Flathead Lakers to celebrate ban on mining

The Flathead Lakers will present their annual Stewardship Award to Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell at their annual meeting on July 15. 

The award will recognize the landmark agreement the two leaders signed in February banning mining and oil-and-gas development in the North Fork Flathead watershed, headwaters to Flathead Lake.

According to a news release, during the past three decades, the Flathead Lakers, along with countless citizens, public officials, scientists and organizations, have staunchly defended Flathead waters from the threat of upstream coal development proposals in B.C. 

Schweitzer will present the keynote address on the agreement and the beginning of a new era of transboundary cooperation on resource management.

Flathead Lake Biological Station Director Dr. Jack Stanford will present the annual State of the Lake report.

The Lakers’ board of directors invites the public to come learn more about Flathead waters and what the organization is doing to protect Flathead Lake.

The program will begin at 6 p.m. at the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station at Yellow Bay. 

A social time precedes the meeting, beginning at 5:15 p.m., with hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. For more information, contact the Lakers office at 883-1346.

The Flathead Lakers is a nonprofit organization working for clean water, healthy ecosystems and lasting quality of life in the Flathead watershed.