Trail group makes critical fundraising push

Whitefish Legacy Partners has hit a crucial point in its fundraising efforts for development of the Whitefish Trail. About $750,000 needs to be raised by December to complete a land deal that allowed the trail to pass through the Beaver Lakes area.

Legacy Partners executive director Heidi Van Everen says there is a sense of urgency to reach their goal before interest payments are due.

“We’re making a critical push this summer,” she said. “We’re leaning on residents and businesses to step up. I don’t think people realize we still need money for Beaver Lakes.”

The $750,000 is the remaining balance from the original $2 million fundraising campaign.

The recreation easement approved in 2012 allowed expansion of the Whitefish Trail to connect Murray, Beaver, Woods, Dollar and Little Beaver Lakes. It also retired development rights and allowed public access to 1,520 acres of school trust state land.

Van Everen said the recent excitement about a proposed easement in Haskill Basin has unintentionally taken the focus off the Beaver Lakes fundraising effort. Up to $8 million is needed for the Haskill deal. The Legacy Partners are planning to raise $3 million for the project through private donations, but those efforts won’t begin until 2015.

“We’re planning for Haskill, but first we need to check off the Beaver Lakes goal,” Van Everen said.

The Legacy Partner’s funding initiatives for the next six years include $750,000 for Beaver Lakes, $150,000 for Phase I of Spencer Mountain and $300,000 for Phase II, about $2 million for trail development on the north end of Whitefish Lake, about $1.5 million for easements and trail development on Big Mountain and the $3 million for Haskill Basin. About $150,000 is needed for annual operations.

For more information about how to donate or to learn about the fundraising initiatives, visit www.whitefishlegacy.org.