More than Just Another Pretty Valley

The Flathead River Valley, tucked into BC’s southeast corner, is the last unsettled low elevation valley in southern Canada. National Geographic magazine calls this area “one of the most diverse and ecologically intact natural ecosystems in the temperate zones of the world.” Canadian Geographic magazine describes the Flathead River Valley as “a nursery, incubating wildlife that disperses and repopulates neighbouring habitats."

The Flathead teems with many species that are threatened elsewhere, including grizzlies, lynx, badgers, fishers, wolverines and bull trout. The Flathead, with the greatest diversity of plants in all of Canada, is compared to Africa’s Serengeti for its richness of plant species. Water in the Flathead River is so pure that scientists use it as a benchmark by which to measure water quality in rivers around the world. A Special Place. 

Until February 2010, the Flathead was threatened by a land use plan that favoured industrial activity of the most environmentally destructive kind. One proposal under consideration by the BC government was for mountain-top removal coal mining that would have seen pollutants and slag dumped into a headwaters stream of the pure and free-flowing Flathead River. Coalbed methane drilling and gold and phosphate development were also slated for this globally-significant valley. The 2010 announcement by the B.C. government that mining and oil and gas development will be banned in the Flathead is a very welcome first step towards permanent protection. However, in the absence of a National Park and Wildlife Management Area, the Flathead is still at risk from industrial logging and plans for increased road access. A new coal mine is also slated for the proposed Flathead Wildlife Management Area. Threats.

Following a campaign by Sierra Club BC and other conservation groups, in February 2010 the BC government announced a ban on mining and oil and gas development in the Flathead. Yet, in the absence of permanent protection, the Flathead is still open to industrial logging, off-road vehicles and other disturbances. We must keep this spectacular valley wild and free. We need permanent protection for the south eastern one-third of the Flathead Valley as a National Park. We also need a Wildlife Management Area in the rest of the valley and adjoining habitat. An October 2009 poll shows that a majority of East Kootenay residents want to protect the Flathead River Valley as a national park. Our Campaign.

Permanent protection for the Flathead offers a last chance to fill in the missing piece of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park established by Alberta and Montana—as well as a last chance to preserve a vital corridor for wildlife moving north and south through the Rocky Mountains. The United Nations has designated Waterton-Glacier a World Heritage Site and two Biosphere Reserves. Parks Canada has a long-standing interest in protecting the Flathead River Valley and completing the International Peace Park. Solutions That Work.

We are urging the BC government to agree to make the south eastern one-third of the Flathead River Valley a national park. Premier Gordon Campbell says he has not heard from enough British Columbians that they support a National Park in the Flathead. You can help by phoning Premier Gordon Campbell and following up with a letter, signing and circulating our Save the Flathead petition, writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, or organizing a showing of the Sierra Club’s Flathead multimedia presentation. What You Can Do.