A welcome victory for Flathead

The apparent abandonment of coalbed methane development in the Canadian Flathead should be considered a huge victory for Montana.

British Petroleum announced last week that it would not be pursuing gas development in the drainage, and most importantly, the British Columbia provincial government has chosen the same course.

A provincial official said the Flathead was not included as part of the tenure referral granted to BP last week: "The province recognizes the environmental sensitivity of the Flathead area and has not included this area in the tenure referral."

That's big news, because it suggests for the first time a more permanent view of the Canadian Flathead as a natural resource worth protecting.

It's one thing for a big company to withdraw its plans to avoid political headaches, but it's another thing for the province to do so. Montana's elected leaders have maintained that the Canadian Flathead is a rarity that should be protected from industrial development so that Montana isn't having to drum up a fight over new mining proposals every few years.

The province's exclusion of the Flathead from the BP tenure referral signals a changing view of the basin. Nothing's written in stone, of course, but how likely is it now that another big company will come along with plans to drill for methane in the Canadian Flathead?

The drainage is exceptional, with waters flowing south in Montana's North Fork Flathead River, spawning tributaries used by Montana fish, and rich habitat for grizzly bears and other wildlife in close proximity to Glacier National Park.

Those attributes remain intact largely because the Canadian Flathead is extremely remote - accessible only by long and dodgy dirt roads.

We are certain those conditions would change profoundly if just one coal or methane project were to proceed. If roads were upgraded and other infrastructure were developed, it is very likely that other extraction projects would follow, with accumulating environmental consequences flowing south into Montana.

This week's developments don't put an end to concerns about transboundary impacts from Canadian resource development, but they should be appreciated by Montanans nonetheless.

The credit for this victory cannot be given to any one individual or group. Surely, the governor and members of the congressional delegation all played a role, as well as concerned citizens, scientists and others. It is one more indication that the public trust is best served when the public gets involved.