North Fork hypocrisy

Most of your readers are probably unaware that Canadians think it's hypocritical of Montanans to demand protection of the Canadian headwaters of our cherished North Fork Flathead River when oil and gas leases blanket Forest Service land in the watershed. They ask, "How can Montanans ask us to forgo coal mining and energy development on our side of the border when they allow oil and gas leasing in the same watershed?"

Headwaters Montana, a Flathead Valley conservation group, thinks that the time has come to retire those leases, and that it's the right thing to do. In fact, it's the single-most important action Montanans can take to signal their sincerity about seeking a permanent conservation solution for the transboundary dispute with British Columbia over resource development.

In 1982-83, the Flathead National Forest auctioned oil and gas leases on 966,000 acres (43 percent of the Forest in 484 separate leases), including 200,000 acres in the North Fork drainage.

The leasing action prompted a lawsuit filed by a local conservationist. He argued that the agency's decision to not prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the leasing was illegal. In a 1988 decision (Conners v. Burford) the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

To date, the EIS has not been funded or prepared, and lease-holders have not requested further action. The leases have remained dormant for the past 21 years. Further, some geologists believe that the oil and gas recovery potential in the Whitefish Range is nil.

At a time when Montanans have repeatedly asked the British Columbia government to abandon plans to mine coal and gold or to drill and extract coalbed methane gas from the head of the watershed, it looks just a little hypocritical for U.S. interests to be holding on to oil and gas leases in the same watershed.

It's time for the Montana congressional delegation to pass legislation that cancels those leases. This action would do three things — it would send a strong signal to B.C. that Montanans walk their talk about protecting the North Fork; it would put Montana in a stronger negotiating position with B.C.; and it would result in a major conservation success in its own right for the North Fork.

Fortunately, it so happens that the B.C. government has never been more receptive to this kind of action over the 35-year Transboundary Flathead dispute.

Flathead Valley citizens can directly help with this issue. First, citizens can call Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg and ask them to immediately announce their intent to retire these leases in 2010.

Second, if you need more information, please call Headwaters Montana at 837-0783. We are happy to provide a presentation on the Transboundary Flathead to local service groups, clubs and professional organization. We also publish a free, weekly e-newsletter. If you wish to subscribe, please write us at: info@headwatersmontana.org.

Dave Hadden, of Bigfork, is the director of Headwaters Montana.