Event celebrates Haskill Basin protection

Huddled under a tent to hide from a steady rain Saturday morning, state and city leaders gathered at Depot Park in Whitefish to celebrate the preservation of 3,000 acres of forestland through the recently completed Haskill Basin conservation easement.

Montana’s two U.S. senators and officials from the Trust for Public Land and F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. spoke about the importance of permanently preserving Haskill’s forests and water resources.

“At heart, I’m a forester, and today we’re growing trees,” said Chuck Roady, vice president and general manager at Stoltze, making note of the rain.

Roady said he was proud to see so many different public and private entities come together to finalize the deal.

The easement wrapped up this spring after five years of planning by the Trust for Public Land, the city of Whitefish, Stoltze and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. A $4 million donation from Stoltze, $9 million in federal grants and $7.7 million from Whitefish’s resort tax funded the deal.

While Stoltze will remain the landowner and continue to maintain the forest, the easement prevents future development on the land. The deal also provides recreation access and protects the watershed that provide about 75 percent of Whitefish’s drinking water.

“We’re really fortunate in Montana to have the ability to work together on projects like Haskill Basin,” Roady said of the collaborative effort.

Sens. Jon Tester, Democrat, and Steve Daines, Republican, both were in attendance Saturday.

“It’s great to be in Whitefish. A lot better than D.C., isn’t it, Jon?” Daines said, looking at Tester with a smile. The two senators highlighted the importance of preserving Montana’s one-of-a-kind scenery and the role the federal government had in working with all the parties involved in the Haskill easement.

“These ecosystems are not going to be around forever,” Tester said. “They’re going to be changed if we don’t work to protect them, and that’s what the Land & Water Conservation Fund is all about.”

The late Alex Diekmann orchestrated the deal for the Trust for Public Land, helping secure the federal grants that became the financial foundation for the project. Diekmann died of cancer at his Bozeman home in February. Diekmann’s widow, Lisa, and youngest son, Liam, attended Saturday’s celebration.

Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld, who became a close friend of Diekmann through the project, presented Diekmann’s family with a commemorative plaque on behalf of the community, stressing the role he played in putting the deal together.

“This project just would not have happened without his leadership, his courage and his vision to move this project forward,” Muhlfeld said. “He was so happy to know this project was going to come to a closure. It gave him a lot of peace in his last few days.”

In addition to the speakers, the celebration also included a musical performance by the Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center Camp.