Whitefish Trail easements open for public comment

A land deal currently open for public comments aims to connect two sections of the Whitefish Trail.

Whitefish Legacy Partners has been working to conserve forests and build trails around Whitefish Lake since the early 2000s. Three conservation easements now awaiting approval would protect and link the network’s Beaver Lakes and Swift Creek sections.

Easements are permanent restrictions on land use.

“We’re basically going to remove the development rights from that property,” explained Alan Myers-Davis, Director of Development for Whitefish Legacy Partners. “Instead of 100 home sites around Smith Lake...we would protect that land.”

Under the deal, the city of Whitefish would purchase a 480-acre conservation easement covering Smith Lake, near Whitefish Lake’s north end.

“The most important part of this project that we can see is the protection of 480 acres around Smith Lake,” Myers-Davis said. The trails in that area would be upgraded from a temporary license to a permanent easement.

The city would also buy a third easement, 16 feet wide, connecting the trails around Smith Lake and Swift Creek with the Beaver Lake network to the southwest. Ten miles of new trail would be added along this route and nearby.

The easement sale is currently being reviewed by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which owns the woodlands. If it’s approved, Myers-Davis predicts it will cost $3 to $5 million, to be funded by Whitefish Legacy Partners. He said the group aims to secure both public funding and local donations.

Then, the trails will need to be designed, funded and built. “We want to be shovel ready with all of the easements in place and funding secured by 2020.”

Construction should take two to three years.

This project is the second phase of a long-term local initiative, “Close the Loop,” that aims to complete a trail circuit around Whitefish Lake. A trail on the lake’s east side will be inaugurated in May. Future segments will link it with Smith Lake.

That will give future visitors and Whitefish residents outdoors recreation access all around their namesake lake – a prospect that Myers-Davis said has driven the planning process.

“We were created out of this want and need for conservation and recreation opportunities on our local lands,” he said. “It’s been something that has been supported by a wide sector of the community for a very long time.”

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is taking public comments on the easement sale’s environmental assessment until April 21.

The assessment is available for review at dnrc.mt.gov. Click on the “Public Information” tab, then select “Public Notices.” The form is available under “Draft Environmental Assessment.”

Comments should be directed to Nicole Stickney of the Department’s Stillwater Unit, at nstickney@mt.gov or 881-2666.

Reporter Patrick Reilly can be reached at preilly@dailyinterlake.com, or at 758-4407.