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Pure water and pristine wilderness make Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park a unique place worthy of its designation as a UN World Heritage site and Biosphere Reserve. However, the Park is threatened by mining and gas drilling in British Columbia’s Flathead River Valley adjacent to the Park.
This month the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations will meet in Spain to rule on a petition submitted by eleven leading environmental groups in the US and Canada. The petition urges the Committee to add Waterton-Glacier be added to the list of World Heritage sites “In Danger.”
One proposal under consideration by the BC government is for an open pit coal mine 35 kilometres upstream from the Park. Over 325 million tons of waste rock would be dumped into a tributary of the Flathead River, which forms the western boundary of the Park and provides critical habitat for threatened bull trout and genetically-pure westslope cutthroat trout. Any leakage of waste dumps would send toxic sludge into Waterton-Glacier within 24 hours. Other mineral exploration is underway even closer to the Park boundary. Vulnerable populations of grizzlies, wolves, lynx and wolverines are also threatened by these mining and drilling plans.
Canadian Citizens:
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