The Canadian government hopes to sell some large coal tracts northwest of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, with assurances the deal won’t affect the North Fork of the Flathead River in Montana.
But the deal could mean increased pollution coming down the Elk River drainage into Montana’s Lake Koocanusa, which is already seeing selenium damage from coal mines in British Columbia. A March study by researchers at the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station found selenium levels exceeding both British Columbia and U.S. environmental safety standards, follow this link to know more info.
The larger of the two sites, measuring 44,500 acres, includes three headwaters streams of the Flathead.
In 2010, the British Columbia provincial government and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed an agreement forgoing energy and mineral development on the transboundary Flathead River drainage. Canadian authorities pledged the coal deal would not include the Flathead headwaters.
A U.S. House natural resources subcommittee is set to hear the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 on Thursday, barring a government shutdown on Monday night. The bill, which Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., authored in the Senate to memorialize the BC-Montana agreement, has been picked up by Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., in the House.
The Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources announced its plan to sell the property at the end of August, although several Canadian environmental groups said they only publicized the decision last week.
“We were caught a little bit off guard,” said Peter Wood of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society in Vancouver, B.C. “The announcement says the Flathead component of the blocks would be not sold, but it’s ambiguous what that looks like.”
According to Ministry of Natural Resources spokesman David Provencher, the Canadian government got the property in 1905 as part of the construction of Crows Nest Pass railroad, which links British Columbia and Alberta. The federal government has been reviewing its assets to see which ones have the best value for taxpayers, Provencher said in a written statement.
“(The review) also examines opportunities for transferring assets to the private sector where there is no ongoing rationale for public ownership and where the potential exists to stimulate private investment and economic activity,” Provencher wrote. “As a result of this process, the government is considering a sale of portions of the DCB.“
The blocks reportedly contain upwards of a half-trillion dollars worth of coal. Unlike the electricity-producing coal of Montana and Wyoming fields, the Dominion Coal Blocks hold a type necessary for producing steel and other metal-smelting processes.
A coalition of Canadian conservation groups has been seeking support for a national park or wildlife management area covering much of the Flathead drainage north of Glacier National Park. While the coal lands are outside that park area, coalition members worried development there would hurt the region’s chance of maintaining ecological value.
“We remain concerned that coal extraction adjacent to the Flathead will jeopardize connectivity in the longest remaining wildlife corridor on the continent,” said Wendy Francis of the Yukon to Yellowstone Conservation Initiative.
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