Time to organize to save Spencer Mountain

Here we go again. Seven years ago, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation came to town to announce that they were putting the state trust lands that surround Whitefish on the selling block for development.

These lands included, among others, all of Spencer Mountain, a prime area for the community for hiking, biking and horseback riding, and the Skyles/Beaver Lakes area, where the first section of the new Whitefish Trail has been constructed.

When the DNRC made that announcement, we joined together as a community to let DNRC know, in no uncertain terms, that these lands were critical to us, to our children and for generations to come.

This protest resulted in the development of the Whitefish School Trusts Lands Neighborhood Plan, which specified the uses that would be allowed on the state trust lands, and granted the community several years to develop a specific plan and to maintain the lands in public hands in perpetuity.

Enter DNRC again. The agency has announced that a timber sale is going to take place on Spencer Mountain. This timber sale they are proposing would destroy Spencer Mountain for recreational use. The level of tree cutting would create an artificial “parked out” look instead of the beautiful forest through which so many of us hike, ride bikes and ride horses.

Even worse, however, is that the plan calls for 19 miles (yes, 19 miles) of new roads to be cut into Spencer. Is this the precursor to preparing these lands for development? It is not lost on us that Spencer Mountain is the only portion of the trust lands that is already zoned for development. At the very least, it will destroy views, disturb wildlife habitat, and destroy Spencer Mountain’s attractiveness as a recreational area.

DNRC is saying that it’s really only an additional 10 miles, since there are already 9 miles of roads on the mountain. What they are not saying is that the 9 miles are old logging roads and skid trails that have long since been covered with vegetation and are now single-path trails. Imagine this — 19 miles of new roads is almost twice the distance between Whitefish and Kalispell.

DNRC has been approached with the proposition that they not move forward with this timber cut until a joint timber cut and recreational plan is established, much like what the community did with the Whitefish Neighborhood Plan that saved these prized lands for our area.

This way, the proposed timber cut could be done in such a way that it does not destroy the recreational value of Spencer Mountain. Doesn’t that make more sense than to just go ahead with the massive timber cutting, thereby destroying the community’s options for recreational planning?

Some feel that there needs to be a timber cut on Spencer, primarily to reduce fire danger. We couldn’t agree more. We just feel that it should be part and parcel of a comprehensive plan.

The agency has dug in their heels and is going to move forward with this disastrous, massive timber cut and with the new “highway system” on Spencer. They are, once again, trying to lull us to sleep by telling us that “it could have been worse, and we’ve made concessions in recognition of the community’s desire for recreational use.”

Fortunately, there was a strong group that wasn’t naïve enough to believe this the last time they said it, and we don’t believe it this time either. DNRC is not, in any meaningful way, going to consider the community’s interests.

It’s time again, folks. Time again for our community to come together to save a precious community resource. DNRC is going to seek formal approval next month for the timber cut, so we need to act quickly.

Friends of Spencer was the organization that got the ball rolling when DNRC came to town to sell these lands, and we’re stepping up again to fight for the preservation of one of the things that makes Whitefish so special.

Please send an e-mail to the Montana State Land Board expressing your concern (outrage?) regarding the timber sale. You can send it to lrichards@mt.gov.

Also, Friends of Spencer will hold a meeting to develop an action plan to fight for our future, and we’ll be announcing the time and place for the meeting in the next couple of weeks. If you would like to be notified about the meeting, please e-mail Leslie Hunt at leslieandwill@hotmail.com or phone me at 261-7950. 

Marshall Friedman, of Whitefish, is a member of the Friends of Spencer organization.