Two environmental groups are putting up $9.4-million to help the governments of British Columbia and Montana follow through on an agreement to save the pristine Flathead River Valley in southeastern British Columbia.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada and the U.S. Nature Conservancy are contributing the money to cover costs related to a 2010 agreement between the province and the state. The Flathead is known as the Serengeti of the North for its abundant natural areas, which are home to 16 species of carnivore.
Among other things, the money will compensate current coal and mineral tenure-holders for their previous exploration of the area, which remains one of the most unspoiled wilderness areas in Southern Canada.
B.C. NDP environment critic Rob Fleming suggested there is something unfortunate in an environmental group having to raise the money.
“It shows [the B.C. government] is cheap and not willing to protect an area deemed significant by the global community,” he said.
But John Lounds, president of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, had no such complaints Tuesday.
In an interview, he said Gary Doer, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, as well as the intergovernmental relations secretariat of the B.C. government made it clear that the money was needed, so the two organizations sought to secure it.
“The water is pure. There’s still lots of old-growth forests,” he said “There’s one of the highest concentration of grizzly bears that you will find in the interior part of Canada. For all those reasons, it’s an important place to protect.”
The province will now introduce a bill to legislate legal and regulatory measures taken in 2010 to prohibit exploration for minerals, oil, gas and coal in the Flathead area.
Mr. Lounds said Tuesday’s plan, announced by the B.C. government, removes major threats to conservation in the area, but he expects the dialogue over the fate of the Flathead to continue.
Environmental groups, speaking jointly on the issue, said in a statement Tuesday that logging, trophy hunting for grizzly bears, quarrying and increased road access continue to pose risks to the Flathead, and called on B.C. to agree to the creation of a national park in one area of the Flathead and a wildlife management area in the rest.
The groups are the Sierra Club BC, Wildsight and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
Mr. Lounds said the nature conservancy groups in Canada and the United States have about $5-million now, thanks to the Natural Areas Conservation Program operated by the government of Canada since 2007, but will have to raise the remaining funds both in Canada and the United States.
“The funds will be provided to the government of British Columbia. They will be deciding how those funds are spent,” said Mr. Lounds. “I know they have costs associated with the removal of permissible land uses.”
