Wildsight (formerly the East Kootenay Environmental Society) has been added to the "Related Links" section of the web site.
From Wildsight's "About Us" statement: "Wildsight works to maintain biodiversity and healthy human communities in Canada's Columbia and Rocky Mountains ecoregion."
Because one of Wildsight's major areas of concern is the Southern Rockies, they often target activities in the upper North Fork drainage. For instance, postings this year include material on coalbed methane development, coal mining and the expansion of Waterton Lakes National Park into the Flathead Region of British Columbia.
The Tuesday, July 26, 2005 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake has a nice write-up on Peter Moore . . .
It's obvious from the moment you first lay eyes on Peter Moore that this is a man who has great stories.
But though the 56-year-old artist is laid-back and open in his conversation, you nonetheless get a sense of an old soul in there that's unavailable for casual viewing.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, July 20, 2005 online edition of the Golden Star of Golden, B.C., comes this interesting spin on coal mine development in the Canadian section of the North Fork watershed . . .
A meeting is being arranged between Premier Gordon Campbell and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer to clear up long-standing concerns about the environmental impact of coal exploration near the U.S. border.
An exploration permit issued to Sudbury-based Cline Mining Corp. has reignited concerns in Montana over the impact on the Flathead River watershed, which drains from the Kootenays into Montana's Flathead Lake.
Speaking to a meeting of a Flathead protection group last week, Schweitzer said he would like to tour the area with Campbell by air. "I'd like to meet him in Fernie," he said. "We'd eat some thick British Columbia steaks and sit down and talk."
Bill Bennett, B.C.'s minister of state for mining, says a meeting is in the works, and it should calm fears in Montana.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, July 13, 2005 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Gov. Brian Schweitzer voiced his concern last week about the lack of communication with Canada concerning the proposed open pit coal mine planned near the headwaters of the Flathead River.
The Cline Mining Corp. has plans for an open pit coal mine near Foisey Creek, a well known spawning ground for native Montana fish.
At the annual meeting of the Flathead Coalition last Wednesday in Kalispell, Schweitzer called for a meeting with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell to discuss the situation, saying that only after lines of communication are established can problems be rectified.
A face to face meeting at the site of the plant is what Schweitzer mentioned specifically, saying that such a development would be a key negotiating point, helping him visualize the impact of placing a coal producing facility in the remote area. In return, Schweitzer said, he would bring Campbell to Montana to show him the area that would be directly impacted by such a mine across the border.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Tuesday, July 12, 2005 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The Flathead National Forest has announced temporary road, trail and area closures for public safety that are in effect for the Hornet and Depuy Timber Salvage Sale areas in the North Fork of the Flathead and in the Beta Salvage Sale area along the west side of Hungry Horse Reservoir.
Salvage projects are removing timber affected by the forest's 2003 wildland fires.
Forest officials say the closures are intended for public safety during helicopter operations. The length of the closures will vary, so members of the public are encouraged to contact the Forest Service for updated information.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Monday, July 11, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Back in 1925, a full generation before the nation's Wilderness Act was signed into law, Montana rancher and amateur geologist Winton Weydemeyer had a visionary idea.
He'd been reading articles by conservationist Aldo Leopold, championing the notion of protecting America's last untrammeled wilds, when the inspiration came.
Weydemeyer lived south of Eureka, not far from an ancient Indian trail that cut across the Whitefish Range and into the North Fork Flathead River Valley. It was the perfect spot, he figured, to put Leopold's ideas to work.
If the entire Whitefish Range - all 485,000 acres - were protected, Weydemeyer believed it would make the perfect complement to the nearby and newly designated Glacier National Park.
A full 70 years later, Weydemeyer's name has become inextricably linked with that old Indian trail, as modern efforts move forward to make at least part of his vision a reality.
Read the entire article . . .
The Sunday, July 10, 2005 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake leads with an editorial concerning threats to water quality in the Flathead drainage, including coal mining and coalbed methane development in Canada . . .
By many accounts, there have been profound ecological improvements on the Flathead River over the last decade, but there remains an array of persistent threats to the river system and Flathead Lake . . .
Read the entire article . . .
From the Friday, July 8, 2005 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
After more than 20 years of cross-border wrangling about coal development in the Canadian Flathead, Gov. Brian Schweitzer thinks it's time to sit down and talk.
Schweitzer, the featured speaker at the Flathead Coalition's annual meeting Wednesday in Kalispell, said he wants to meet with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell.
He said he thinks a face-to-face meeting is the best way to resolve some of the concerns about potential mining activities in the area just north of the border, where the headwaters of the North Fork are located.
"We in Montana have been discussing what they in Canada are doing in that area since 1982," Schweitzer said. During that time, "five governors have been involved, but to my knowledge there has never been a face-to-face meeting between the governor and the premier."
Read the entire article . . .
From the Friday, July 8, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
A Columbia Falls man was fined early this month for dumping about 400 gallons of apples just beyond the western boundary of Glacier National Park.
William Molchan wanted to feed the deer and elk at the remote property he was caretaking near Polebridge, in the North Fork Flathead River Valley. Instead, and perhaps predictably, he attracted both black bears and grizzlies to the area, creating what wildlife officials called "a public safety problem."
Read the entire article . . .
From the Thursday, July 7, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
The U.S. State Department is worried about potential downstream impacts of Canadian coal mining, but its counterpart in Ottawa insists negotiations should happen at the state rather than federal level.
"The U.S. government has been following the activities in the Flathead River area closely," Charles Shapiro wrote in a recent letter to Gov. Brian Schweitzer.
Shapiro is acting assistant secretary for the State Department, to which Schweitzer appealed for help earlier this year.
In his May 24 request, Schweitzer asked the State Department and its equivalent in Canada's capitol to jointly recommend an environmental review of the Canadian Flathead by a binational team of scientists.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Tuesday, July 5, 2005 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The Polebridge Fourth of July parade is an event so subtle and hang-loose that it borders on the Zen. Absolutely no one is in charge of anything.
Read the entire article . . .
The NFPA Summer 2005 Newsletter is now available in the "Newsletters" section of the website archives.
Contents:
Montana politicos don't want coal mine
Cline's Fast-track Flathead Mine Plan
PCI Coal: Bad News For the North Fork?
The Kootenai Connection to the North Fork
Progress On the North Fork Neighborhood Plan
Commissioner Gary Hall Still Wants the North Fork Paved
Rally the Troops!
Volunteers Needed For New Expanded Common Loon Monitoring Program In Glacier National Park
Baseball, Apple Pie and Predicting the Fire Season
NFPA Summer Schedule
From the Sunday, July 3, 2005 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Flathead National Forest officials' preferred long-term management plan substantially reduces forest lands considered "suitable" for timber harvesting, and it includes a new recommended wilderness at the north end of the Whitefish mountain range.
Although timber harvest technically can occur on as much as 866,616 acres, lands identified as suitable for timber harvest equal 328,744 acres -- about half the current suitable-timber base of 670,000 acres.
The Forest Service recently unveiled proposed management areas through a color-coded map that splits the forest into areas that would be set aside for different types of management, including established wilderness and "high-use developed areas."
Other aspects of the plan, such as provisions for access, will be proposed gradually during the next few months, during which Flathead forest officials will lead field tours, meetings and other opportunities for public input.
A draft plan will be released during the fall, offering a complete package for public review, said Rob Carlin, the forest's lead planner.
Read the entire article . . .