Too much political rhetoric in Flathead debate

By GERRY WARNER
Cranbrook Daily Townsman
March 16, 2006
Call it "The War of the Flathead." because things are really heating up the past few days after the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. named the Flathead the most endangered river in the province in its annual list.
The U.S. State Department is getting in the act again, word is circulating that the east side of the Flathead valley is going to be declared an AccessManagement Area (AMA) and East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett is openly scoffing about the Flathead's endangered designation. Lets deal with these one at a time.
The U.S. State Department letter was sent Feb. 23 to the B.C Environmental Assessment Office, urging the province to "weigh carefully" the environmental and socio-economic impacts the proposed Cline Mining Company open-pit coal mine could have on both sides of the border. The letter, sent by Edward Alex Lee, the U.S. State Department Director of the Office of Canadian Affairs, said Canada should consider whether the controversial mine would be "consistent" with the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and the Canada- U.S. Air Quality Agreement. The letter was polite and respectful and expressed appreciation for the B.C.government allowing American officials to participate in the approval process for the mine.
But there was no mistaking its tone."We believe that significant adverse environmental effects may occur in the United States . . . The United States will continue to pursue this matter both with your office and through discussions with the Canadian federal authorities." At first blush, this sounds like Uncle Sam sticking his nose into Canadian affairs again, but is that really the case? The Flathead is one of those wayward rivers that isn't content to stay in one country or the other. It crosses the border, and because it does, it becomes subject to both Canadian and American law and international agreements like the Boundary Waters Treaty. So whether we like it or not, we're in bed with the Americans on this one and another thing to keep in mind is they have given the Flathead's Wild and Scenic River designation on the U.S. side of the border meaning operations like coal mines are a no, no. But some Americans like Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer are not exactly helping to promote an amicable resolution to the issue when he's quoted in the March issue of the Men's Journal saying:"Right now there is a bomb going 'tick, tick, tick. I gotta stop the clock." Mind you, there are a lot of Canadians on this side of the border, including a certain local MP, who regularly complain about how the Americans manipulate the level of the Koocanusa Reservoir so it appears to depend on who's ox is being gorred.
As for access to the east side of the Flathead being restricted by an AMA, this has not been officially confirmed by anyone yet, but if it proves to betrue it's going to raise the hackles of a lot of outdoor recreationalists who see this as a "backdoor" way of getting a new park established in the area.
Meanwhile "give me a break" was the first comment I got from MLA Bennett when I called him about the Flathead topping the endangered rivers list. "To go to the extreme of saying the Flathead is the most endangered river in British columbia undermines the credibility of the organization. All you have to do it look around. There's the Pitt River, the Fraser River, there's 50 or 100 rivers more threatened than the Flathead."
Out of all of this, one thing appears to be certain. If B.C.'s Environment Assessment Office gives the Cline project a go-ahead, the isssue is going to end up in the lap of the International Joint Commission, the same organization that brought us the Columbia River Treaty and Canada did not exactly come out ahead on that.
As a result, wouldn't it be nice if politicians on both sides of the border would take a deep breath, tone down the rhetoric, roll up their sleeves and get to work on finding a solution. The Flathead belongs to both Canadians and Americans. It's in our mutual interest to cooperate on this. In many ways, residents of southeastern B.C. and northwestern Montana have more in common with each other than we do with our more urbanized neighbors in our respective capitals of Victoria and Helena.
The Flathead is in our backyard. Therefore, a solution should as much as possible be worked out locally before we let the politicians in Victoria and Helena, or God forbid Ottawa and Washington D.C., stir the stew. We don't need anymore inflamatory statements by state governors -- and to be honest -- we don't need any more name calling about "American spies." It's time for common sense to rear its ugly head and for all of us to start acting like neighbors, especially the politicians.
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