Officials hope to balance recreation, forest heath at Spencer, Beaver Lake areas

A proposed timber sale on state land stretching from Spencer to Beaver lakes in the Whitefish area received 70 public comments during its scoping period in February.  

An interdisciplinary team of the Kalispell and Stillwater units of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is evaluating the comments and expects to release an environmental assessment for the project this summer.  

The high number of comments is not surprising to state officials given that, for decades, Spencer has been a flagship of public lands used for multi-use recreation.  

“We received significant public feedback highlighting the importance of the project area to the Whitefish community and the recreational opportunities it provides,” a statement from the DNRC said.   

In addition to recreation, comments from the community highlighted aesthetics, forest operations and silviculture techniques, wildland fire hazard and fuel loading, project economics, wildlife habitat, water quality, soil erosion and air quality, according to the DNRC, who has not yet made the comments available for public viewing.

The proposed logging project area includes 1,700 acres at Spencer and 2,800 acres near Beaver Lake, with 33 miles of road improvements. The main impacts would be on 200 acres at Spencer leaving six to 10 trees per acre, a 150-acre East Spencer area leaving two to four overstory trees per acre, and varied prescriptions at Murray Lake and North Beaver, according to a statement from Whitefish Legacy Partners released prior to the comment period.  

Whitefish Legacy Partners, which maintains the Whitefish Trail system, expressed concern that the project may “scar” the landscape. 

After the commenting period, Whitefish Legacy Partners stated that they “appreciate the state's review of the project and know they will thoughtfully seek the appropriate balance.”  

SINCE 2005, Flathead Area Mountain Bikers has been working to preserve and maintain trails at Spencer Mountain, a portion of the land in the proposed timber project. 

The Spencer area also has trails maintained by Whitefish Legacy Partners. Spencer is frequented by bikers, hikers and Bar W Guest Ranch led horseback riding. The Whitefish Rifle and Shooting Club range is also nearby. 

“Spencer is a unique chunk of state land. There’s a lot of moving pieces for 2,000 acres of land,” said Ron Brandt, executive director of Flathead Area Mountain Bikers. 

The city of Whitefish holds a land use license from the DNRC allowing public access to Spencer. That license stands as a major victory for recreationists in Whitefish’s history after a threat of selling the public land at Spencer to a private developer in 2005.

Flathead Area Mountain Bikers and the Legacy Partners pay the annual $17,514 cost of the license to allow for the maintenance and use of the trails. The original license – which took until 2014 to finalize, lasted 10 years and was renewed for another 10 years in 2024. 

Spencer, unlike other sections of the Whitefish Trail, requires individual users to have an annual $10 license from the DNRC, something many recreationists are unaware of. 

Now, with a timber project on the table, striking balance continues to remain fundamental at Spencer.  

“Similar problems, new issues,” Brandt said. “It’s not easy, but we can work together to find a middle ground. FAMB isn’t saying no logging, but we feel there is a way to recognize that there are benefits to recreation.” 

For the DNRC, balancing a large number of stakeholders is just one of their tasks.  The agency is legally required to produce revenue from timber sales on state trust lands to support Montana schools. 

The demand for Spencer will likely grow in the future with reconstruction of U.S. 93 West beginning this summer. The project will increase accessibility to Spencer and the Beaver Lakes area by extending a shared-use path, allowing safe access for bikers and hikers to connect to the city and other trails.  

“Yes, there’s bumps. But in general, working with people, on the ground, interactions are positive,” Brandt said.   

“We all live here for a reason. And for a lot of us, it’s the outdoors. That’s why we’re here.”