On March 19, representatives from the city of Whitefish and the conservation group Whitefish Legacy Partners presented the state Land Board with a plan to permanently protect approximately 2,000 acres of public and private land just west of the city for conservation and recreational purposes.
The proposal, called Whitefish Legacy Lands, is the second major project of the Whitefish Area School Trust Lands Neighborhood Plan, enacted in 2004 to address the future of 13,000 acres of school trust lands surrounding Whitefish. The plan’s goal is to conserve both private and public lands with a focus on providing recreation opportunities and ensuring continued revenues for state trust beneficiaries.
The plan’s first project was the Whitefish Trail, the result of a series of private and public land transactions. Nineteen miles of trail have been constructed since 2010, with a total of 30 to 40 miles planned all together, snaking around Whitefish Lake through federal, state and private lands.
The Whitefish Legacy Lands project seeks to secure permanent conservation and recreational access on roughly 2,000 acres – the majority of which is public – across the Beaver Lakes, Skyles and Spencer Mountain areas, while allowing for continued timber management.
Such a deal will require transactions with a variety of private and public landowners, including the purchase of easements, partnerships with private conservation buyers and land trusts, and possibly land exchanges.
City officials and Whitefish Legacy Partners (WLP) are in negotiations with landowners, though talks are still in the early stages. According to WLP’s outreach director, Becky Edwards, they hope to finalize the various transactions in time to offer a proposal to the Land Board by early fall, at which time the board would vote on the project.
Mayor John Muhlfeld, who traveled to Helena on March 19 to present the plan to the Land Board, said the city and Whitefish Legacy Partners throughout the years-long process of implementing the neighborhood plan have “forged innovative public and private partnerships.” Partners include the U.S. Forest Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Flathead Land Trust and private landowners.
“These partnerships ensure that our most valuable community assets are permanently protected, including our clean water, healthy forests, vital wildlife habitat and public access to these special places,” Muhlfeld said.
At the March 19 Land Board meeting, Muhlfeld and Lin Akey, Whitefish Legacy Partners board chair and Glacier Bank’s Whitefish branch president, also gave an update on the Whitefish Trail.
Four more miles of the Whitefish Trail are expected to be built north of Whitefish Lake this year. The trail system is located just minutes from downtown Whitefish and is a popular destination for hiking and mountain biking. Ultimately it will connect with the trail system at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
After the March 19 meeting, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who chairs the Land Board, praised the public-private efforts to conserve land around Whitefish, according to a press release from Whitefish Legacy Partners.
“I am encouraged by the ingenuity the folks in Whitefish have shown in their ability to think outside of the box,” Schweitzer said. “These partnerships mutually benefit all involved, and we hope your group will be able translate this effort into a ‘how-to’ manual to share with communities across Montana.”