Request seeks new road in Smith Lake area, nonprofit says more information needed on impact

A request has been submitted to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Stillwater Unit to construct a new road north of Whitefish Lake.

Eagle Rock Montana LLC is seeking an easement exchange that includes constructing about 1.7 miles of new road starting from the DNRC’s existing East Smith Road and the East Lakeshore junction to the east of Smith Lake. DNRC is taking comments on the proposal through Aug. 11.

Dave Ring, unit manager for the Stillwater Forest, says the road would provide access for three adjacent landowners and DNRC for future forest management activities.

“The road would allow us access for forest management, but it’s also a common thing for people needing access to their property to request this,” he said. “We have to determine if it will benefit the trust.”

The DNRC Trust Land Management Division manages Montana’s state trust lands to generate revenue for Montana schools.

The proposed road would run through the area that has been identified as part of the planned Smith Lake conservation easement.

Ring says an environmental assessment of the proposed road will factor in the Smith Lake Conservation Easement.

“A component of the environmental assessment would be to address these two projects as they line up,” he said.

Whitefish Legacy Partners, the nonprofit behind the Whitefish Trail, in 2019 obtained approval from DNRC for a public recreation use easement on about 480 acres surrounding Smith Lake, along with corresponding trail easements in the same area, while still allowing for timber management by DNRC. Legacy Partners, however, still has to apply to the state Land board for approval to purchase the Smith Lake easement and trail easements before those would be finalized.

Heidi Van Everen, executive director of Whitefish Legacy Partners, said at this point it’s unclear without more information how the proposed road might impact the recreation and conservation component of the proposed Smith Lake easement and the planned section of the Whitefish Trail in that area.

Van Everen says further analysis of the road project will hopefully consider the cumulative effects and possible negative impacts it would have on the Smith Lakeconservation easement and future trails.

The road could undermine the conservation values of the state land that the community is hoping to protect, she notes, and create less interest in the conservation easement, which has the potential to generate $3 million to $4 million for the state school trusts.

The Smith Lake recreation use easement is a community-driven

project, she says, following the goals set forth in the 2004 Whitefish Neighborhood Plan to “remove development rights, support wildlife and fish habitat, ensure clean water, protect open lands and scenic views, and support continued timber management by the state while generating a reliable, annual revenue stream for the schools and universities of Montana.”

The East Smith Road currently has a small parking area for hiking and biking and a gate restricting motorized access. The future design would include a parking area and the road will continue to be closed to motorized use beyond the gate.

The road would be open to the public for nonmotorized use, Ring notes, and the DNRC is working to determine how many trips per day would be allowed for property owners.

After reviewing the comments during the scoping period, DNRC will determine what further environmental assessment is required by the Montana Environmental Policy Act. Specialists including wildlife biologists, hydrologists, soil scientists and archeologists will be consulted on the proposal.

State trust lands are managed to generate revenue to benefit educational institutions while promoting healthy, resilient, and diverse forests for future generations, according to the DNRC. The School for the Deaf and Blind in Great Falls is the beneficiary trust of this proposal.

For questions or comments on the proposed easement, contact Dave Ring at dring@mt.gov or by calling 406-881-2371.