Tag Archives: North Fork Watershed Protection Act

Rob Breeding: Protecting the North Fork

Commentary,

Rob Breeding favors the North Fork Watershed Protection Act. He also likes visiting the North Fork, especially the part where he catches fish . . .

I read about the North Fork long before I visited. This was back in the early 1990s, soon after I’d moved to Montana. Newspaper accounts painted a picture of a wild place filled with interloping Canadian wolves, grizzly bears and unwashed hippies occupying Polebridge.

It sounded amazing.

Still, it was more than a decade before I made it to the North Fork, visiting for the first time shortly after I returned to Montana following a two-state sojourn living away. It was just a drive-by, a Sunday afternoon loop with the family up to West Glacier, then back to the valley via Camas Bridge and the North Fork Road. I remember looking down at the water on that drive and thinking I needed to be there. I needed to be on that river.

I now know well the spot that inspired my reverie…

Read more . . .

Frank Vitale: Daines not a conservation hero

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

Long-time NFPA member Frank Vitale has a few things to say about Congeressman Steve Daines’ rather uneven support for conservation issues. This letter to the editor was published in this week’s Hungry Horse News and is also scheduled to appear in a number of other papers.

While I feel Congressman Steve Daines’ introduction of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 is a great step forward, let’s not frame him as a conservation hero. With his political ambitions it would be political suicide if he didn’t support protection of the North Fork.

But let’s look at his overall conservation track record. First of all, he has dragged his feet on supporting one of the largest and most important pieces of conservation legislation in decades: The Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act. Rather than getting behind this broad-based, made-in-Montana collaborative he stands to be the biggest spoiler. The Heritage Act is a plan that’s truly citizen based and represents many stakeholders. Support for its protection has been overwhelming. The Front also has some of the wildest country left in the lower 48. Under the Act most traditional uses will remain intact while protecting the most incredible landscapes and diverse ecosystems in Montana.

Then, Steve Daines introduces House Bill HR1526 that would probably make even most folks in the timber industry cringe. He basically throws the collaborative process out the window. His bill would impose mandatory timber targets for the Forest Service. This takes us back to the dark ages – when collaboration was nonexistent – back to the days of the timber wars of the 1970’s and ’80’s.

So is Steve Daines a conservation hero? I hardly think so. The North Fork Watershed Protection Act – while good – is also an easy bone to throw at the conservation community.

Frank Vitale

North Fork Watershed Protection Act passes U.S. House

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

Well, now. The North Fork Watershed Protection Act just passed the U.S. House this afternoon . . .

The House of Representatives passed the North Fork Watershed Protection Act by voice vote on Tuesday afternoon, passing the issue back to the Senate for final approval.

Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told his colleagues the bill was the first landscape protection act in nearly 30 years to get support from the whole state congressional delegation. Senators Jon Tester and John Walsh, both Democrats, have also pushed it on their side of the Capitol.

“Sen. Max Baucus began working on this bill since his very first year in Congress, in 1974,” Daines said of the state’s former senior senator, who retired in February. “I’m proud to be part of the effort to get it done and across the finish line.”

Read more . . .

Further reading: North Fork Watershed Protection Act Passes U.S. House (Flathead Beacon)

Lex Blood: North Fork watershed protection moving closer

Commentary,

Lex Blood has an op-ed in the Hungry Horse News this week praising the progress in pushing the North Fork Watershed Protection Act towards passage . . .

After four decades of collaborative effort, protection of the watershed of the North Fork of the Flathead River from mineral or energy development is almost a reality.

On June 5, 2013, Congressman Steve Daines introduced the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 to our nation’s House of Representatives and made a commitment to “lead the charge” to pass the bill.

“It’s important that we work together to protect these valuable resources so that future generations can enjoy them for years to come,” he said. “I’m glad to be part of this important bi-partisan effort.”

Read more . . .

MTPR radio does segment on North Fork Watershed Protection Act

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

MTPR radio did a segment yesterday morning on the North Fork Watershed Protection Act, including a brief interview with Michael Jamison of the NPCA . . .

A major element for protection of the North Fork Flathead River Valley moved forward this week. Representative Steve Daines announced a bill that retires many oil and gas leases in the area unanimously passed the House Natural Resources Committee. The North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 would restrict new mineral development in the North Fork of the Flathead.

This House bill mirrors one introduced by Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus.

Glacier Program Manager Michael Jamison with the National Parks Conservation Association said the issue was taken up by Senator Baucus when he was first in office, in the late 1970’s. At the time there were several proposals for mountain-top-removal coal mines in the Canadian Flathead.

Read more/listen to the segment . . .

North Fork Watershed Protection Act clears House panel

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Here is the Daily Inter Lake’s write-up on the North Fork Watershed Protection Act’s progress through the U.S. House . . .

A bill aimed at protecting national forest lands west of Glacier National Park cleared a key House Committee Tuesday, drawing praise from local supporters.

Known as the North Fork Watershed Protection Act and sponsored by U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., the bill would withdraw 362,000 acres of public lands from future oil and gas leasing and development, hard-rock mining and geothermal development.

Similar legislation sponsored by Montana Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester has been advancing in the Senate.

“The North Fork bill is a great example of people of all walks of alife coming together and developing local solutions for public lands issues,” said Chris Schustrom of the Flathead Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited. “This bill will help ensure that traditional land uses and fish and wildlife habitat in the valley are protected in perpetuity.”

Read more . . .

North Fork Watershed Protection Act gets past House Natural Resources Committee without opposition

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

The House version of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act easily passed its first hurdle this morning . . .

Legislation to protect the North Fork of the Flathead River from energy development passed a crucial congressional milestone early Tuesday morning.

The House Natural Resources Committee approved its version of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act without opposition, according to Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., authored the measure and got it passed through the Senate Natural Resources Committee last June. That puts the bill in position for votes by both chambers.

“The North Fork is widely treasured as a precious corner of our state, a place where we harvest timber, we hunt and fish, and lead trips into the adjacent Glacier National Park,” Daines said in an email statement on Tuesday. “The local community wants to continue using this watershed of the river to benefit their local economy – which is largely outdoor recreation based.”

Read more . . .

Baucus praises Teck Resources’ conservation efforts near North Fork

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus had nice things to say about Teck Resources’ conservation efforts in the Canadian Flathead and continued his push to pass the North Fork Watershed Protection Act . . .

Last week Canadian mining giant Teck Resources announced its plans to purchase nearly 28 square miles of private land north of Glacier National Park to protect fish and wildlife habitat.

The deal surfaced as Montana’s representatives on Capitol Hill keep pushing for federal legislation formally protecting the Flathead watershed, primarily the North Fork Flathead River basin.

In 2010, former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and former British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell signed a memorandum of understanding that prohibited new energy development on the North Fork, agreeing to bar mining, oil and gas development and coalbed gas extraction in B.C.’s portion of the Flathead Valley. The B.C. government in 2011 passed the Flathead Watershed Conservation Act, which bans mining and oil and gas activity in the B.C. Flathead.

Actual legislation supporting the 2010 agreement has yet to emerge on the U.S. side though.

Read more . . .

North Fork watershed protection bill gets warm reception in U.S. House

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Hearings in the U.S. House of representatives on the North Fork Watershed Protection Act are going well . . .

A bipartisan bill to protect the North Fork of the Flathead River from mining and energy development got a warm reception in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday.

Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., presented his version of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act to the House Natural Resources Committee, along with Whitefish City Councilman John Anderson. The bill is a companion of legislation by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., that passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in June.

A spokesman from Stoltze Lumber Co. was unable to make Thursday’s hearing in person, but Daines testified to a list of other backers that included the Montana Logging Association, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Citizens for Balanced Use, the Wilderness Society and ConocoPhillips.

Read more . . .

Whitefish city councilman testifies for North Fork watershed bill

Environmental Issues, News, ,

John Anderson, a Whitefish city councilman, testified this week in favor of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act . . .

A councilman from Whitefish implored House lawmakers Thursday to support legislation to protect the North Fork Watershed and Flathead River…

Anderson said it’s important to preserve such areas so he and other Montanans can enjoy the wilderness.

He noted that Whitefish gets its drinking water from mountain streams that run through the watershed…

Read more . . .