Senators Baucus and Tester seek North Fork protection

Editor's note: Sens. Baucus and Tester recently wrote to the Bush administration about coal mining projects in Canada.

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State

The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior

Dear Secretaries Rice and Kempthorne:

In 1995, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization inscribed Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park as a World Heritage Site. This designation came nearly 20 years after Canada's Waterton National Park and Glacier National Park in the United States were both designated as UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. The international park is the "Crown of the Continent," and a shining example of the international effort to protect an important global landmark.

As Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park celebrates its 75th Anniversary, proposals to develop mineral resources in Canada are threatening its legacy of international conservation.

The Cline Mining Co. and British Petroleum are currently pursuing a coal-mining project and a coal bed methane project, respectively, in the headwaters of the Flathead River in British Columbia. These industrial efforts promise to endanger a valuable conservation legacy downstream in Montana, and threaten to undercut the decades-long international movement towards protecting sites important to cultural and natural heritage from irresponsible development.

The convention concerning the protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage that UNESCO members adopted in 1972 provided a means by which a UNESCO World Heritage site could be named to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Addition to this list requires that the danger to the site be "serious and specific," and that it fit one of a number of criteria, including, but not limited to "the threat of disappearance caused by accelerated deterioration, large-scale public or private projects or rapid urban or tourist development projects."

The minerals extraction proposals in British Columbia will contaminate one of the park's most pristine rivers, destroy the habitat of endangered species, and compromise the natural character that makes the Peace Park a world treasure.

Given these threats, we must ask you to assist us in petitioning the World Heritage Committee to add Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park to the List of World Heritage in Danger so that we can bring international pressure to bear and stop the mining and drilling proposals in their tracks.

Coal mining and coal-bed methane extraction pose multiple and immediate threats to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The North Fork of the Flathead River is one of the most pristine rivers in North America. It forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park and is designated as a Federal Wild and Scenic River in the United States.

Coal mining and coal-bed methane extraction would release contaminants such as nitrates, barium, selenium, and copper into the North Fork of the Flathead River. This area provides invaluable habitat for endangered and threatened species such grizzly bear, lynx, wolverine, gray wolves, and bull trout.

The habitat that supports these species and others is an integral part of the park's importance as a World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve, and is directly threatened by irresponsible upstream mining activities.

These coal mining and coal-bed methane projects, which would be only miles from Glacier Park, also typify the threat global warming poses to the heritage of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The metallurgical coal from the mine would likely be shipped internationally and used in countries with fast growing steel industries like China.

Climate change, for which one of the primary culprits is greenhouse gas emissions from fuels like coal and natural gas, is accelerating the melting of glaciers in the Park. Only 27 glaciers remained in Glacier National Park as of 2005, and scientists estimate that glaciers will disappear entirely from the park by 2030.

Addressing climate change is a shared responsibility and one the United States should, and will, embrace. Coal mining and coal-bed methane extraction near the borders of the park will not only be degrading downstream habitat in the park, but will also be contributing to the rapid deterioration of one of this World Heritage site's most unique natural resources.

While fossil fuels will be a part of the world economy for years to come, they must be developed appropriately. This is impossible to accomplish at the doorstep of a World Heritage Site.

These projects pose an imminent danger. A 1988 report by the International Joint Commission recommended that mining proposals in the North Fork "not receive regulatory approval in the future unless and until it can be demonstrated that the potential transboundary impacts identified in the report of the Flathead River International Study Board have been determined with reasonable certainty and would constitute a level of risk acceptable to both Governments."

This has not occurred. Nevertheless, the permitting process for both of these projects is moving forward. Indeed, the provincial government of British Columbia actively solicited proposals for coal-bed methane development in the North Fork.

This insistence on moving forward in violation of the International Joint Commission's clear findings demonstrates the proximity of the threat.

We appreciate your assistance in adding Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park to the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Park and its abundant natural resources are invaluable additions to the heritage sites that enjoy the protection of UNESCO.

We look forward to working with you to ensure the continued protection of this beautiful place.

Sen. Max Baucus

Sen. Jon Tester