this project is to go forward, it must meet all the environmental standards of a United States project and I hope the Canadian government will see fit to work with us to protect the border drainage north of Glacier Park."
Related entries concerning the FBC resolution are here, here and here.
PRESS RELEASE: Flathead Coalition Revives in Response to Canadian Coal Mine, Coalbed Methane Plans
For Immediate Release, May 10, 2004 Contact: Dick Kuhl, 257-5793
What: Meeting to revive the Flathead Coalition
Why: To protect the Flathead's clean waters, wildlife and Glacier National Park from mining pollution
When: Thursday, May 20, 2004, 7 p.m.
Where: KM Building Mezzanine Meeting Room
A 30-year-old coalition of Flathead sportsmen, businesses and community organizations will be revitalized this month to advocate for the Flathead's clean waters, the North Fork Valley, and Glacier National Park in response to a proposed open-pit coal mine and coalbed methane development in the Canadian headwaters of the Flathead River system.
The Flathead Coalition Board of Directors is inviting all past member organizations, newly interested groups and concerned citizens to attend a reorganization meeting on May 20 in Kalispell to re-launch the grassroots campaign that helped defeat the proposed Sage Creek coal mine in 1988.
"We're going to hop back on this horse and ride again," said Dick Kuhl, current president of the Flathead Coalition, which has been inactive since 1989. The group has maintained its corporate status as a Montana non-profit organization, Kuhl said, in case the mine proposal ever was advanced again. "It looks like our community will need to come together with one voice again to insist that our clean water, wildlife, the North Fork, and Glacier National Park are not impacted by ill-advised industrial energy development in Canada."
The Flathead Coalition was formed in 1975 to press for "zero pollution of the Flathead" in response to the proposed Sage Creek mine, recalls Coalition founder and Kalispell resident Wayne Herman, who continues to serve on the group's Board of Directors. The group has been inactive since shortly after an international commission determined in 1988 that pollution from the Sage Creek coal mine six miles north of Glacier National Park would violate the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between the United States and Canada.
The coalition's revival is the result of the Cline Mining Corporation's acquisition of the Sage Creek coal property and its announcement, along with the Japanese conglomerate, Mitsui Matsushima, that it intends to fast-track the mine into full production within two to three years.
"This coalition brought together broad segments of our community who typically were not in agreement about various community issues. But this mining threat to our waters was a unifying issue back in the 1970s and 1980s," said Herman. "I'm confident that this community will come together again to help keep this valley special.
Flathead Coalition members going back to the 1970s included sportsman groups in Montana and British Columbia, Chambers of Commerce, service clubs, professional associations, conservation groups and tribes.
Former Flathead Coalition Executive Director and retired FVCC professor Lex Blood applauded recent initiatives by Sen. Max Baucus and the Flathead Basin Commission seeking an international review of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the Sage Creek mine and proposed coalbed methane drilling in the Canadian headwaters of the Flathead. Both Baucus and the Flathead Basin Commission provided important leadership on this issue in the 1980s, he noted.
"We've been down this path before, so we don't have to reinvent the wheel," Blood said. "We have to organize ourselves, work cooperatively with our Canadian allies, and make sure that our voices are heard in the halls of power."
The May 20 meeting will include an update on the current coal-mining and coalbed methane development proposals in the Canadian Flathead, and steps being taken in Montana and Canada to address public concerns. Board members will summarize the history of the grassroots Flathead Coalition, then open the meeting up to participant discussion about revitalizing the Coalition and activities it might undertake.
The Fernie, BC-based Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane has started a web site. According to their opening post on 4 May, "This website along with the forums and mailing list is dedicated to communicating information about the East Kootenay coalbed methane project."
See the site at http://cccbm.org/.
A permanent link to this site has been placed in the "Related Links" list.
(Thanks to Steve Thompson of the National Parks Conservation Association for tipping us off to this site.)
From the Wednesday, May 5, 2004 edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
The impacts of a Canadian coal mine on the Flathead could pale in comparison to coal bed methane development in the area, Canadian and American interests told the Flathead River Basin Commission members Monday.
"The coal mine prospect is not the clear and present danger that coal bed methane development is," said Fernie, British Columbia, Councilman David Thomas. "We're talking (about wells) the entire breadth of the Rocky Mountains."
Test wells for coal bed methane development have already been dug in both the Canadian Flathead--known here as the North Fork of the Flathead--and in the Elk River Valley.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link will expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the Wednesday, May 5, 2004 edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
A U.S. Senator vows to fight the mines while the Flathead Basin Commission is seeking international intervention for coal mining and coal bed methane production in British Columbia just north of Glacier National Park.
In front of a standing-room-only crowd, the commission heard testimony on the potential impacts of both a proposed coal mine about six miles north of the U.S.-Canadian border and coal bed methane extraction in the river valley.
In response, the commission drafted a resolution that urges the British Columbia government "to immediately defer any action on coal bed methane and coal mining proposals until completion of a comprehensive assessment by the International Joint Commission."
Read the entire article . . .
(This link will expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the Wednesday, May 5, 2004 issue of The Missoulian . . .
KALISPELL - Canadian plans to extract coal and methane from just north of Glacier National Park appear headed for the global arena, with the Flathead's official water-quality watchdogs asking for international review of the proposals.
In a resolution passed Monday, the state-sponsored Flathead Basin Commission requested "the British Columbia government to immediately defer any action on coal bed methane and coal mining proposals until completion of a comprehensive assessment by the International Joint Commission."
The IJC is made up of representatives from both sides of the border, and is charged with resolving transboundary water disputes. The six-member IJC implements the 1909 Boundary Waters treaty between the United States and Canada, which states, in part, that neither country's water pollution shall impact the health and property of the other.
The resolution passed Monday also requests "Montana's congressional delegation to seek assistance from the U.S. secretary of state to invoke the provisions of the Boundary Waters Treaty and to use IJC authority under the treaty to assess potential impacts of methane gas exploration and production and new coal mines."
In other words, the Basin Commission wants British Columbia's government to slow down on plans to drill and mine, at least until the international community has a chance to study the impacts.
The resolution, coupled with a similar request by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., "assures the inevitable involvement of the two federal governments," according to David Thomas.
Thomas is a city council member in Fernie, B.C. On Monday, he made the trip to Kalispell to warn members of the Basin Commission about energy development plans north of the border.
His message: Canada's federal and provincial governments do not have adequate laws to protect the environment, and it's the folks in the states who "can, in fact, do much more about this than I can."
It is a fact of which the members of the Basin Commission are well aware. The commission itself was formed by Montana's state government for that very reason back in the 1980s.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link will expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
From the Tuesday, May 4, 2004 issue of The Daily Inter Lake . . .
Montana's watchdog group for Flathead River Basin water quality on Monday called for federal action to protect the river from proposed mining operations north of the border.
The Flathead Basin Commission passed that unanimous resolution after hearing Canadians discuss the weakness of British Columbia's environmental laws and the scope and imminence of mining proposals.
The resolution was the highlight of a Kalispell meeting that was supposed to be attended by Cline Mining Corp. Ken Bates, who has discussed plans for developing the Cabin Creek mine north of Glacier National Park and bringing it into full production within the next two or three years.
But Bates bowed out of the meeting over the weekend, along with representatives of the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Read the entire article . . .
(This link will expire once the article moves to the newspaper's archives.)
(Washington, D.C.) -- Montana Senator Max Baucus said today [30 Apr 04] he will fight the proposed Cabin Creek coal-mining project in British Columbia near Glacier National Park. Baucus, who played a leading role in sinking a similar proposal nearly 20 years ago, said today Montanans stand to lose under the plan because the state won't see any economic benefits from the project, while the coal-mining operation could jeopardize water quality and wildlife in the North Fork of the Flathead River and Flathead Lake.
Baucus today wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell and urged the top Bush Administration official to review a decision that killed the project in 1998.
Cline Mining Co. has indicated its intentions to fast-track a large-scale coal mine on Cabin Creek, a tributary of the Flathead River that flows into Montana, to full production by 2006 or 2007.
Full news release with Powell letter, additional detail, and Baucus comment to follow. . .
###
Barrett Kaiser
Communications Director, U.S. Senator Max Baucus
Office: (406) 657-6790
Cell: (406) 670-0541
barrett_kaiser@baucus.senate.gov
-----
Note: The full press release has not yet been posted to Senator Baucus's web site, but should appear there shortly.
Immediate Action Requested!
Recent announcements by British Columbia officials and the Cline Mining Company of Ontario to explore for Coal Bed Methane gas and to open the long dormant Sage Creek Coal mine in the Canadian Flathead River have alarmed the citizens of the Flathead valley. These two projects directly threaten our water quality, fisheries, wildlife habitat and the integrity of the Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park and Biosphere Reserve. These threats are imminent and immediate, with CBM leases and coal testing to occur between now and June of this year. Your action is needed on two fronts:
What You Can Do:
1) Please attend the Flathead Basin Commission meeting on Monday, May 3, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. at the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell. The CEO of Cline Mining will be there to make a statement. Other important information will be provided. It is vital that the Flathead Valley show up to demonstrate its concern about Cline's coal mining project and the CBM proposal.
2) Please attend the reorganization meeting for the Flathead Coalition. Local citizens created the Flathead Coalition in 1975 in response to the first Canadian coal mine threat to the North Fork. The Flathead Coalition helped defeat that first mine proposal. The organization has remained alive but dormant in anticipation of the present coal mining threat. The Coalition has one purpose only, to protect the water of the Flathead. The current industrial proposals directly threaten our water quality. The Flathead Coalition is a very broad based organization supported by civic, commercial, and conservation groups from across the Flathead valley. There will be an informational meeting on Thursday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the KM Building Mezzanine.
