From the Friday, February 22, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

A controversial plan to extract coal-bed methane from the Canadian wilds north of Glacier National Park was scuttled Thursday, a surprise turnaround that drew praise from many downstream Montanans.

“I’m very, very happy,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. “This is good news.”

Baucus and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., had scheduled a town hall meeting in Kalispell to discuss coal and coal-bed methane proposals north of the border; neither expected to make any substantive announcements.
But hours before the event, the senator received a call from Bob Malone, chairman and president of BP America Inc. That company was pursuing the right to explore for gas across some 200 square miles of British Columbia, just north of the Montana line.

“He said they have definitely decided not to proceed with coal-bed methane development in the North Fork of the Flathead,” Baucus said. The company will, however, continue to pursue coal-bed methane in the adjacent Elk River Valley, which drains into Montana’s Koocanusa Reservoir.

BP spokeswoman Anita Perry confirmed that news, saying that “the Flathead is no longer on the table, and we’re fine with the decision that’s been made. We heard people’s concerns, and we no longer have any plans for the Canadian Flathead.”

Read the entire article . . .