Transboundary Coal Threats 

North Fork Victory: B.C. and Montana ban mining

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 the British Columbia headwaters of the Flathead River. All of that work paid off when B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Governor Brian Schweitzer signed a landmark agreement banning mining in the North Fork Flathead Watershed in February, 2010.

This is a tremendous achievement for the future of Flathead Lake and the North Fork. The Flathead Lakers are grateful to Premier Campbell and Governor Schweitzer and everyone who worked so long and hard for this result. We are delighted that Montana and B.C. are entering a new era of transboundary cooperation to sustain the qualities that make the Flathead a special place.

The agreement affirms the UNESCO science team’s recommendation for a moratorium on mining in the North Fork Watershed to protect the remarkable natural amenities of the Waterton-Glacier Peace Park, a World Heritage Site. It fulfills the 1988 International Joint Commission recommendation against coal mining in the North Fork. And it corroborates what those of us who live, work and play in the Flathead have long known, that the headwaters of the Flathead River and Flathead Lake are no place for mining.