North Fork watershed resolution

Since Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed a memorandum of understanding with British Columbia, which promised up to 17 million dollars to Canadian companies for reimbursement for cash already spent, we have all wondered where he would find the money. Montana could not pay and for months efforts were made, without success, to get Uncle Sam to foot the bill.

Now it seems that an answer has been found! The Nature Conservancy of Canada and the U.S. Nature Conservancy have committed $9.4 million to the government of British Columbia to conclude the British Columbia-Montana memo of understanding signed a year ago. As part of the deal, the province of British Columbia will enact legislation banning the extraction of minerals, oil, gas, and coal within the watershed. With the two nature conservancy groups coming up with this money, protection of the upper North Fork is an important step towards completion.

It is still up to the B.C. government to pass this money on to the mining companies and B.C. must still pass the legislation in order to make the bans permanent.

I don’t know why the original cost was said to be $17 million and the announcement $9.4 million. Perhaps $17 million was just an over estimated guess. I hope so! More worrisome is if the mining companies want $17 million and are only being offered $9.4 million.

At any rate, this is a major event if B.C. carries through with their part of the bargain.

If they do, what is next? Without a doubt the conservation groups have put their money where their mouth is – subsidized at least in part with Canadian federal dollars. As far as I can find out, there are no American tax dollars involved – yet.

On the Canadian side of the border efforts will now focus on controlling (eliminating?) grizzly bear hunting, logging and road access. Part of this would be an expansion of Waterton Park to the North Fork River and establishing a wildlife management area from the river to Banff National Park.

On the U.S. side they would like to ban all mineral extraction from the Whitefish Range down to the North Fork River. Also, they would like much of the Whitefish Range made into wilderness area although much of it is defacto wilderness today.

None of this will be accomplished in 2011, and maybe not in this decade. However, as this enormous effort to “protect the North Fork” evolves and moves forward it behooves everyone who loves the North Fork to stay informed and involved.

I believe this is a well-intentioned effort. Like the ads on television we have to watch out for the unintended side effects. I favor protecting water quality, but I don’t think we have to stop logging to do that. No doubt there will be plenty of hot debates in the years ahead. I just hope decisions are made with logic and science, not fear and emotion. What do you think?

Next week we will have a guest columnist, Amy Secrest, who will be a real treat for readers. I hope she will do more columns in the future. Please send any comments to me at Box 3 Columbia Falls or e-mail to: lwilson@aboutmontana.net. I hope that Amy’s breath of fresh air will bring some warm breezes of spring to the North Fork.