From the Thursday, January 3, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

About $886,000 in funding was secured by U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester to fully study the environmental impact of proposed mines in the Canadian Flathead.

There are several proposals for mining the region. Cline Mining Corp. has plans for a mine that would basically take the top off a mountain in the Foisey Creek drainage, a tributary in the North Fork’s headwaters. British Petroleum has a project for coal bed methane extraction in Crowsnest Coal Field. That field drains into the North Fork as well. There have also been proposals for phosphate mining much closer to Glacier Park’s northern boundary.

This funding will create baseline data of the region as it now exists. Scientists will be looking at water quality, aquatic insect life, fisheries and large mammals, including grizzly bears and other carnivore species.

“The potential for environmental catastrophe in Southeast British Columbia is really high,” Richard Hauer of the Flathead Lake Biological Station said.

Read the entire article . . .