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Shared
ideals, common resources offer trans-border geography of hope
By
Steve Thompson
for Headwaters News
North Americans tend to take for granted the world’s longest
unprotected border, which separates Canada and the United States.
So the current war of words between leaders of these two nations
may come as a surprise to some.
The United States is a "hostile foreign power," thundered
a member of the conservative British Columbia cabinet, and Canada
should stop supporting the U.S. war against terrorism. Not to be
outdone, Montana Sen. Max Baucus evoked Cold War images to blast
B.C.’s "Soviet-style" tendencies.
The object of mutual belligerence last month was the Bush administration’s
decision to slap a 29 percent tariff on Canadian softwood lumber
exports to the United States. It is the most recent flashpoint that
reveals the soft underbelly of an increasingly integrated global
economy.
Against this charged political backdrop, our two nations are preparing
to celebrate in June the 70th anniversary of the world’s first
international peace park. Approved by the U.S. Congress and Canadian
Parliament, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was dedicated
on June 18, 1932, by President Hoover and Prime Minister Bennett
as a lasting monument to peace and goodwill between the two nations.
-- Nelson Mandela
The
peace park also addresses the need for cooperation and stewardship
in a world of shared resources. In the case of Waterton-Glacier,
the shared resources are grizzly bears, mountain goats, clean water,
stunning vistas and more than 2 million annual visitors, all of
which flow back and forth across political lines.
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was the brainchild of
Rotary International, led by a cluster of Rotary Clubs in Montana
and Alberta.
At the time, Rotary International was focused on establishing institutions
of peace to help prevent a repeat of the carnage of World War I.
The 1932 Peace Park designation was seen as a means of cementing
harmonious relations between old allies while providing a model
for nations around the world.
The recent war of words between Canadian and U.S. leaders points
to the evolving challenge of maintaining peace in a world where
economic trade, instantaneous information exchange, free flows of
capital, and multinational terrorist cells have blurred the traditional
lines between nation-states.
Peace means much more than the absence of military combat. Today,
the concept also must embrace notions of economic fairness, environmental
sustainability, and some level of parity between the world’s
rich and poor.
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Bigger
Waterton also would benefit Montana's fish, wildlife, air and water
By
Greg Lakes, editor
Headwaters News
April 17, 2002
In addition to its symbolism for a global consumer
economy, as Steve Thompson eloquently argues above, the expansion
of Waterton National Park would have some tangible environmental
benefits on both sides of the border -- but at Canadians' expense,
according to critics.
The plan, a proposal of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society,
would
add 100,000 acres on the west side of Waterton to the North
Fork of the Flathead River.
The newly incorporated area would protect habitat, water quality
and fish populations in the North Fork, which flows south along
the western edge of Glacier National Park in Montana and into Flathead
Lake.
On the U.S. side, that would mean more secure habitat for the big
carnivores that have been reintroduced amid so much controversy,
as well as pristine habitat for cutthroat and bull trout in the
Flathead's headwaters.
Without protection, U.S. interests in the Canadian Flathead are
beyond its control, as was made clear in the early 1980s, when a
company proposed a giant open-pit coal mine that opponents said
would foul the air over Glacier, ruin the views and choke the streams.
That plan died but more insidious threats haven't. The Montana side
of the North Fork is home to scattered cabins and one anachronistic
settlement.
But the Canadian side is becoming
more attractive as a haven for mountain retreats and second homes.
Energy companies have punched roads into valleys and along ridges
in nearby portions of B.C. and Alberta, and at least one coal company
has explored west of the Flathead River.
The timber company with the largest stake has agreed to back an
expansion of the park, in exchange for improvements at its mill
a little farther west.
But critics of the plan, including the provincial outfitters' association,
say national park status would eliminate hunting, fishing and most
motorized off-road access.
Others worry that an international peace park designation would
draw even more visitors, at the expense of backcountry values.
But advocates have bigger plans yet. The expansion would be part
of a Southern Rocky Mountain Wildlife Management Area that they
hope would cover 700,000 acres across Canada's Wigwam, Elk and Bull
river valleys.
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