Tag Archives: Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

What the trout tell us

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Dan Testa has an excellent piece in the Flathead Beacon discussing trout studies in the North Fork — on both sides of the border — and the general importance of this sort of baseline study in connection with the upcoming UNESCO scientific mission to study threats to Waterton-Glacier Park.

Here’s a sampler . . .

The research of these scientists is likely to be heavily relied upon by members of a United Nations fact-finding mission arriving in the region some time in the next year to determine whether Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park should be designated a “World Heritage Site in Danger.” The unanimous June vote in Seville, Spain, by a 21-country panel of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) could mean widespread attention will once again be drawn to the issue of threats from mining and drilling operations in southeastern British Columbia along the headwaters of the North Fork, which serves as the western boundary of Glacier National Park.

Read the entire article . . .

International scientists to visit Flathead to investigate Peace Park threats

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The “Montana’s News Station” web site, which includes KPAX-TV in Missoula and KAJ in Kalispell, posted a short report on the planned World Heritage Committee investigation into threats to Waterton-Glacier Park . . .

International scientists will visit the Flathead Valley in the fall to investigate potential threats to Waterton Glacier International Peace Park from mining proposals in southern British Columbia.

Eleven environmental groups in the United States and Canada asked the World Heritage Committee to declare the world’s first peace park in danger.

Conservationists say the overall goal is not to have Waterton Glacier listed as in danger, but to work with Canada and British Columbia to develop a long term solution to protect the peace park.

Read the entire story . . .

Coal mine threat to Glacier draws UN attention

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Here’s this week’s Hungry Horse News write-up on UNESCO’s investigation of threats to Waterton-Glacier Park . . .

A United Nations delegation will travel to Glacier National Park and the North Fork to see for itself the threats of mining and coal bed methane development could have on the Park.

Meeting in Spain last week the 21-member United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee voted unanimously to send a mission to Waterton-Glacier and the Canadian Flathead.

Read the entire article . . .

Canadian press posts coverage of World Heritage Committee investigation

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The Vancouver Sun has a couple of pieces up on the decision by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier Park. There is a basic heads-up article and a short pictorial.

The Tyee also has a pretty decent write-up with some handy links to related material.

There’s an AP/Canadian Press article making the rounds, too. But, at this point, it is essentially a light edit of the original press release.

Missoulian picks up UNESCO Waterton-Glacier investigation story

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From a “Breaking News” post in today’s online edition of the Missoulian . . .

UNESCO will send a mission to Canada to judge for itself the threat posed by a planned Canadian coal mine to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

The group’s World Heritage Commission, meeting in Seville, Spain, voted Friday to send the delegation, and also requested a report from the United States and Canada on the potential dangers.

Read the entire article . . .

Word spreads about UNESCO Waterton-Glacier investigation

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The Flathead Beacon has picked up on the story about the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s decision to send a delegation to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier Park. Here’s the lead-in from a nicely written article by Dan Testa . . .

The United Nations plans to send a fact-finding mission to Canada to investigate environmental threats to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park due to proposed coal and energy mining activity in the area.

Representatives of U.S. and Canadian conservation groups opposed to mining activity that could harm the water quality and wildlife of the Flathead River Valley are in Seville, Spain, this week for a meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), petitioning to have Waterton-Glacier declared a “World Heritage Site in Danger.”

By a unanimous vote, the 21-country panel that governs those issues decided Friday to send a mission to the region to “evaluate and provide recommendations on the requirements for ensuring the protection” of Waterton-Glacier…

Read the entire article . . .

Threats to BC’s Flathead River Valley trigger World Heritage Committee investigation

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According to the Waterton-Glacier in Danger web log, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has voted unanimously to send a delegation to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier Park posed by resource development activities.

Here’s the lead-in from the press release. See the Waterton-Glacier in Danger site for details and breaking news . . .

Seville, Spain–UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee voted today to send a fact-finding mission to Canada to investigate threats to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park posed by energy and mining proposals in BC’s adjacent Flathead River Valley.

The 21-member committee voted unanimously for a 2009 World Heritage Centre mission that will “evaluate and provide recommendations on the requirements for ensuring the protection” of Waterton-Glacier, citing concern about the threats that potential mining and energy development within the Flathead Valley would have on water and ecosystem connectivity. It asked Canada and the US to work together to prepare a report–by February 1, 2010– that examines all Flathead River Valley energy and mining proposals and their cumulative impacts.

Read the full press release . . .

World Heritage Committee draft resolution on Waterton-Glacier posted

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Today’s post on the Waterton-Glacier Endangered web log includes information on the UN World Heritage Committee draft resolution concerning the dangers posed to Waterton and Glacier parks by resource extraction in the Flathead headwaters region — the proposed Cline Mine, in particular. According to the posting, the first draft of the resolution does not explicitly call for placing Waterton-Glacier Park on the list of “Endangered World Heritage Sites,” nor does it yet address any indigenous concerns, including those views expressed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The UN World Heritage Committee meeting in Seville, Spain runs through June 30th. The schedule document is more than a little opaque, so it is not clear when the resolution on Waterton-Glacier will come up for a final vote.

Mines prompt international call for help from Glacier, Waterton national parks

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From today’s online edition of the Missoulian . . .

The state of conservation at two Northern Rockies national parks near a place eyed for possible coal mining will be reviewed by a UNESCO committee meeting in Spain this week.

Groups that say Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, consisting of a U.S. park and a Canadian park, is at risk hope the meeting in Seville, Spain, will bring their concern some global attention. They’ve petitioned UNESCO to declare the peace park endangered. But a lawmaker in the Canadian province of Alberta rejects any suggestion that coal mining or other industry threatens environmental quality in a slice of North America known for stunning alpine scenery and extraordinary wildlife habitat.

Read the entire article . . .

Also note that there’s still a chance to have your voice heard. The National Parks Conservation Association has an online form for sending letters to officials in the US and Canada, as well as the UN World Heritage Committee.