From the Sunday, February 27, 2005 online edition of the Billings Gazette . . .
A British Columbia lawmaker disturbed by U.S. restrictions on softwood and cattle imports told Sen. Max Baucus that "you're actually not welcome here" when the Montana Democrat visited Fernie, British Columbia, to talk about a potential coal mine.
The remark by Bill Bennett of British Columbia's Legislative Assembly raised a cheer Friday.
Baucus went to Fernie to discuss pending coal exploration that could lead to a new mine near the headwaters of the Flathead River system, which is on both sides of the U.S-Canada border. In Montana, the exploration has raised concern that Flathead water quality will be harmed. Baucus indicated an interest in establishing a group of Canadians and Americans to foster the exchange of scientific information between the two countries.
Bennett indicated little interest in Montanans' concerns about coal mining, focusing instead on the wood and cattle issues.
Read the entire article . . .
This was the lead story in the Saturday, February 26, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
(Note this previous post discussing the transboundary waters issue in the overall diplomatic context of current relations between the U.S. and Canada. See also this less than dispassionate CBC article.)
A razor-sharp buzz saw, tipped with teeth shaped like patriotic maple leafs, cut into U.S. Sen. Max Baucus the minute he stepped into Fernie, B.C., on Friday.
Baucus, a Montana Democrat, traveled to Fernie to discuss a Canadian coal mine proposal, a plan he said would "have no economic benefits - only environmental consequences - for Montana."
But what greeted Baucus was a crowd of more than two dozen irate Canadians, all waving their national flag and shifting the focus from coal to softwood timber tariffs, from mining waste to cattle imports and, perhaps most of all, to what not a few called "American arrogance."
By day's end, however, Baucus appeared to have outlasted his critics and achieved much of what he came for - namely the beginnings of a transboundary coalition that would serve as an information conduit between the two countries.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Thursday, February 24, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Montana Sen. Max Baucus is fording an international water dispute, traveling north of the border Friday for talks about Canadian coal mine plans.
Throughout the past year, the Democrat has been joined by his Republican counterparts in calling for a take-it-slow approach to energy development north of Glacier National Park.
The latest Canadian coal mine proposal, he said, would "have no economic benefits - only environmental consequences - for Montana."
So on Friday, Baucus travels to Fernie, B.C., to meet with Canadian officials and citizens who likewise are concerned about coal development and potential downstream impacts to water quality.
Joining the five-term senator will be dozens of Montanans, including representatives from the 2,500-member Flathead Lakers. Also participating are members of the Flathead Basin Commission, a group that includes local, tribal, state and federal land managers, charged by the governor's office with monitoring threats to Flathead water quality.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Thursday, February 24, 2005 issue of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will lead a group of Montanans to Fernie, British Columbia, on Friday to meet with Canadian officials and discuss proposed coal mining activity and potential downstream water quality impacts in Montana.
Baucus staffer Barrett Kaiser said dozens of Montanans are expected to accompany the senator on the trip, which is aimed at expressing opposition to coal mining in British Columbia that would "have no economic benefits -- only environmental consequences -- for Montana." . . .
Friday's meeting is being hosted by Fernie Mayor Randall Macnair. Other Canadian officials, community advocates and business leaders have been invited. . .
Participants will meet at the First Interstate Bank parking lot in Eureka at 10:30 a.m. Friday. The group will then caravan to Fernie for meetings scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m.
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From the Thursday, February 24, 2005 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
It's been more than 20 years since the last wilderness area was designated in Montana.
The Montana Wilderness Association wants that streak to end, so it is focusing more of its efforts on wilderness designation, including about 170,000 acres in the North Fork of the Flathead.
Now MWA has a new leader for that approach.
Last week, the association selected Tim Baker as its executive director.
"My primary goal is to get the dialogue back to permanent protection for areas as wilderness," Baker said. "We haven't talked about that for a few years."
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From the Wednesday, February 23, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
The price of coal has skyrocketed in the last year or so as China has become a world economic power and a net importer of high-quality "coke" coal to fuel its burgeoning steel factories.
Japan, struggling out of a decade of economic stagnation, likes that coke coal, too.
Meanwhile, times have been tough in British Columbia's mining industry, and the provincial government is eager to mine the rich coal deposits of the province - including coal in the headwaters of the Flathead River Basin, one of the headwaters of Flathead Lake in northwestern Montana.
According to a recent report in the Vancouver (B.C.) Sun: "Minister of State for (B.C.) Mining Pat Bell corralled senior executives of five junior mining firms for a meeting to discuss the situation, and all agreed that B.C. has never been in a better position to take advantage of the growing global market for metallurgical or steelmaking coal."
Which is a big reason why members of the Flathead Basin Commission were fretting Tuesday in Kalispell. It was the commission's first meeting of 2005, and the news since their meeting last fall was not good.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, February 23, 2005 online edition of the Billings Gazette . . .
Concerned about the possibility of new coal mining in British Columbia and potential effects on water quality in the transboundary Flathead River system, a commission is pressing for the U.S. government to pressure Canada.
The Flathead Basin Commission, an arm of the Montana governor's office, wants Canada to study water quality and other natural resources before a new coal mine in the Flathead Basin wins approval. To accomplish that, the Montana congressional delegation should seek the help of U.S. officials, the commission decided this week.
"I think it's going to take the State Department and the International Joint Commission to get something done," said Rich Moy, chairman of the Flathead Basin Commission.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, February 16, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
(Note the references to coalbed methane development.)
No one actually knows how new oil and gas wells might impact Western waterways, but exploration is accelerating even as troubling questions are outpacing answers across the Rocky Mountain region.
That's the conclusion reached by Confluence Consulting, a Bozeman firm commissioned by Trout Unlimited to summarize all existing scientific data regarding the effects of energy development on coldwater fisheries. The report -- and a panel of scientists who reviewed it -- recommends more field studies, more environmental monitoring and more research into the impacts of new energy sources such as coalbed methane.
The original idea, said Confluence's Carol Endicott, was to dig through the professional literature and collect all that was known about both potential and confirmed risks. Trouble was, it turns out there is almost no professional literature.
Science doesn't know much about energy development's impact, said Trout Unlimited's Dave Stalling, but "what we do know is pretty scary stuff."
While the authors conclude "it is clear that exploration and development of gas and oil has the potential to have negative effects on fisheries, water quality, and associated aquatic life," they also note that "few field studies have evaluated the extent of environmental consequences." . . .
Of special concern are the "nonconventional" energy resources, including oil shale, sandstone gas and coalbed methane, because, the report states, "as they are relatively recent developments, comparatively little information exists to evaluate the specific environmental effects." . . .
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From the Wednesday, February 16, 2005 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Gov. Brian Schweitzer is asking the Canadians to do a baseline environmental assessment of the Canadian Flathead before commencing with coal mines in the region.
Schweitzer made the request in a letter to British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell last week.
"We support the concept of a comprehensive environmental and socio-economic baseline assessment of the transboundary region prior to new fossil fuel development," Schweitzer said in the Feb. 7 letter.
British Columbia gave a permit to the Cline Mining Corp. in November to do exploratory work in the Foisey Creek drainage about 31 miles north of the border. Foisey Creek is a tributary of the Canadian Flathead -- known as the North Fork here in the U.S. . .
The Flathead River Basin Commission will also look at the latest Canadian mine prospect at its Feb. 22 meeting. At least one provincial official is expected to be there to give an update.
The meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to noon in the Central School Museum, 124 Second Avenue East, in downtown Kalispell.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Sunday, February 13, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
(Read the entire article, folks, it's important. Mr. Jamison places the transboundary waters issue in the overall diplomatic context of current relations between the U.S. and Canada.)
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has waded into a decades-old transboundary water dispute between the United States and Canada, asking British Columbia to delay energy development until environmental studies can be completed.
In a Feb. 7 letter to provincial Premier Gordon Campbell, Schweitzer called for formalizing an environmental cooperation agreement between the state and the province. He also asked Campbell to join an international effort to collect environmental data in the Canadian Flathead before moving ahead with coal and coal-bed methane projects.
Calling Montana's Flathead and the area directly north of the border "a globally significant landscape," Schweitzer said the environmental and economic values of the region "are too great to embark upon new industrial energy production without the benefit of a comprehensive baseline assessment."
At issue are provincial lands north of Glacier National Park, in the Canadian Flathead. Headwaters there feed into the North Fork Flathead River, which forms Glacier National Park's western boundary before spilling into Flathead Lake. . .
Schweitzer's letter came the same week that relations between British Columbia and its southern neighbors were strained by word that the Canadian government is seeking "retaliation" for what it sees as unfair trade practices concerning softwood timber imports. . .
Add to the mix an ongoing argument over importation of Canadian cattle, and the stage seems set for future battles between the state and province. . .
Read the entire article . . .
From the Friday, February 11, 2005 online issue of the Missoulian . . .
Gov. Brian Schweitzer is urging the premier of British Columbia to conduct a comprehensive study on areas north of Glacier National Park before new fossil-fuel energy development begins.
The recent announcement that Canada's Cline Mining Corp. plans exploratory work in the area prompted a letter to Gordon Campbell, said Rich Moy, chief of the Montana Water Management Bureau.
The exploration site is about 20 miles north of where the company first proposed mining coal. That work was halted last spring, however, following protests from residents, conservationists and government officials in Montana who were concerned about potential effects to water quality.
The province recently gave Cline a permit to remove 90 tons of coal to determine whether a mine could be developed in British Columbia's Foisey Creek headwaters area. Foisey Creek flows into the Flathead River system of British Columbia and Montana.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Friday, February 4, 2005 issue of the Missoulian . . .
(This is another of Michael Jamison's excellent articles. Although focused on issues surrounding Glacier Park, it contains a number of references to the North Fork.)
To the north, Glacier National Park's pristine heritage is beset by Canadian plans to mine for coal and drill for gas.
To the west, residential construction is fragmenting the landscape, eating up habitat and cutting off corridors wildlife has relied upon for centuries. To the east, livestock are trespassing, grazing inside park boundaries. And to the south, plans to upgrade the highway that wraps under the park could create a barrier too wide and too fast for critters like grizzly bears to cross.
The year was 1980, and the Missoulian had just published a special 12-page report called "Glacier under siege," detailing the threats pressing from all sides on the Crown of the Continent.
Fast-forward a quarter century, to 2005, and you'll find that Glacier's still under siege, the list of threats surprisingly unchanged in 25 years.
"It's quite interesting," park superintendent Mick Holm said. "A lot of the challenges - a really significant percentage of them - that the park was experiencing 25 years ago are still there today."
And, Holm said, "I would not be surprised if 25 years from now some of these same challenges are still on the table."
Read the entire article . . .
A note from Rachel Potter...
Dear North Forkers and friends:
If you’re going to be around, plan on attending the North Fork Interlocal Agreement Meeting on Wednesday, February 16th, from 9:30-12:30 at the Flathead National Forest Supervisor’s Office in Kalispell.
It’s a great time to find out what the various agencies and groups are doing. There should be updates from Fish, Wildlife and Parks on wildlife numbers and monitoring, fire salvage, fire mitigation work, road maintenance, Border Patrol activity, and lots more.
I always find it informative. Show the agencies that we are interested in and concerned about what they do.
From the Wednesday, February 2, 2005 issue of the Missoulian . . .
Three months after approving an exploratory permit to dig coal in the Canadian Flathead, provincial officials in British Columbia penned a letter to Montana's governor discussing the details of their plan.
The letter, dated Jan. 31, was directed to Mike Volesky, natural resources policy adviser to Gov. Brian Schweitzer.
It was, however, too little too late for some who believe the province should have notified Montana before granting the permit.
Read the entire article . . .