“The nature and the tenor of the discussion are absolutely changing,” said Louisa Willcox, senior wildlife specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “I think it's become far more civil, courteous and honest - and hopefully more productive.”
Her group recently sent nearly 35,000 letters to Canadian Federal Minister John Baird, asking Canada to protect rather than pollute a major river drainage just north of Glacier National Park.
“People are realizing diplomacy is the only way this issue is going to be resolved,” Willcox said. “There's no resolution from escalating the conflict by threats or chest thumping or poking people in the eye.”
The past three decades, however, are full of chest-thumping examples from both sides of the border, as British Columbia and Montana have squared off over the future of the Flathead River.
That river's headwaters are located atop a field of coal and, perhaps, coalbed methane, some 40 miles north of Glacier National Park. Waters flow south through a wilderness valley, over what is thought to be a vast energy deposit, before crossing the international line about 50 miles north of Columbia Falls.
Called the North Fork Flathead River in Montana, it forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park before draining into Flathead Lake.
Since the 1970s, Canadian coal companies and politicians have promoted the idea of developing energy reserves there, and downstream interests have joined Canadian opponents in claiming the area is far too sensitive for large-scale industrialization.
A binational team of scientists concluded in the 1980s that coal development north of the border would affect water quality and fisheries in Montana. Since then, concerns have only grown, and now include not only aquatic species but also the large mammals that migrate between the two countries.
At times, the rhetoric has been heated from both sides, with politicians jockeying hard for position.
“But this is a true international issue,” Willcox said, “and it will require international diplomacy.”
In fact, her group's recent contacts with the Canadian federal minister have been bolstered by peacemaking efforts at the National Parks Conservation Association and the Wilderness Society. The presidents of those two groups met July 15 with Michael Wilson, Canadian ambassador to the United States.
“Our organizations,” said Wilderness Society President William Meadows, “have a long history of open communication with the Canadian Embassy on transboundary environmental issues.”
This particular transboundary dispute, Meadows said, puts at stake one of the most intact, diverse and connected ecosystems in the temperate zones of the world. It is home to several sensitive animal and plant species, and has a rich cultural history of indigenous peoples.
And yet a proposal by Cline Mining Corp. would remove an entire mountaintop in the wild headwaters, producing some 16 million tons of waste rock every year for the coal mine's 20-year lifespan.
Local politicians have opposed the effort, as have state and federal officials. The U.S. State Department even weighed in, saying the mine would cause “significant adverse impacts to Glacier National Park.”
And in recent months, the Canadian federal government has become concerned, announcing the project would be subject not just to provincial study, but also to a Canadian federal analysis.
Then, when a second proposal emerged - to drill coalbed methane in the region - the provincial government announced the Flathead Valley would not be explored due to “environmental sensitivity.”
“Everyone is realizing that we have to get along,” Willcox said. “They know a true give-and-take is going to be the only way to get anything accomplished.”
That, in fact, appeared to be exactly the sentiment behind a May 12 letter from Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer to Gordon Campbell, provincial premier in British Columbia.
“I remain grateful Š for your willingness to commit to an ongoing dialogue between our two jurisdictions,” Schweitzer wrote, adding that “I agree with you that we have a choice before us, for both governments to look beyond old ‘worn-out approaches' to a shared future.”
Schweitzer did not elaborate on what “worn-out approaches” must be transcended, but his latest letter, Willcox said, seemed to reflect a new type of dialogue.
“I am very optimistic,” Schweitzer said Friday. “First, because we are coming closer together toward a middle position, and second because Premier Campbell and I are building a very good personal relationship.”
That relationship, the governor said, has much to do with the changing tone of the debate.
While Schweitzer has long pushed for dialogue and intergovernmental meetings, he also has firmly insisted on “not backing down” in the dispute.
As recently as January 2007, the governor - dismayed that efforts between the state and province had stalled - predicted the conflict would land “in the lap of the State Department,” because British Columbia's officials “just keep rolling and rolling and rolling toward development” despite Montana's objections.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., agreed, and ratcheted the rhetoric by saying that “no matter how they present their proposal to mine or drill upstream from Glacier Park, the answer is always going to be ‘no.' ”
Canadian politicians responded with equally hard-line positions.
But Schweitzer believes that sort of “absolutist” approach is changing.
“We have no legal authority on that side of the border, and they have no legal authority here,” Willcox agreed. “So we're going to have to talk it out.”
Thus the meetings with the minister and the ambassador, as well as Schweitzer's letter.
In that letter, the governor noted that “now a foundation has been laid from which I believe we can construct a mutually beneficial solution.”
His solution remains largely undefined, but most agree it must include economic opportunities as well as land-use protections. Obstacles remain, Schweitzer noted, and pollution already has been documented from mining in nearby drainages, but he said he is nevertheless encouraged by recent Canadian acknowledgements of the area's environmental significance.
“Recent events have led me to believe that, for the first time in 30 years, this conflict can be resolved,” Schweitzer wrote. He went on to suggest “that we both would like to move this discussion from one of conflict resolution to one of looking at mutual opportunities,” and added that “our federal partners are eager to help bring about solutions that will also benefit British Columbia.”
He said Friday he's aiming for a fall meeting with Campbell, perhaps on-site in the Canadian Flathead.
And NPCA President Tom Kiernan, who met with Ambassador Wilson early this week, said he remains hopeful such efforts will encourage his neighbors to the north to “implement a land-use plan that protects the world-class ecological values of the Flathead Valley.”
“Now is the time,” Kiernan said, “for Canada and the U.S. to show true leadership, and together craft a long-term solution.”
The time, Schweitzer agreed, could not be better.
“In 2010,” the governor wrote, “Montana and the United States will commemorate the century anniversary of Glacier National Park, and British Columbia will be on the world stage hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. Nothing would please me more than to celebrate these events by announcing with you that we have resolved to protect the Crown of the Continent to the benefit of both jurisdictions.”
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