On April 18, 1985, the International Joint Commission (IJC) established the Flathead River International Study Board to examine current water use, water quality, and fisheries of the Flathead River at the United States-Canadian border and to evaluate the effect upon the river of the construction, operation, and reclamation of the proposed Cabin Creek Coal Mine in British Columbia. The IJC was created in 1909 as part of the Boundary Waters Treaty as... a means of arbitrating disputes between Canada and the United States over water issues. The Board, chaired jointly by Jim Posewitz, Montana Dept. of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and E.M. Clark, Inland Waters Directorate, created six technical committees to collect and analyze data relevant to the proposed mine: the Mine Development Committee, the Water Quality and Quantity Committee, the Biological Resources Committee, the Water Uses Committee,the Water Quality Criteria Subcommittee, and the Limnology Task Force. Over a four year period, 1985-1988, public hearings were held in Montana and British Columbia and technical reports were written analyzing potential impacts on the Flathead River. In December 1988 the Board recommended that the mine, as proposed, not be approved because of concerns about impact on stream fisheries and habitat, resources protected in Article IV of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Shortly thereafter, on December 15, 1988, the Canadian coal company, Rio Algom, announced that it would not pursue development of the Cabin Creek Coal Mine due to the low price of coal.