U.N. scientists: Glacier on 'pedestal'

Two scientists from the United Nations are touring the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and the Canadian Flathead to see for themselves the potential impacts of proposed mines in the region.

"We plan to consult as widely as possible with all stakeholders," said Paul Dingwall, a New Zealand scientist with the World Conservation Union and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Dingwall and Keshore Rao, deputy director of the United Nation's World Heritage Center, spent most of Monday holed up in Glacier Park's community building, hearing report after report about the Park and its native flora and fauna.

Both men said during a press conference afterward that they had visited the Park before. Dingwall said he "felt very much at home here," because Glacier has soaring mountains and vast lakes — much like his New Zealand home.

The two men are expected to tour the Park today (Thursday) and then will head into Canada at the end of this week. That tour includes an on-the-ground visit to the Canadian Flathead Valley, where the mining projects are proposed.

There was some concern among local interests that the two men wouldn't be escorted to the Canadian Flathead — the Canadian government, on several fronts, has downplayed the threats of open pit coal mines, coal bed methane development and gold mines in the region, noting that they're only in exploratory stages.

But Dingwall noted that mining and preservation of natural landscapes are often at odds, by their very design.

"In most cases, mining is of serious concern, because of the irretrievable impact in can have," Dingwall said.

Rao said that after their tour and interviews with agencies both governmental and non-governmental, the men will author a report to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Committee with recommendations.

The most severe recommendation is to list Glacier as a "World Heritage Site in Danger," a dubious designation as the Park celebrates its 100th birthday in 2010.

In many cases, however, a resolution is reached. In Russia, for example, a pipeline threatened Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest freshwater lake in the world. After a UNESCO investigation and subsequent recommendation, Russian President Vladimir Putin had the pipeline moved 250 kilometers away from the lake.

In the U.S., both Yellowstone and Everglades national parks have, at one time, been listed as World Heritage Sites in Danger. Yellowstone was threatened by a gold mine outside its borders and the Everglades from development, pollution and other threats. Both have since been taken off the list. In Yellowstone, the plans for the mine were eventually stopped and in the Everglades, a restoration plan is underway.

In short, the men seemed cautiously optimistic a resolution could be reached. Waterton-Glacier was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

Because of its international peace park status — it was the first-ever peace park in the world — it will get even greater scrutiny.

"It's on a high pedestal," Dingwall noted. "We look to standards being as high as possible."

The scientists' report will be presented to the World Heritage Committee next summer, at which time it will become public, they said.