They came, they saw and they retreated---to prepare a report that will help shape the future of BC's Flathead River Valley. In late September, two scientists from the United Nations World Heritage Committee toured the Flathead and adjacent Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park by air, 4-wheel drive and foot. Their mission? To determine if a proposed coal strip mine and other energy and mining development in BC's Flathead River Valley threaten the adjoining Waterton-Glacier World Heritage Site. Paul Dingwall, from New Zealand, and Kishore Rao, from France, also spent four days listening to presentations from government, industry and environmental groups--including Sierra Club BC and Wildsight--about conflicting plans for Canada's last unsettled low-elevation valley. The World Heritage Committee voted last June to send the mission after Sierra Club BC, Wildsight and nine other U.S. and Canadian conservation groups petitioned the committee to alert it to BC's land use plan for the Flathead. One... Read More

The Conservation Alliance led a delegation of member companies from Montana to Washington DC to meet with Capitol Hill offices to demonstrate support for a proposal to protect nearly 700,000 acres of Wilderness in Montana. Senator Jon Tester introduced the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act in July. The legislation would protect public lands throughout the state, including 500,000 acres in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Support for the bill is strong within the state. Pictured above with Senator Tester (third from right), Representatives from Patagonia, Mercury Advertising, and Free Heel and Wheel joined Conservation Alliance Executive Director John Sterling on the trip. The Alliance twice funded Montana Wilderness Association for their efforts to organize support for the protections within Montana.