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BC Government Vows to Ban Mining in Flathead River Valley

On Tuesday afternoon, as we were sitting in a creative meeting on some long-term goals for WILD, Harvey Locke, WILD’s VP for Conservation Strategy, noticed that his phone continued to ring.  Recognizing that perhaps the many calls were an indication of something important, he stepped away from our meeting.  A few moments later we heard whoops and hollers of excitement.

We knew something was up, and hoped for the best.  When Harvey returned, we listened with great anticipation as he described the breaking news from British Columbia.  In just a few short hours, he said, it was anticipated that Lt. Governor Steven Point would make an announcement about the Flathead River Valley in the annual state of the Throne Speech.  Nothing was definite, but from the several phone calls that followed, bringing together the campaign partners to draft an announcement and organizing key spokespersons on responses to the anticipated announcement, we had a feeling that there would be a break-through for the campaign.  A few short hours later, we had confirmation:

“Mining, oil and gas development and coalbed gas extraction will not be permitted in British Columbia’s Flathead Valley,” Point said.

Conservationists working on the campaign are thrilled by the announcement, which also includes a commitment to working with the US state of Montana on conservation objectives, but are still waiting to see the fully detailed plan.  Locke comments: “The announcement from BC’s Speech from the Throne…represents a major milestone for our campaign but does not equate to complete success.”  There is still much work to actualize the goal of an expansion of Waterton-Glacier National Park/Peace-Park to include the Flathead River Valley.  But, without a doubt…there was some celebration of this important milestone!

Read more from the New York Times coverage >

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