Senators push for Whitefish Lake Watershed Project

Montana’s U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester are urging continued support and funding for the Whitefish Lake Watershed Project.

In a letter to Jim Kurth, Acting Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, both the Republican and Democrat, respectively, cite the importance of the project.

“This investment will further help conserve the outdoor way of life in the Whitefish area, protect critical investments in water quality for the city of Whitefish, secure working forests, and protect habitat important to many of Montana’s iconic wildlife species,” they wrote in a May 22 letter.

The project is ranked among the highest priorities for the U.S. Forest Legacy Program for fiscal year 2017, with $7 million slated for the proposed conservation easement.

The easement is located on 15,000 acres of commercial timberland owned by Weyerhauser. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks also released a scoping notice last week seeking public input on the proposed purchase of the conservation easement.

A preliminary price tag for the conservation easement has been estimated at $40 million.

In 2016 the USFWS awarded the project $2 million, and previously provided $2 million each for the Trumbull Creek project north of Columbia Falls and the Haskill Basin conservation easement northeast of Whitefish.

Adding support for the conservation of the Stillwater lands owned by Weyerhauser is key in protecting an important habitat, the senators say.

“This remarkable 13,000-acre property hosts the same array of fish and wildlife species that merited the Service’s previous investments in this area, including the bull trout, Canada lynx and the grizzly bear. Likewise, their scenic value, watershed importance (with key drainages into Whitefish Lake itself), and significance to public recreation cannot be overstated,” they said.

Under the proposed agreement for the project, The Trust for Public Land will have an option to purchase 1,920 acres and establish a conservation easement on the remaining 13,414 acres, which Weyerhauser will continue to own and manage as a working forest. The purchased lands will likely eventually be transferred into public ownership or to a conservation buyer.

The project works alongside conservation efforts by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Habitat Conservation Plan and the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program. The easement would prevent future development on the property, but Weyerhauser would still continue to log the property under Sustainable Forest Initiative standards.

The project has been praised as a way to protect critical fish and wildlife habitat, provide continued public access to the property and protect the city of Whitefish’s water supply.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission in October endorsed the conservation easement that has been identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan as one of the top conservation priorities in the area.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking initial public input on the proposed purchase of the easement on 16 sections and wants to identify issues, concerns or other information that should be considered. Comments on the easement proposal should be submitted by June 7 to either Kris Tempel, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, 490 North Meridian Road, Kalispell, MT 59901 or ktempel@mt.gov.

More information on the public scoping is available at http://fwp.mt.gov/news/publicNotices/publicScoping/pn_0010.html.