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FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS MARCH 12, 2014 | 9

North Fork Watershed Protection Act Passes House

Public lands bill must reach of the senate bill, and drafted a letter to his senate col-
leagues encouraging them to support it.
Senate for inal passage
“The North Fork is among Montana’s greatest nat-
ural treasures and a vibrant part of our outdoor heri-

By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
tage and the countless jobs that rely on it. Today’s vote
on the North Fork Watershed Protection Act brings us
The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed a step closer to preserving it for current and future gen-
the North Fork Watershed Protection Act, clearing the erations,” he said. “However, until the Senate provides
way for the bill to reach the Senate for possible approval.
its approval, we will fall short of the decades-long efort
Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who sponsored the bill to secure the North Fork.”
in the House, hailed the legislation on its merits, as well Walsh added, “This is the type of commonsense,

as for the historic vote that cleared the way for a pos- bipartisan action Congress should be focused on and I
sible Senate vote. It is the irst landscape protection act The North Fork of the Flathead River. BEACON FILE PHOTO
urge all of my colleagues to vote in support of the North
in nearly three decades to receive support from Mon- Fork Watershed Protection Act.”
tana’s entire delegation.
Daines said the bill, which passed the House by
Proponents of the legislation say it reciprocates a
Democratic Senators Jon Tester and John Walsh voice vote and earlier this year passed out of the Natu- 2010 transboundary agreement between Canada and
have also supported the bill, a version of which was irst ral Resources Committee by unanimous consent, rep- the U.S. to ban new energy development on the Cana-
introduced by former Sen. Max Baucus, whose retire- resented a “common sense goal.”
dian Flathead, and would fulill U.S. obligations to pro-
ment to become ambassador to China cast doubt on the “The North Fork Watershed Protection Act repre- tect both sides of the Flathead River drainage from en-

bill’s future.
sents common sense resource management — the kind ergy and mineral development.
If passed, the public lands bill would furnish per- of common sense that Montanans understand and National Parks Conservation Association program
manent protections on 430,000 acres of U.S. Forest Washington needs more of,” Daines said in a statement. manager Michael Jamison noted the bill has support
Service parcels along the north and middle forks of the “We all support protecting this area for future genera- of both energy companies such as Conoco-Phillips and
Flathead River, placing them of limits to hard-rock tions — making this bill the irst lands legislation sup- wilderness advocates around Glacier National Park.
mining, mountaintop-removal coal mining, and oil ported by the entire Montana delegation in nearly 30 Passage of the bill would complete the United States’
and gas development.
years. Passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection share of the agreement to protect the area.

Before retiring, Baucus said the bill was slated for Act is a major step towards a common sense goal that “In 2011, British Columbia’s lawmakers enacted
a senate hotline, by which a bill is approved by unani- Montanans have worked toward together for decades. similar legislation to protect Glacier Park’s Canadian
mous consent. However, at the time Baucus said two It’s time we get this done.”
headwaters, and those neighbors expect Montanans to
holdouts remained.
The bill is identical, both in name and content, to do the same,” Jamison said in a statement.
It’s not clear if Walsh, who was appointed to ill its companion bill in the Senate, the North Fork Water- “Rep. Daines has recognized this obligation, and
the remainder of Baucus’ term, will have success in shed Protection Act, which Democratic U.S. Sens. Bau- has created an opportunity to uphold our end of that
persuading his Senate colleagues, but he immediately cus and Jon Tester introduced in February.
international bargain.”
voiced support of the House’s passage of the act.
Last month, Walsh joined Tester as a co-sponsor
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