Trail plan takes first step forward

Ambitious project could link 13,000 acres of land near Whitefish

On Tuesday, an ice fisherman carrying his auger trudged across Spencer Lake near Whitefish.

Nearby, a woman and her dogs walked down a snow-covered road on state land.

The two people were a snapshot of the varied user groups that recreate on state lands near Whitefish. And people like these may some day benefit from the work of a small group of individuals who are launching a campaign to build recreational trails on state land near Whitefish.

"A Trail Runs Through It" is an effort by several Whitefish community leaders to create a trail system on 13,000 acres of state-owned land near Whitefish. The project is just now getting off the ground, but if completed, it could provide more than 70 miles of hiking, biking and horse-riding trails.

The "Trail Runs Through It" project is part of the Whitefish state lands neighborhood plan that was finalized in October 2004. The trail project is being led by a partnership between the city of Whitefish and the nonprofit organization Flathead Gateway Partners. They're working with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Flathead National Forest, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and a citizen-based planning committee, which has recently begun to develop a master plan for the trail and its proposed route around Whitefish Lake linking state lands.

The state lands outlined in the neighborhood plan include Spencer Lake, Beaver Lake, Skyles Lake, Stillwater, Swift Creek, Haskill Basin and Happy Valley areas.

The neighborhood plan defines future uses for state lands and is the first large-scale, collaborative land-use plan that has been prepared for school trust lands in Montana. An advisory committee was established in September 2003 and completed its work in October 2004.

The first phase of this plan is the establishment of a recreation trail around Whitefish Lake and the town. The "Trail Runs Through It" project is the first part of the plan to be implemented.

Money to help build the trail system would come from private donations, and a meeting Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish will get the ball rolling on the capital campaign and begin gauging public sentiment toward the trail system.

The public-private partnership is managed by a steering committee that includes Whitefish Mayor Andy Feury, Whitefish City Council members Velvet Phillips-Sullivan and Nick Palmer, and Diane Conradi, Marshall Friedman and Steve Thompson of Flathead Gateway Partners. Also on the project team are Kate McMahon, Lisa Jones and Jen Molloy.

Thompson said the trail plan should be finalized by this summer.

"It's an ambitious project, but it seems to be generating a lot of enthusiasm," Thompson said.

The public meetings will help determine what kind of trail it will be and what other amenities, such as restrooms or camping facilities, it should include.

The public can provide comments through the trail system's Web site, www.trailrunsthroughit.org, starting Feb. 21.

Jones said it's important that a wide swath of community members be involved in the planning process.

"It's not just a few people saying, 'We're doing this,'" she said. "We want the community's input. People need to just show up. They might think they don't have anything to contribute, but once they get there they'll find they have things to contribute."

THE PROJECT is not just about creating a recreational trail. The project also addresses the "It" in the name.

"It" is the 13,000 acres of state

school-trust land that has been traditionally used for logging, recreation and agriculture. Sustainable logging would still be allowed under the state's plan. But when the state several years ago began to consider other uses for the land, including development, a civic uproar ensued. Citizens like Thompson helped draft the plan that would help keep these lands open to public recreational use and continued, sustainable forest practices.

Thompson admits that creating this trail system is an ambitious project for a nonprofit group. But the trail could represent more than just being able to go mountain biking or walk a dog. The trail represents the thread that holds these lands together, free from commercial development.

"We've lost so much of that land around the Flathead Valley, it takes a fairly ambitious vision to maintaining those values into the future," Thompson said.

Whitefish is proud to have accomplished community projects such as the Wave fitness center and O'Shaughnessy cultural arts center, Thompson said, but the "great outdoors" sometimes get overlooked.

"People have finally realized we can't take for granted these traditional recreational opportunities," Thompson said. He also mentioned the fact that it's amenities such as recreation that attract people here.

"It's because it's a beautiful place to live, we have clean water and air, open lands, and some of the best hunting and fishing in North America," Thompson said. "Those are our most important economic assets."

If we don't take care of them, he said, "We'd be killing the goose that laid the golden egg."

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the state lands' governing body, "has been really responsive" to the project and community's interests, Thompson said.

Thompson is a volunteer for Flathead Gateway Partners, a new nonprofit organization created to facilitate collaborative partnerships in the Flathead Valley, with the goal of helping maintain natural amenities, promote conservation and open space. The trail project is the first one the group has tackled.

Jones approaches the "Trail Runs Through It" project two ways: one as a tourism marketer and another as a Whitefish resident.

As a community member, these kinds of recreational amenities "are the reason we live here," she said.

As a business person who promotes tourism and recreation in Northwest Montana, Jones said, "These are the type of people we want to attract to Whitefish" by having such amenities. "We want people who have an appreciation for the open spaces, wildlife and environment because those are the kind of people who will continue to preserve and respect these lands.

"I think this is a wonderful project that we'll be able to pass down to generations as Whitefish continues to grow. It's so important we preserve this jewel of Whitefish."

On the Net:

www.trailrunsthroughit.org