Montana officials, were given the bum’s rush in with complaints to the B.C. government about the forthcoming Cline open pit coal mine near Glacier National park inside British Columbia. Governor Schweitzer has taken the matter to the national level in Canada.
Schweitzer is requesting a review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act saying he has failed to get agreements from B.C. to adequately protect the Flathead River. Montana asks Ottawa to review B.C. coal mine. Coal pit endangers river, MT governor warns Story in the Globe and Mail.
What a coal pit mine looks like (1984 photo) in the Canadian Rockies not far from this proposal (about 20 miles north at Sparwood).
My editorial comment is that if President Bush had the smallest amount of respect in other countries, appeals like this would be given more weight. Meanwhile B.C. and Canadian mining companies are trashing America.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
This is especially dangerous. It not only involves possible pollution to the Flathead River, but to Flathead Lake and another 50 miles or so, the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, and further on down it includes Lake Pend O’relle. Both Montana Senators are concerned and working on it also. Let’s hope something works!
I know Senator Baucus went up to Fernie, BC, or a nearby coal mine area, and they treated him badly (according to news reports).
I don’t know if you saw this in the Missoulian: Border mine opposition grows. I haven’t seen anything more recent though. (Hope the link works. I’m new to this site.)
This is an incredibly important issue. Anyone who has been up on the North Fork knows why. This is great country. It’s also at a fairly low elevation compared to most other areas of the rockies (around 4,000 feet).
I spent some time up on the North Fork last year (late summer). I did some exploring and some fly fishing. It is a magnificent river with a good wild population of cutts and bull trout. The lakes in the drainage are as spectacular as it gets, and the terrain diverses. Many biologists refer to this valley as the wildest in the lower 48 due to the high predator density (wolverine, wolf, grizz, fisher, marten, cougar, lynx all stacked in on each other).
Of course there is also the issue of Flathead Lake getting polluted from this plan.