Tag Archives: Canadian Flathead

UN scientists call for end to mining in Canadian Flathead

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This week’s Hungry Horse News has a decent write-up on the UN World Heritage Committee scientific mission report on threats to Waterton-Glacier Park . . .

Scientists from the United Nations are calling for a moratorium on mining in the Canadian Flathead, just north of Glacier National Park.

Last fall Paul Dingwall, a New Zealand scientist with the World Conservation Union and the World Wide Fund for Nature, and Keshore Rao, deputy director of the United Nation’s World Heritage Center, toured Glacier and Waterton Parks as well as the Canadian Flathead. They wanted to see for themselves the potential impacts of proposed coal, coal bed methane and gold mines in Canada on the Park.

“Their basic conclusion is they have no doubt that mining is incompatible,” with the park, said Stephen Morris, chief of international affairs for the National Parks Service.

Read the entire article . . .

Canadian press coverage of UN report on mining threats to Waterton-Glacier

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Canadian press coverage of the World Heritage scientific mission report on threats to Waterton-Glacier Park is a bit more thorough than the articles posted in local papers. Not surprising, since the report primarily targets proposed resource extraction activities in the Canadian Flathead.

Here are a couple examples. Both are recommended reading for anyone interested in this issue.

From the Vancouver Sun . . .

A United Nations report has recommended a moratorium on mining in the controversial Flathead Valley of southeastern B.C. and development of a comprehensive transboundary conservation and wildlife management plan for the area, a U.S. official revealed Thursday.

Stephen Morris, chief of international affairs for the National Park Service, said in an interview from Washington, D.C., that he has received a copy of a fact-finding mission report by two UN world heritage representatives who visited the area in September.

Read the entire article . . .

And from the Lethbridge Herald . . .

No mining activity in the Flathead Valley is safe mining activity when it comes to protecting the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, suggests a UNESCO report now in the hands of federal government officials in Canada and the U.S.

“I don’t want to get into too much of the detail, but the overriding recommendation is that in the view of the mission, they see mining in the Flathead watershed as creating unacceptable impacts on the outstanding universal value of the World Heritage Site, and they don’t think there’s a compromise position,” said Stephen Morris, head of the international affairs office for the U.S. National Park Service.

Read the entire article . . .

UN scientists urge stop to mining near Glacier National Park

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Today’s Missoulian has more information on the report by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee scientific mission regarding threats to Waterton-Glacier Park . . .

An international team of UNESCO scientists has recommended a moratorium on mining north of Glacier National Park, a conclusion that echoes the longstanding sentiment of locals on both sides of the border.

“Their conclusions were very sweeping,” said Stephen Morris, “in that there is no possibility whatsoever of proceeding with mining in the Canadian Flathead without having substantial impacts on the World Heritage Site.”

Read the entire article . . .

UN world heritage team report recommends moratorium on Flathead mining

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Although not yet officially published, the report of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee scientific mission sent last September to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier Park is in circulation.

The Associated Press broke the story . . .

U.N. scientists have recommended a moratorium on mining in British Columbia’s Flathead Valley and the creation of a conservation plan for the remote region spanning the United States-Canada border, a U.S. official said Thursday.

Several companies have announced plans to extract coal, natural gas and gold within the Canadian stretch of the valley, which is near Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park and Montana’s Glacier National Park.

But the call for curbs on mining is likely to increase international pressure on Canada to put those plans on hold.

Read the entire article . . .

Ninth World Wildlife Congress addresses Transboundary Flathead threats

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Here’s an item your friendly web-weenie meant to post earlier. Alas, the press of business sometimes interferes with such things…

The resource development threats to the Canadian Flathead, and the Trans-boundary Flathead in general, have become a bit of a cause célèbre. Enough so, that they were a significant point of concern at the 9th World Wilderness Congress (“Wild9”) held in Merida, Mexico last month. The World Wilderness Congress is not some annual meet-and-greet; it’s a major international event. The one in Merida was only the ninth such meeting since 1977.

Two items from Wild9 are of particular interest to efforts to protect the Transboundary Flathead.

The first is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on “Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.” According to an announcement sent out by Dave Hadden of Headwaters Montana, “The MOU establishes a voluntary framework for cooperation and coordination of parks and wilderness areas important for conserving wildlife of all three nations. Further, the MOU establishes a fresh, new benchmark for transboundary cooperation and provides an excellent opportunity for Canada and the U.S. to apply the principals of the MOU to finding a solution the Transboundary Flathead.” National Geographic has a good write-up on the provisions of the MOU.

Wild9 delegates also passed a resolution targeted specifically at the Canadian Flathead. Again, letting Dave do most of the work: “Wild 9 delegates unanimously passed ‘Resolution 5‘ calling for ‘the Governments of Canada and British Columbia to take action for the protection of the Flathead River Valley and wildlife connectivity in Canada’s Southern Rocky Mountains’.”

Significant gold find in Canadian Flathead, just north of Glacier Park

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Yet another potential threat to the Transboundary Flathead: The Missoulian reports that significant gold deposits have been discovered at the Crowsnest field in the Canadian Flathead, about 10 miles north of the border . . .

A Canadian mining company, digging for gold just north of Glacier National Park, has discovered a significant deposit, and that has Montana interests worried about upstream development.

Max Resource Corp. spent much of last summer drilling sample holes about 10 miles north of the Montana border, on a ridge clearly visible from Glacier Park. The company recently announced that at least some of those samples are rich in gold…

Read the entire article . . .

Follow-up: UNESCO scientific mission to Waterton-Glacier Park

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Although the Missoulian posted some initial coverage of last month’s visit by a U.N. scientific delegation investigating mining and other resource development threats to Waterton-Glacier Park, the only local paper that paid significant attention to the subject was the Hungry Horse News — a fact that slipped past your friendly webweenie.

Herewith are lead-ins and links to the articles published by the Hungry Horse News.

From the September 24th edition . . .

U.N. scientists: Glacier on ‘pedestal’

Two scientists from the United Nations are touring the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and the Canadian Flathead to see for themselves the potential impacts of proposed mines in the region.

“We plan to consult as widely as possible with all stakeholders,” said Paul Dingwall, a New Zealand scientist with the World Conservation Union and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Dingwall and Keshore Rao, deputy director of the United Nation’s World Heritage Center, spent most of Monday holed up in Glacier Park’s community building, hearing report after report about the Park and its native flora and fauna.

Read the entire article . . .

From the October 7th edition . . .

Scientists here say they made an impression on U.N.

After a solid week of meetings and tours, American scientists and conservationists feel good about their recent visit with a delegation from the United Nations.

Read the entire article . . .

B.C. mining proposals threaten U.S. environmental jewel, enviros will tell UN

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A Canadian Press article posted yesterday evening . . .

Environmentalists say a natural treasure in the United States is threatened by proposed coal and gold mining in southeastern B.C., and they’ll ask United Nations environmental experts later this week to put some pressure on the province to stop the developments.

The UN environmental experts are currently in Montana gathering information about the potential damage B.C. mining proposals could inflict upon Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in that state, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Biosphere Reserve.

Read the entire article . . .

U.N. scientists assess mining threats to Waterton-Glacier Park

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We’re starting to see more complete news coverage of this week’s visit by a U.N. scientific delegation investigating mining and other resource development threats to Waterton-Glacier Park.

The Missoulian posted an excellent article on the first day’s activities very early this morning. Here’s the lead-in . . .

A team of scientists from the United Nations is visiting Glacier National Park, assessing potential threats posed by mining plans in Canadian wildlands upstream of the park.

Glacier, in partnership with adjacent Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, was named a World Heritage Site in 1995; that UNESCO designation recognizes the area’s spectacular natural resources, including its diversity of wildlife and its role as a “biological crossroads.

But several Canadian companies are interested in resources that lie just beyond the two park boundaries – namely coal, gold and coalbed methane. British Columbia’s provincial government already has granted exploration permits in the Canadian Flathead River drainage, which flows south into Montana to form Glacier Park’s western boundary.

Read the entire article . . .

UN officials to visit Glacier Park this week — no details yet

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A UN delegation is scheduled to visit Glacier National Park this week and locations in  the Canadian Flathead as part of UNESCO’s investigation into threats to Waterton-Glacier Park posed by coal mining and other proposed extractive activities. So far, the only recent news is a short, uninformative AP article.

No further information yet. We’ll post coverage as it becomes available.