Flathead Wild Premieres At Wild & Scenic

Proposed mountaintop removal mining in southeastern British Columbia, Canada is threatening one of America’s most endangered rivers and North America’s wildest remaining valley — The Flathead. Our new film — Flathead Wild — follows the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) as we descended on the Flathead River Valley, along with local conservation groups, to take breathtaking and iconic images of the threatened ecosystem. These images then act as tools for the Flathead coalition to help tip the scales in favor of protection and conservation. Flathead Wild will premiere at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at the Nevada Theater in Nevada City, Calif. Saturday, Jan. 16. Flathead Wild is also now available online.

Epicocity's Trip Jennings filming in the Flathead. ©Christina Mittermeier, iLCP

“We need strong, credible images to give a voice to places that cannot speak for themselves,” said Cristina Mittermeier, iLCP’s executive director. “It’s so easy for mining companies to claim that there’s nothing in the Flathead — so we used our cameras to show how much there is to be lost. Images are irrefutable evidence of the beauty of our planet and the critical resources we can’t afford to lose.”

The Flathead Valley is comprised of nearly 400,000 acres of wilderness located in southeastern British Columbia, straddling the Canada/U.S. border. Home to the most grizzly bears per acre of anywhere in the interior of North America and the pristine Flathead River, the Flathead Valley is the only unsettled, low-elevation valley of its kind in Western Canada.

The Flathead boasts the highest concentration of Grizzly bears in North America. ©Joe Riss, iLCP

“Change is inevitable, but we have the opportunity here to protect an irreplaceable wildland and natural resource. If we let the Flathead fall to mining pressures — we will never be able to bring it back,” said Ryland Nelson, the Southern Rockies program coordinator of Wildsight. “With a free-flowing, pristine river and the highest concentration of inland grizzlies in North America, the Flathead Valley is one of the most biologically important places on earth — we have to act now for our environment, wildlife and present and future generations.”

American Rivers named the Flathead America's 4th Most Endangered River. Its pristine waters are not only a biological gem for the ecosystem, but provide a bounty of opportunities for recreation. Don't you want to save it for these lil' guys? ©Christina Mittermeier, iLCP

It’s up to us to save this wild place. We have to act now — not tomorrow, or a year from now — we have to take action now. Please pass this video on to your friends, family, everyone! Here’s the link: http://www.vimeo.com/7775085. Write a blog about it, post it on Facebook and Twitter. We can do it! Let’s save the Flathead!

And if you’re in the area, make sure to check out the premiere of Flathead Wild at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Nevada Theater (401 Broad Street) in Nevada City, Calif. The film will go on tour as well, so check out the schedule for upcoming tour dates: http://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org/

Learn more about the Flathead WILD campaign: http://www.flathead.ca/
Learn more about iLCP’s Flathead RAVE campaign: http://www.ilcp.com//?cid=193

Other partners involved in the production of this film include: LightHawk, The Wild Foundation, National Parks Conservation Association, Alpine Aire Foods, Wilburforce Foundation, The Sierra Club, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and Flathead Wild.

~ by epicocity on January 14, 2010.