The Flathead Beacon posted a tardy, but well-written article covering both of the North Fork’s recent “endangered river” designations . . .
As the threat of large-scale mining continues to bear down on the headwaters of the Flathead River Basin – and as funding for conservation research hits a snag – Ric Hauer believes the North Fork Flathead River’s recent designation as one of the most endangered rivers in North America arrives with appropriate timing.
Read the entire article . . .
The Hungry Horse News has a nice article about a press conference held at Blankenship to discuss American River’s listing of the North Fork as one of the ten most endangered rivers in the U.S.
Here’s the lead . . .
On a bright blue day at Blankenship black bugs come off the water and land on your head and arms and hat. They would be annoying if they weren’t such a good omen, because these black bugs are no ordinary bugs.
They’re stoneflies and they make their living in the tiny cracks between the rocks of the North Fork of the Flathead River. They’re annoying to us, maybe. But to trout they’re like candy. To trout they’re food staple.
Stoneflies in a river mean it’s clean and pure and unpolluted. Because streams that are polluted have sediments and filth that fill those cracks between the rocks that ultimately choke out the stoneflies entirely.
Put a coal mine along a stream and that’s what gets squeezed out first — the stoneflies from sediment washing into the river…
Read the entire article . . .
Following up on our earlier post about about the North Fork Flathead River making the American Rivers organization’s list of “America’s Most Endangered Rivers,” here’s the Missoulian’s write-up, which includes some additional information . . .
The North Fork Flathead River, a wild waterway forming the western edge of Glacier National Park, has recently been listed as one of the most endangered rivers in North America.
Canadian coal mine proposals and plans for coalbed methane and gold exploration all threaten the North Fork’s headwaters, according to both U.S. and Canadian watchdogs.
“Countries may recognize borders, but rivers don’t, and pollution doesn’t stop at the border,” said Will Hammerquist of the National Parks Conservation Association. His group, along with the Flathead Coalition, recently nominated the North Fork for inclusion in “America’s Most Endangered Rivers.”
Read the entire article . . .
Today’s Daily Inter Lake reports that the North Fork Flathead River ranks fifth on American Rivers’ 2009 list of endangered rivers due to the threats posed by resource development in the Canadian Flathead.
Here’s the lead . . .
An “indefinite opportunity” for coal mining and other resource development in Canada has put the North Fork Flathead River on a list of the nation’s 10 most endangered rivers.
American Rivers, the country’s leading river conservation organization, ranks the North Fork fifth on its 2009 list.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, February 4, 2009 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is closing in on two waterfront land acquisitions with Bonneville Power Administration funding.
A 245-acre parcel of undeveloped land along Foy’s Bend on the Flathead River south of Kalispell is being purchased for just more than $2 million, plus a 53-acre parcel along Hay Creek in the North Fork Flathead River drainage is being purchased for about $400,000.
Environmental reviews for both projects were amended to clarify terms of conservation easements that will be held on both properties by BPA.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Sunday, January 11, 2009 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
The coal was here, hidden by a thin skin of wilderness, long before Rich Moy arrived; and it was still here, against all odds, when he left.
That, he considers, is at least some sort of success, although much more work will be required to keep it there, buried beneath what’s wild.
“In many ways, it’s been a stalemate for 30 years,” Moy said. “We haven’t lost much ground, but we haven’t gained any, either. The Canadian Flathead and the wilderness north of Glacier National Park have been and will be a flashpoint of international controversy.”
When Moy arrived on this backcountry battlefield, nearly three decades ago, the then-new controversy centered on a proposed Canadian coal mine to be built just a few miles north of Glacier Park.
When he finally retired last month, on the last day of 2008, the now-old controversy centered on yet another coal mine proposed in the headwaters, and a second coal mine in the river bottom, and a gold mine, and a phosphate mine, and an ongoing search for coalbed methane.
“In all these decades,” he said, “the British Columbia government has never wavered in its desire to industrialize the Flathead.”
Read the entire article . . .
A new year, a new site banner.
This image was contributed by Oliver Meister of the North Fork Hostel. It shows a view from the river of the back yard of the hostel. The North Fork was frozen over and Oliver walked out onto the ice to get the photo.
Our nice, wintry site banner is provided courtesy of Rachel Potter. This photo was taken on the road to Big Prairie, looking across the North Fork of the Flathead River towards the Whitefish Range.
New West photographer Graham Coppes posted a very nice slideshow of an early Fall float down the North Fork. The link turned up in a post to the Wade Rivers Wild Tramps web log, which has been giving the North Fork a lot of digital ink lately.