Lands plan needs to be cautious
Montanans, pay attention, because the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is on the precipice of a very steep slope with a proposed plan for managing school trust lands.
The plan gives the department new direction that could steer some trust lands far from traditional uses such as logging and grazing and into commercial development.
The purpose, of course, is to provide a better financial return on trust lands. That could be good for schools and for communities, but the rub here is whether the change will be in keeping with a mandate to generate more revenue for perpetuity. There is also the question of just how much the state should be dabbling in real estate development.
There are plenty of reasons to be concerned when a state "real estate bureau" is told to take a more active role in developing state lands.
Right away, one has to be leery that development will involve selling rather than leasing school trust lands. Under the proposed plan, as much as 10,800 acres of state land could be developed for residential property by 2025, although the actual results will most likely be in the range of 3,200 to 5,400 acres.
While it's a statewide plan, the lion's share of development is expected to occur in Northwest Montana, undoubtedly because of the region's hyperactive real estate market.
There are two ways to look at that. If the state has school trust land that falls logically within an area that is bound for development, it would be inappropriate to try to keep that land for grazing. Section 36 north of Kalispell is a perfect example of trust land that had a higher and better use for sports fields, a new high school and commercial development than it did for continued agricultural use.
On the other hand, we can't help but worry that this new direction could create a real estate bureaucracy, with marching orders to sell off public lands for the highest bid. If that's the case, it's easy to predict state land being auctioned to wealthy out-of-state buyers.
In fairness, the acreage outlined in the plan accounts for just 1 percent of all state trust lands, and it does put an appropriate emphasis on developing trust lands around urban areas.
But we fear that once an aggressive development policy is in place and put to use, there will be a temptation to consider offers on state land that has for decades provided access to fishing, hunting and recreation in more remote areas.
Our school trust lands are not a simple commodity. They belong to the people of Montana, and have values beyond their development potential. The recent collaboration between DNRC and the community of Whitefish shows that there are ways to use state land that are creative and enduring.
The Land Board should adopt a cautious and deliberative long-term development policy, not an aggressive one looking for quick and easy results.