The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) commends the Government of British Columbia for its decision to ban oil and gas drilling from the Canadian portion of the trans-boundary Flathead River basin.
 
“The trans-boundary Flathead is an ecological gem,” said Dr. John Weaver, senior conservation scientist for WCS-Canada. “It harbors a diverse community of carnivores such as wolf, lynx, marten, wolverine, and grizzly bear and other wildlife that move back and forth across the international border. The announcement today by the BC government recognizes these world-class ecological values and bodes well for a new era of integrated conservation of a critical trans-boundary watershed.”
 
Weaver’s 2001 report, entitled “The Trans-boundary Flathead: A Critical Landscape for Carnivores in the Rocky Mountains,” documented wildlife values in the area and provided scientific support for ensuing conservation efforts.

The North Fork of the Flathead River headwaters is in southeast British Columbia, west of Waterton Lakes National Park, and flows across the international border into Montana. There, it forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park. This international watershed in the heart of the Rocky Mountains is known as the transboundary Flathead.