Trail users rally to keep access in Haskill

A major conservation easement that would preserve more than 10,000 acres of F.H. Stoltze Land Lumber Co. property from development continues to move forward.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is pursuing two separate conservation easements. One is a 3,020-acre easement in Haskill Basin which would preserve open space and protect the city of Whitefish’s water supply. The second is a large block of land along Trumbull Creek just to the northwest of Columbia Falls. Both easements allow the 103-year-old company to continue to manage and harvest trees from the forests, while maintaining public access and prohibiting residential development.

“The big one is securing the city’s water supply,” said Alan Wood with FWP. “The goal is to prevent future development that could put the water supply at risk. Also allowing Stoltze to manage the forest for jobs and protecting the wildland urban interface.”

Flathead County’s population has grown 21 percent from 2000 to 2014 and the demand for wooded lots with views has grown, as well.

“Much of the high end residential market in the local area is driven by views, making the properties prime candidates for future luxury home developments,” an environmental assessment by FWP maintains.

The Stoltze family, meanwhile, has indicated a strong interest in keeping the forest intact, while managing it under the American Tree Farm System Program standards of sustainability.

At a public hearing on Monday, most said they support the easement, but some had concerns about the details in the agreement.

Noah Bodman, representing the Flathead Fat Tires, said the easement on Haskill Basin allows for dispersed recreation and biking on roads and on a proposed segment of Whitefish Trail, but it makes no mention of the miles of singletrack that already exist on the property.

“The use of the road system is an entirely different experience than the trail system,” he said. “The conservation easement doesn’t recognize the current trails and there is no specific mention of the trails there.”

Bodman said FWP has described the conservation easement as keeping the status quo of the property, but he disagreed that the document actually does that.

“There is a whole lot of singletrack there and this ignores that,” he said. “The taxpayers threw money at this and they want to make sure this stays put.”

Wood responded to the comments noting that a liaison team, made up of a representative each from the city, FWP and Stoltze, will continue to determine the management of the property in the future.

“Currently, Stoltze has exclusive right to manage the land,” he said. “Under the easement they will have two other partners deciding what is acceptable for use.”

He said the document guarantees dispersed recreation, but had to strike a balance between timber management, recreation, protecting wildlife and protecting the city’s water.

“It is not intended for the easement to secure unlimited public recreation,” he said. “The company has to manage the forest or the property has no value to them. Recreation needs to not interfere with their ability to manage the forest.”

The easements come with significant costs. The Haskill Basin easement will draw on a $7 million grant from the federal Forest Legacy Program, $2 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Habitat Conservation Plan land acquisition program and $7.7 million from the city of Whitefish. In addition, Stoltze has agreed to sell the easement at 75 percent of market value, a donation of $3.9 million. The total cost is $16.7 million.

The Trumbull Creek easement is a $9.5 million deal, with $6.5 million from the Forest Legacy program, $2 million from the Habitat Conservation Plan program and $1 million from private donations. The $1 million could potentially come from the Trust for Private Lands, said Wood.

The easements represent about 25 percent of all the land owned by Stoltze in the area, the assessment notes.

They are also another piece of a greater effort regionally to preserve working forests in the Crown of the Continent region.

Over the past couple of decades, more than 300,000 acres have been bought outright or have been put under easement through the efforts of FWP, the federal government and the Nature Conservancy, to name a few. Most of that land was or still is owned by Plum Creek Timber Co. The lands are home to a host of endangered or important western species, including grizzly bears, lynx and wolverines.

Wood said that after a public hearing, the project would next go in front of the Fish and Wildlife Commission and the State Land Board. If the boards approves it, the Haskill Basin easement could close by February. The Trumbull Creek easement, if it receives approval, hinges on the $1 million in private donations to close.