North Fork fifth on endangered list

An "indefinite opportunity" for coal mining and other resource development in Canada has put the North Fork Flathead River on a list of the nation's 10 most endangered rivers.

American Rivers, the country's leading river conservation organization, ranks the North Fork fifth on its 2009 list.

"Being named as one of American's Most Endangered Rivers is not an end for the river, but rather a beginning," said American Rivers President Rebecca Wodder. "With the listing comes a national spotlight and action from thousands of citizens across the country. These 10 rivers have a chance to be reborn and to serve as models for other rivers all across America."

While the North Fork has protections with a federal Wild and Scenic River designation and by virtue of it being the western boundary of Glacier National Park, the river has persistent threats north of the border in Canada.

"In the United States, the North Fork is one of the best-protected watersheds in the country," American Rivers stated in a press release. "But the river system remains unprotected where it originates in British Columbia, and mining and industrial coal development proposals threaten the entire river downstream."

The National Parks Conservation Association organized a teleconference Monday with experts who have been monitoring the North Fork and its threats.

Erin Sexton, a researcher with the University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station, said the most prominent threat is the pursuit of a mountain-top removal mine by Canada's Cline Mining Corp.

"The Cline Mine is still on the table," Sexton said, adding that the company is engaged in an environmental review process and it is in a "pre-application" phase of permitting with the British Columbia provincial government.

British Petroleum has a 'very active" exploration program for coal-bed

methane development in the headwaters of the North Fork, and there are exploration activities for gold and phosphate just north of the border.

Casey Brennan, a resident of Fernie, B.C., and a board member with the transboundary watchdog group the Flathead Coalition, explained that even though there are no mining projects on the verge of breaking ground, there is an "indefinite opportunity" for those types of projects to take shape.

Ric Hauer, a professor with the Biological Station, said that without changes in British Columbia land-use policies, the threat of development will "keep cycling and recycling" over time.

"So the [American Rivers' listing, from an awareness standpoint, is extremely important to keep in front of people and let them know that it isn't going away," Hauer said. Protections are needed for the North Fork river in Canada "or we're going to be facing something else again in another 20 years."

Hauer has led efforts to collect baseline data on ecological conditions in the drainage for the last few years.

That research has resulted in findings that conflict with biological work north of the border that has been financed by companies pursuing development in the drainage.

Sexton said Cline Mining did some field work, finding that there were no fish species or quality habitat in Foisey Creek, one of the headwater tributaries that would be directly impacted by the company's mining plans.

But Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists came up with entirely different results, finding westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout and sculpin spawning in the same tributary.

The state biologists also have determined that bull trout and cutthroats that spawn in Foisey Creek and other British Columbia tributaries spend much of their lives in Montana waters.

Brennan noted that with recent budget cuts in the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, the province lacks the ability to carry out any work that is comparable to what has been done by Montana researchers.

But the Biological Station's efforts suffered a setback this year, when a Congressional appropriations committee declined to provide continuing funding for 2009.

He said he was hopeful the American Rivers listing would help raise the North Fork's profile in a way that would result in research funding next year.

American River's top 10 list of the country's most endangered rivers, in order, are: The Sacramento-San Joaquin river system in California; Georgia's Flint River; the Lower Snake River in Washington, Oregon and Idaho; Maryland's Mattawoman Creek; Montana's North Fork Flathead River; South Carolina's Saluda River; Pennsylvania's Laurel Hill Creek; Alaska's Beaver Creek; the Pascagoula River in Mississippi; and the Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com