Recreation board to discuss revised trails plan

Flathead County residents love and use trails. They hike and bike and run. At least that’s what surveys suggest.

One such survey found that 45 percent of residents use trails at least once a week.

One vision of regional trail networks imagines the day when trails link up and offer the chance to bike or walk from the north shore of Flathead Lake to West Glacier. Or vice versa.

For example, the Great Northern Historical Trail that has a trailhead in Somers could someday connect to the Gateway to Glacier Trail that travels now between Hungry Horse and West Glacier.

Yet like a bulging tree root that has buckled trail pavement, there’s one obstinate worry that inhibits the full-bore embrace of trails by county officials. Who is going to pay to maintain these trails, new or existing, and where will the money come from?

In short, a sticking point has been maintenance with a capital “M.” And related concerns have stalled formal adoption of a revised Flathead County Trails Plan.

“We all love trails, but the funding mechanism for maintenance is certainly a concern for those in government,” said Jed Fisher, director of the Flathead County Department of Parks and Recreation.

The revised plan was prepared by the latest iteration of the People, Athletics, Travel, Health and Safety Advisory Committee, a group referred to by the acronym PATHS2.

Trail advocates, including those involved in the revision process, are hoping people will attend Monday’s meeting and encourage the Weed, Parks and Recreation Board to adopt the revised plan and send it on to county commissioners.

“Let’s just get this thing revised,” said Gabe Dillon, program coordinator for Foy’s to Blacktail Trails, one of the groups participating in PATHS2.

He said he hopes people who weigh in Monday demonstrate support for the county and an understanding about the dilemmas associated with paying for maintenance.

The PATHS2 committee tackled a revision of the Flathead County Trails Plan originally adopted in 2010. The first planning meeting occurred in August 2017. Participants in the public sessions included county staff and representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Flathead Land Trust, Rails to Trails of Northwest Montana, Whitefish Legacy Partners and Gateway to Glacier Trail, among others.

The draft Flathead County Trails Plan observes that a network of trails can increase business revenues, improve public health, increase property values of homes near trails and improve a community’s quality of life. It reports that an economic study of the effects of the Whitefish Trail suggest it is “associated with $3.2 million in new consumer spending annually, supporting 68 jobs.”

The draft also states that a survey found that “a significant amount of community members would like to see paved bike paths connecting the three cities: Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.”

But that won’t happen without a well-defined administrative framework, the plan reports.

“The trail network envisioned by this plan can be implemented only if a county-sanctioned entity takes lead responsibility for directing a program of planning, advocacy, fundraising, acquisition, construction, maintenance and monitoring,” the draft states.

It recommends that county commissioners delegate and fund one county board or department to manage the county’s trail program.

And the plan notes that the primary funding source for development and maintenance of trails “will likely come from grants and private fundraising,” but observes that “taxpayer funding may be a future option.” A property mill tax levy might provide a long-term funding source for maintenance and operations, the plan says, an option it notes would require a general election vote.

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.