Lone Pine rising

Creating Lone Pine State Park from scratch today would be difficult if not impossible, and that's one reason why the urban-forest park on the western fringe of Kalispell has been a priority for improvements over the last year.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recently completed acquisition of a 40-acre addition to the 230-acre park. And it is on the verge of finishing a remodeling and expansion project at the visitor center, as well as a forestry health project on 70 acres.

It all couldn't have happened at a better time, Regional Parks Manager Dave Landstrom said.

Opportunities for acquiring additional land around Lone Pine are getting scarce, and the park's use has been increasing annually for the last decade.

"The park is now 80 acres bigger than it was just a few years ago," Landstrom said.

The latest acquisition from the Van Riper family required the assistance of the Flathead Land Trust to negotiate a conservation easement on the property, a move that lowered the price tag from an appraised $600,000 to $470,000.

Even the discounted price amounts to a remarkable contrast from the adjacent 40 acres of nearly identical forested land that was acquired in 2001 for just $205,000.

Landstrom is certain that the latest additions, on forested benches just above the valley floor, would be converted to home sites within a matter of years if they hadn't been purchased by the state. That is what will happen with other lands surrounding the park, he predicts.

"As the years go on, Lone Pine will definitely have more neighbors, which will make it all that more important," Landstrom said.

The land was donated in 1947 to become the second- oldest state park in Montana. The land remained undeveloped and was known as a party spot, or a destination for dumping garbage or riding motorcycles, until the early 1980s, when the visitor center was built.

Since then, trails gradually have been developed, many of them along old motorcycle trails, and the park has developed a growing and loyal constituency of day hikers.

Visitation has increased every year for the last decade, reaching 28,000 visitors five years ago and 38,000 visitors in the last year, Landstrom said.

"It certainly isn't 38,000 different people," Landstrom said, explaining how the park has an army of regular visitors.

"It's a place that gets them away from town, but it's something that's close to town. This is where you come four nights a week after work."

The demand for urban park destinations has grown nationwide, Landstrom said, with more people looking for places to walk their dogs rather than a wilderness experience.

The park has five miles of trails, and another mile will likely be "nested" into that network on the newly acquired 40 acres, Landstrom said.

The urban-wildland theme is being fully embraced in the remodeled visitor center, which is expected to open in early December.

"If there's anything to that buzz phrase - wildland urban interface - this is it," Landstrom said, looking down at the lower, forested reaches of the park and nearby clusters of homes on the valley floor.

The visitor center has been remodeled, and the nearby forestry project has been carried out, in a fashion aimed at setting an example for people living in fire-prone areas. Old cedar

siding has been replaced with a natural rock facade, while an old cedar shake roof has been replaced with asphalt shingles.

A 70-acre swath of forest that is largely used as an archery course has been thinned, with the goal of eradicating severe infestations of dwarf mistletoe and bark beetles. Timber sale proceeds from the work have helped subsidize the project, Landstrom said.

The visitor center will feature an interpretive gallery with exhibits highlighting the urban-wildland theme. The centerpiece will be a full-sized grizzly bear mount, with the bear positioned over a toppled garbage can.

"We'll be talking about the kind of stuff that we deal with out there," whether it's urban forestry, fire management or wildlife management, Landstrom said.

The 12,000-square-foot visitor center will continue to be a hub for outdoor education courses. This year, 1,800 school children have visited Lone Pine for classes on local flora and fauna, outdoor skills and other subjects.

For the last year, while construction has been under way, classes have been held in a large tent and a yurt. Future classes will be held in a refurbished classroom that accounts for a 1,000-square-foot addition to the facility.

Before the remodeling project, Landstrom said, the visitor center was "horribly under-insulated," to a point where it could not be used in the winter. Now the facility will be available for organizations to rent for meetings and conventions year-round, when it is not being used for classes.

The remodeling and expansion cost $840,000, with half coming from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and half coming from state park user fees.

A Fish, Wildlife and Parks land fund paid for the $470,000 property acquisition, against stiff competition from other regions that likely will have priority funding for years to come.

Sandy Van Riper said the addition to the state park is consistent with her family's vision for the land.

"Over the years, neighbors logged their land, homes were built on adjacent pieces and civilization encroached. We have turned down many offers from developers, but this special piece of land is in my trust," she said.

"It is my sincere wish that every child that grows up in the Flathead Valley will make a pilgrimage into the forest and spend a little time under those trees. There are fewer wilderness experiences to be encountered by our youth. But if we send our children into the wilderness to touch nature and respect it and understand it, our planet will be a better place."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com