Le 18 février 2010, le Gouverneur du Montana et le Premier Ministre de la Colombie-Britannique avaient signé une entente qui interdit l'exploitation minière et le forage dans une vallée qui longe la frontière canado-américaine au nord du parc national Glacier National Park. Cela incluera les mines de charbon, de pétrole et de gaz naturel dans le bassin versant de la rivière Flathead.
Les forêts de la vallée entre les montagnes imposantes abritent des ours et des loups. La Nation Ktunaxa y pêche et chasse depuis des générations. Une association minière de la province s'inquiète des répercussions financières d'une telle décision, surtout pour les intérêts financiers du Montana. Par contre, la coupe d'arbres sera permise. Les pressions minières sont fortes: en décembre, on avait trouvé de l'or dans Glacier, du côté de Montana, et plusieurs projets de mines de charbon avaient été mis de l'avant mais ne se sont jamais concrétisés.
Le travail pour cesser les activités minières dans la région date des années 1980 quand une commission conjointe canado-américaine avait refusé le permis pour une mine de charbon à ciel ouvert dans la vallée à cause des risques potentiels environnementaux. Une autre mine de charbon avait été proposée durant dernièrement. Les pétrolières et les gazières sont aussi intéressés par la région. Le parc Glacier au Montana, et le parc Waterton International Park au Canada ont été désignés comme Patrimoine Mondial en 1995 à cause des paysages exceptionnels et l'abondance de la faune et de la flore. En janvier 2010, une équipe de scientifiques des Nations-Unies a recommandé un moratoire sur toute activité minière dans la vallée.
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"Governor, premier sign mining, drilling ban
Leaders from Montana and British Columbia signed an agreement Thursday(February 18 2010) banning mining and drilling in a valley along the U.S.-Canadian border north of Glacier National Park. Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Premier Gordon Campbell finalized the deal at a signing ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia. Schweitzer called it the result of "quiet diplomacy."
"We have a shared responsibility in the Flathead. We share an opportunity and today we share a destiny," he said. The agreement, which was years in the making, was announced last week. The deal halts ongoing exploration and prohibits future development of coal, oil and gas in much of the Flathead River Basin, which sprawls across some 9,000 square miles and straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. With vast tracts of forests and grand mountain peaks, it's home to grizzly bears and wolves. "It is indeed a monumental day," said Kathryn Tenesse, chair of the council for the Ktunaxa Nation, which has used the Flathead for hunting, fishing and other activities.
The Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia, though, said the ban on mineral development will hurt the province's economy and is the result of "political demands from certain American interests primarily from the state of Montana," the group said. The agreement allows for logging to continue and outlines several strategies for cooperating on wildlife management and adapting to climate change, pursuing low-carbon development and reducing environmental degradation. Compensation will be sought for companies with existing mineral leases in the area. "Obviously we'll make sure they're not punished for this," Campbell said. Energy companies have rights to at least 218,000 acres on the Montana side of the border, but drilling has been on hold there under a 1986 federal court order. Schweitzer said he's working with Montana's congressional delegation on legislation to buy out existing leases.
Efforts to stop mining in the region date to the 1980s, when a U.S.-Canada joint commission rejected an open pit coal mine in the valley because of potential environmental damage. Another coal mine was proposed in recent years. Oil and gas companies also have been eyeing the area. And in December, Max Resource Corp. said it had extracted samples of high-grade gold from a ridge about 10 miles north of Glacier. A 2003 British Columbia land-use plan for the area set mining as a high priority and said other uses, such as wildlife habitat and recreation, "will not preclude ... approval of mining activities."
Glacier, in Montana, and Waterton International Park in Canada were designated as a World Heritage site in 1995 because of their outstanding scenery and abundant wildlife. In January, a team of U.N. scientists recommended a moratorium on mining in the valley."
Excerpts from article signed The Associated Press published here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011117275_apusbordermine.html
Kinda strange that the US and Canada are willing to put a hold on mining and drilling so that a few bears and wolves can live in relative peace, but us humans? In Quebec, we've been asking for a moratorium on fracking till we know the thing is under control, but our government says "No way! Frack the people! We're drilling anyway!"
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