From the Thursday, January 3, 2008 edition of The Tyee, an online daily based in British Columbia. This is part two of two. The first part (see below) deals with resource extraction threats to the Canadian Flathead . . .

The section of the Rocky Mountains that straddles the Canada-U.S. border has long been recognized as a region of outstanding biological diversity, often referred to as the Crown of the Continent ecosystem. But few British Columbians realize that their province owns a share of this treasure in the form of the little-known Flathead Valley.

In recognition of the Crown of the Continent’s natural beauty and abundant wildlife, Waterton Lakes National Park was established in Alberta’s southern Rockies in 1895. Fifteen years later, the Americans created Glacier National Park next door in northern Montana. In 1932, the two parks were honoured as the world’s first international peace park.

In 1995, UNESCO designated Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park a World Heritage Site. But it noted that the adjoining section of British Columbia’s Flathead Valley was “a missing element,” and recommended that the site boundaries eventually be expanded to include it.

This was not a new idea. Waterton’s first superintendent, John George “Kootenai” Brown, wrote in 1911: “It seems advisable to greatly enlarge this park . . . it might be well to have a preserve and breeding grounds in conjunction with the United States Glacier Park.” Others also espoused this idea throughout the following decades, all without success.

Read the entire article . . .