From water quality to bugs to grizzly bears, the Flathead River will see some intensive study this summer.

By CHRIS PETERSON - Hungry Horse News

About $886,000 in funding was secured by U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester to fully study the environmental impact of proposed mines in the Canadian Flathead.

There are several proposals for mining the region. Cline Mining Corp. has plans for a mine that would basically take the top off a mountain in the Foisey Creek drainage, a tributary in the North Fork s headwaters. British Petroleum has a project for coal bed methane extraction in Crowsnest Coal Field. That field drains into the North Fork as well. There have also been proposals for phosphate mining much closer to Glacier Park s northern boundary.

This funding will create baseline data of the region as it now exists. Scientists will be looking at water quality, aquatic insect life, fisheries and large mammals, including grizzly bears and other carnivore species.

The potential for environmental catastrophe in Southeast British Columbia is really high, Richard Hauer of the Flathead Lake Biological Station said.

Hauer, researcher Erin Sexton and a host of technicians already began studying the water quality and aquatic insects in the Flathead through a grant provided by the State Legislature this summer.

The idea is to gather as much baseline data as possible and to fight mine proposals and their ilk from a scientific standpoint not an emotional one. The science gathered here is also impartial. Some studies in Canada, Hauer noted, are funded by the companies seeking the permits to mine.

Already the region is proving to be a special place. It has the one of the most diverse populations of macroinvertebrates in North America, Hauer noted, as three different river systems all come together right here, it creates a stew of insect species.

So what? one might say. They re just bugs. But virtually all webs of life start with bugs. For example, a cutthroat trout fishery begins with clean water that grows a certain type of algae that certain types of mayflies and caddis flies feed on and, in turn, stoneflies feed on them and the fish then eat all of them.

Pollute the water and it kills the bugs. The bugs die, the fish disappear. Fewer fish means less food for predators like river otters and mink and osprey and bald eagles.

It s a ripple effect.

This is one of the most extraordinary places on the planet, Hauer said.

And the fish, bugs and mammals don t recognize international borders. They move across it freely. Everything from elk to bull trout to songbirds migrate across the border every year.

But without science to back up their claims, Hauer said fighting the mines is much more difficult.

Without science, it s just opinion, Hauer said. We must put the data on the table… That s where the arguments become more narrowly defined.

And as scientists, Hauer noted, they re open to being proven wrong.

But the fight against mining in the North Fork has run over decades.

Baucus has been fighting Canadian mining since he was first elected. He s even made trips to B.C. and had arguments open and candid with government officials.

There are some places that are just too special to mine in or near, he said. The Flathead is critical to our state s and to our country s outdoor heritage. I m committed to working with (Tester) to make sure it stays a national treasure for years to come.

Tester agreed.

It s with good reason that generations of Montanans have called Waterton-Glacier the Crown of the Continent, Tester said. Preservation of this crown hangs in the balance and we must have all the facts on the table before we move forward.

The study will also be done in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Service, the National Park Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.