From the Monday, March 26, 2007 online edition of The Globe and Mail . . .

When Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was established in 1934 it symbolized the “peace and friendship” that existed between Canada and the United States as the two countries united to protect some of North America’s greatest Rocky Mountain wilderness.

Now, some 73 years later, the world’s first international peace park has turned into a battleground as Montana and British Columbia fight over a proposed open-pit coal mine on the headwaters of the Flathead River, just outside the international park boundaries.

In a letter to federal Environment Minister John Baird, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is requesting a review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act saying he has failed to get agreements from B.C. to adequately protect the Flathead River.

“This is an amazing development,” Bob Peart, a strategic adviser to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Committee, said yesterday.

“It’s never happened before in Canadian history that a foreign state has demanded an assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. I think this just shows you how seriously the U.S. is taking this threat. Montana’s governor is reaching out and saying the Flathead is really, really serious business.”

Read the entire article . . .