After years of controversy, B.C. to ban mining, energy development in critical headwaters of famed river near Glacier National Park-
I have been worried about this for years, and posted many articles. Every month is seemed a new, massive environmentally destructive scheme was proposed for the North Fork.
Now British Columbia Lt. Gov. Steven Point says the North Fork Flathead River drainage will be off limits to mining and energy extraction in a speech to the B.C. Parliament. Let’s hope the details don’t have loopholes.
British Columbia declares Canadian North Fork off limits to mining, energy development. By Rob Chaney. Missoulian
New article added on 2-11-2010. British Columbia Bans Mining, Drilling in Flathead River Valley. Environment News Service. This article gives additional information efforts to further protect area, something that was raised in the comments.
Photos (with locations)
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14392571
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14315354
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14422009
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14511373
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14392898
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14393086
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14415878
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15215649
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/15216233
Comments
Just coming to post this on here if it had not already been done. This is great news! Thanks for the photos Ralph!
I sent B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell a quick thank you note for this… premier@gov.bc.ca
What a breath of fresh air! Thanks
This is great news. Does anyone know what is happening with the proposed park in this area. It would appear that this would help move that forward. Thanks for the great pictures Ralph.
Wonderful news! There is so much wildlife in the Northfork. Many consider it to be the wildest low elevation area in the lower 48. Predators present are wolverine, wolf, cougar, grizzly, fisher, marten, black bear, badger and numerous raptors. Camas Creek is at 3300 feet! This is not the alpine ice and rock retreat most large predators are restricted to inthe lower 48. Glacier country is indeed special.
Carl,
There is an extremely modest provincial park created by B.C. adjacent to Waterton NP in Alberta and the NW edge of Glacier NP.
It only takes in high rugged country on the Continental Divide, and even then, not much of that.
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/parks/?id=62
http://www.spacesfornature.org/greatspaces/akamina.html. Note that this article briefly discusses efforts to expand the Park.
Thanks Ralph, this is what I had read someting about a while back but couldnot remember the specifics.
Flathead Beacon poll: Should Gill Netting be Allowed to Reduce Lake Trout on Flathead Lake?
In the meantime, native fish are disappearing from the west side of Glacier Park due to the expansion of voracious lake trout from Flathead Lake. 10 of 17 lakes have seen invasions of lake trout. Nine of those have probably already lost their native bull trout populations. Management has relied on fishing pressure to control the lake trout for the last ten years. It has been a dismal failure. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have proposed exploring a pilot proposal to gill net some of the lake trout. There is a lot of opposition from local charter boat operators.
“In just 25 years, lake trout have pretty much replaced bull trout in the park’s western waterways, “and that’s directly related to the invasion of lake trout from downstream. The status quo in Flathead Lake definitely isn’t helping us any.” said Chris Downs, fisheries biologist for GNP.
What we are doing to control lake trout in the basin isn’t working. We need to take the next step sooner rather than later. The netting is part of the 10-year plan, but MTFWP is not willing to anger the charter boat people in a move that will not affect their fishing success one iota.
The damn lake trout are taking over everywhere. I hope folks will respond to this poll, newspaper though it is.
Thanks for the help Ralph. The idea is to get native fish advocates involved early in the process. There will be a full environmental scoping process and we need folks to know just what is at stake. Internet polls are kind of silly, but they do get people thinking.