Event celebrates Haskill land deal

An event this month in Whitefish will celebrate the preservation of about 3,000 acres of forestland through the Haskill Basin conservation easement.

Five years in the making, the easement to keep future development out of Whitefish’s main watershed became official this spring after it was finalized by The Trust for Public Land, the city of Whitefish, F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co., and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks.

The Trust for Public Land, along with the other partners of the project, are holding the celebration event Saturday, July 16 at Depot Park. The event will also celebrate Montana Open Lands month, which is in July.

“It’s a monumental project that had overwhelming citizen support,” Mayor John Muhlfeld said. “This is the time to have a celebration of that. We want as many folks as possible to attend — this is a celebration of open lands, but also of Haskill Basin.”

Stoltze remains the landowner and will continue to maintain a working forest in Haskill, but the easement retires the company’s development rights to the land while providing permanent recreation access and protection of the two creeks that feed the city’s drinking water supply. The deal also gave the city legal access to its water supply intakes in Haskill, something that was previously protected on little more than a handshake. About 75 percent of the city’s water comes from Second and Third creeks in Haskill Basin.

The Trust for Public Land brokered the $20 million deal. Stoltze provided a donation of almost $4 million to the purchase and $9 million in federal grants was secured in 2013 to set the project’s financial foundation. Then in April 2015, Whitefish voters overwhelmingly approved a 1 percent increase of the resort tax to provide an additional $7.7 million to complete funding.

The late Alex Diekmann, who worked for the Trust for Public Land, orchestrated the deal to complete the Haskill Basin conservation easement. Through his work, TPL secured the initial $9 million in funding for the deal and he was instrumental in choreographing the deal between all the parties involved. Diekmann died of cancer in February at his Bozeman home.

Muhlfeld said Diekmann’s family plans to attend the Whitefish event.

“We hope to acknowledge all the work he did on this project,” Muhlfeld said.

Montana’s congressional delegation, along with the partners on the project including Stoltze, FWP, and the city will be in attendance to speak during the event. There will be a demonstration of stream dynamics and a performance by kids from the Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center Camp. Free Food and drinks will be available.

The Haskill Basin celebration is July 16 from 10 a.m. to noon at Depot Park.