Max Baucus, the five-term Democratic U.S. senator from Montana, has found another issue to reinforce his reputation as the biggest American burr under British Columbia's saddle.

Already well known for his advocacy of bans on U.S. imports of beef and softwood lumber, he has added coal to the list.

He says the British Columbia government, operating in the "dead of night," issued approval for coal exploration in the southeast corner of the province by Cline Mining Corp.

The permit allows Cline to spend about C$1.8 million on 51 diamond drill holes in the East Kootenay coalfields, one of the richest deposits in North America. The Ontario-based company is targeting 1 million to 2 million tons a year of coal production.

The fields are part of the Flathead River Valley, a watershed that flows into Montana close to Glacier National Post. They are also in what the B.C. Energy and Mines Ministry has designated a "core grizzly bear habitat."

It is the same watershed that was at the center of a furor last summer when Baucus and the Montana government challenged the B.C. government's plans to sell coalbed methane licenses in the nearby Elk Valley area, although the cross-border showdown fizzled when no bids were received.

Interested parties in Montana and Canada subsequently opened negotiations on a comprehensive environmental assessment of the area, in hopes of avoiding future site-specific battles.

Baucus spearheaded the coalbed methane opposition, 20 years after leading a successful campaign to block coal mining in the Flathead Valley because of the threat to a United Nations-designated wilderness area in his state.

Coal prices, mining interest revives

With the revival of coal mining interest in the Flathead, propelled by a three-fold increase in coal prices over the last 18 months, Baucus is ready to do battle again.

He has threatened to refer the latest approvals to the International Joint Commission, a joint U.S.-Canada body which rules on disagreements over water use.

But B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Richard Neufeld argued the Cline project is a long way from any water courses that flow into Montana, arguing it would be "ridiculous" for the province to allow any harm to a river.

He suggested Baucus is opposed to any development that creates jobs and revenue in British Columbia.

In February, the senator got a chilly reception in Fernie, B.C., when he invited himself to a community meeting on the Cline proposal.

Bill Bennett, a member of the British Columbia legislature, tangled with Baucus when he first arrived, telling him "you're actually not welcome here," after 25 years of standing in the way of Canada's beef, softwood lumber and coal.

"I wouldn't dream of coming to Montana to tell you how to manage your natural resources, so I resent the fact you're here," he said, before storming out of the meeting and taking 30 supporters with him.

"You have chosen throughout your career to kick the hell out of Canada and you've got to stop doing it," he told Baucus.

Taking a conciliatory approach, Baucus said his understanding had been "raised to a new level" over Canadian concerns about beef, lumber and mining.