Help protect Glacier National Park

Two proposed mining schemes could despoil the Canadian
headwaters of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park -- one
of the wildest places in North America and part of our Greater
Rockies BioGem.

We need your urgent action to block these disastrous proposals,
which would pollute the pristine Flathead River with
contaminated waste and threaten the outstanding fish and
wildlife of Montana's Glacier National Park.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction
and urge the Canadian government to prohibit industrial mining
activities and coalfield developments in the headwaters of
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

Cline Mining Corporation is proposing to put an open-pit
coalmine just 25 miles upstream of Glacier National Park. The
mine would remove a mountaintop to create an open pit mine,
settling ponds and waste dumps in a pristine valley.

Meanwhile, BP Energy Corporation has proposed a massive coalbed
methane project (over 125,000 acres) that would require miles of
pipelines and wells producing hundreds of millions of gallons of
toxic wastewater. A dense network of roads would destroy prime
habitat for grizzly bears and other wildlife.

The Flathead River, which originates in British Columbia and
flows south into Montana where it forms the western boundary of
Glacier National Park, is one of the most wild, biologically
rich places in the world.

The Flathead valley and river form the heart of the Crown of the
Continent ecosystem, which is home to wolves, grizzly bears,
wolverines and lynx.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction
and tell the Canadian government to protect Waterton-Glacier
International Peace Park from damaging industrialization.

Thank you for helping to save one of North America's most
valuable wildlife habitats.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

Say NO to coal mining in grizzly habitat

The Cline Mining Corporation wants to gouge a heavily polluting coal mine out of the Flathead River Valley, a thriving RockyMountain habitat for grizzly bears that straddles the border ofMontana and British Columbia.

We need your immediate action to block this dangerous open-pit mining scheme, which would poison the headwaters of the FlatheadRiver and jeopardize the survival of downstream populations of imperiled grizzly bears, wolves, cut throat trout and otherwildlife.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and urge the British Columbia government to protect the spectacular wildlands and wildlife of the Flathead basin by rejecting the Cline Mining Corporation's reckless plan.

Cline's mining proposal calls for removing mountain tops and building waste dumps and settling ponds right on top of the headwaters of the Flathead River in British Columbia.

Hazardous pollution from the mine would travel down river into Montana, putting the endangered grizzlies and other wildlife of Glacier National Park at even greater risk.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and join Governor Brian Schweitzer and Senator Max Bauchus of Montana in speaking out against this scheme.

Thank you for helping to protect grizzly bears and other imperiled Rocky Mountain wildlife.

Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

Take action so grizzlies can rest easy this winter

Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,

Thanks to our legal action, we now have even more to celebratethis holiday season. Last week, a federal court rejected a planto expand destructive road-building in the Cabinet-Yaak andSelkirk wildlands that span Montana, Idaho and Washington. Theyare home to two of America's most imperiled grizzly bear populations.

But elsewhere in the vast, snow-covered ranges of the Rockies, anew threat to endangered grizzlies is looming. And we need your immediate online action to block it!

A major railroad company is plotting to use powerful military artillery to control avalanches along its railway in Glacier National Park. The deadline for public comments on this disastrous plan is December 29th, so please act quickly.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and tell Glacier officials that you support their preferred alternative, which would protect human safety, while safeguarding the park's magnificent wildlife and winter tranquility.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad has proposed firing explosives and dropping bombs from helicopters at Glacier'ssouthern boundary, even though scientific research has shown that such earth-shattering explosions are likely to disturb grizzly bear denning.

Instead, the company should upgrade its neglected, century-oldsystem of snow sheds to include overpasses for wildlife. Over the past 30 years, trains traveling along the borders of the park have killed at least 42 grizzlies, which are attracted tothe vegetation growing in avalanche chutes by the tracks, as well as grain spilled by railway cars.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and urge Glacier officials to reject Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad's reckless proposal and adopt an avalanche control plan that protects Glacier's natural values.

Thank you for all your efforts to protect grizzly bears andother imperiled Rockies wildlife.

Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/biogems_bears_1206