Flathead River Valley factsheet - Sierra Club BC

BC’s Flathead
River Valley
The Flathead: More Than Just Another Pretty Valley
B.C.’s Flathead River Valley, tucked into B.C.’s southeast corner, is one of the last unsettled low-elevation
valleys 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 has the highest density and greatest diversity of
carnivores in all of North America, from tiny martens to towering grizzlies.
It teems with many species that are threatened elsewhere, including lynx,
fishers, wolverines, grey wolves and westslope cutthroat trout, one of the last
genetically pure trout species left in the region.
• The Flathead River Valley has the greatest diversity of plants
in all of Canada and is compared with Africa’s Serengeti for its richness
of plant species---1,000 species of wildflowers alone. The Flathead’s
location at the narrowest point in the Rocky Mountain chain means that
it is a mixing zone for plant species from north, south, east and west.
Purple camas found in coastal Gary Oak meadows grows side by side with
northern plants like the Arctic gentian.
• The Flathead is one of North America’s last wild rivers. Water in
the Flathead River is so pure that scientists like Dr. Rick Hauer, of the Flathead
Lakes Biological Station in Montana, use it as a benchmark for measuring
water quality in rivers around the world.
the
Flathead
River
Valley [is]
“a nursery,
incubating
wildlife
that
disperses
and
repopulates
neighbouring
habitats.”
Canadian Geographic
• The Flathead is the missing piece in the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park established
by Alberta and Montana. Waterton-Glacier is the world’s first International Peace Park, and a World
Heritage Site and World Biosphere Reserve.
For more information: www.sierraclub.bc.ca

Flathead: Under Threat
• The Flathead River Valley is threatened by a provincial
land-use plan that favours industrial development
over wilderness and wildlife protection.
• Cline Mining Corporation plans a mountain-top removal
coal mine that would see pollutants and slag – from
the removal of 40 million tonnes of coal – dumped
into Foisey Creek, a headwaters stream of the Flathead
River and a spawning ground for threatened westslope
cutthroat trout and bull trout.
• Multiple phosphate* and precious metals
exploration drilling permits have been issued for the
Flathead River Valley in recent years. Vancouver-based
Max Resource Group began drilling for gold in July 2008
above a headwaters creek of the Flathead River.
*Phosphate was banned from Canadian household detergents, laundry soap and cleaners in 2008 due to its detrimental environmental impact.
• Energy giant BP asked for permission to drill for coalbed methane in the Flathead and adjoining
areas. The government granted BP its tenure in December 2008, but exempted the Flathead due
to public pressure. Until the Flathead is permanently protected, it remains vulnerable to future
proposals for coalbed methane drilling.
Flathead: Steps to Protection
• Sierra Club BC and other conservation groups are calling for the lower
one-third of the Flathead Valley to be protected as a National Park, in
order to ensure the highest level of protection offered in Canada.
• We are also urging the BC government to establish a Wildlife
Management Area in the rest of the valley and adjoining habitat. The
Flathead is a critical part of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation
Initiative, which aims to preserve North America’s most significant
remaining wildlife corridor.
write today
Tell the government you
care about the Flathead
River Valley!
Write to BC Premier
Gordon Campbell, Box
9041, Station Prov Gov,
Victoria, V8W 9E1.
• The federal government has included the Flathead River Valley as part
of its National Parks Action Plan. Approval from the BC government
is needed before a park can proceed.
CONTACT US
For more information, or to sign our online petition, go to:
www.sierraclub.bc.ca
Phone: (250) 386-5255 ext. 257
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