Praise for the Canadian pact
The news came in a simple one-page press release, but the amount of effort that has gone into protecting the Canadian Flathead from mining has been epic.
British Columbia’s lieutenant governor, Steven Point, announced in a special address this week that “mining, oil and gas development and coalbed gas extraction will not be permitted in British Columbia’s Flathead Valley.”
Those firm words were highly significant, but it turns out there is far more to the provincial government’s position than just words. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer soon after informed us that next week, he will sign a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell in Vancouver that will halt all ongoing exploration and prohibit future resource development in the province’s Flathead Basin.
Schweitzer said it was a “bold move” on Campbell’s part, and that he considers it to be an accomplishment that he is “more proud of” than any other in his time as governor.
He should be. Several governors, Republicans and Democrats, along with other state political leaders, have resisted a variety of mining projects in the Canadian Flathead stretching back to the 1980s.
The worst of the proposals have involved mountaintop-removal coal-mining operations over headwater streams that feed into Montana’s North Fork Flathead River, which flows south along Glacier National Park’s western boundary and into Flathead Lake. Not only did the projects threaten to pollute Montana waters, with impacts on Montana’s fisheries, the associated development that comes with mining would have impacted transboundary populations of wildlife. That’s why there has been stout resistance in Montana as each proposal became known.
But it has been a persistent threat, requiring Montanans to always wonder when the next project would come about. Gradually, and particularly during the last decade, threats to the Canadian Flathead have gained a higher profile in the population and government centers of British Columbia. It’s taken so long because the Canadian Flathead is the most remote and undeveloped part of the province’s southern tier. But it is also a mineral-rich area which would be a temptation for many years to come were not this agreement to be signed.
The Canadians have to be complimented on putting the environment above their financial gain, and Gov. Schweitzer deserves credit for his persistent, gentle persuasion which got the job done.
The Canadian Flathead is finally getting the attention and protection it deserves.