Glacier NP In Danger

UN to determine whether proposed coal mines pose a threat to World Heritage site

Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park are in danger.

Alberta and Montana governments have cooperated to help create one of the sweetest national parks on the continent, but British Columbia isn't playing ball. Instead, they've kept the mountainous land on the park's border open to coal and methane gas development, which will pollute the Flathead River that flows into the park.

The UNESCO World Heritage site will go before a committee of U.N. officials, who will determine whether the park deserves to go on the World Heritage in Danger list, which includes historic sites under threat in places like Afghanistan and Yemen. If they include it, it'll be the first such place to earn the designation in North America.

 

“If that happens, it would be a really big black eye for both Canada and the United States,” Ryland Nelson, a spokesman for one of the petitioning groups, Wildsight, said yesterday.

 

“We hope it doesn't come to that. Ideally, before that designation takes place, we'd like to see these two countries come together and agree on the actions that are needed to protect this area.”

I know I'm not alone in calling Glacier one of my favorite places on Earth. Canadia, you and I have had our disputes in the past, but it's time to let bygones be bygones and join forces: We'll summon Captain America, you grab Wolverine, and together let's fix this.

—Ted Alvarez

U.N. to hear petition that claims Rocky Mountain park in danger (Globe and Mail)

via The Goat