Funding for river study faces hearing

HELENA - Although his original approach didn't get past the committee level, Rep. Doug Cordier, D-Columbia Falls, says funding for continuing study of environmental conditions in the North Fork Flathead River corridor is advancing in another bill.

Cordier initially proposed a bill that would provide $318,000 to the Flathead Basin Commission to be used mostly for continuing "baseline study" of current conditions in the North Fork.

If a coal mine is developed in British Columbia's Flathead, information gathered from the study would help Montana detect and quantify environmental impacts.

The bill was tabled in the House Appropriations Committee, but funding was included in another bill, House Bill 7, that provides grant funding for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which oversees the basin commission.

Cordier said the amount was reduced to about $300,000. House Bill 7 is set for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on Friday.

There was considerable testimony supporting Cordier's initial bill when it was heard in committee.

"We had a lot of people come in from the Flathead and from the North Fork," Cordier said. "It's a big deal. We even had response from the Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce. It's good to see a widespread, grass-roots response."

Cordier noted that House Bill 7 has support from Flathead Republican and Democrat legislators, and for that reason, he's confident the funding will be provided.

Limited studies of water chemistry and other ecological conditions have been under way in the headwaters of the North Fork for the last two years, ever since the Cline Mining Co. proposed an open-pit coal mine above Foisey Creek, a tributary of the Canadian Flathead.

The province is now going through a process of determining the requirements Cline Mining must meet in developing an environmental assessment for the mine.

The project has spurred deep concern in Montana about impacts to wildlife as well as water quality in the North Fork Flathead, the main Flathead River and Flathead Lake.