I’m sure the Whitefish Trail folks are pretty excited. They’ve finally presented their Public Recreation and Conservation Initiative, the required second “implementation” step in the Whitefish Neighborhood Plan approved by the state Land Board back in 2004.
It proposes a sale of 530 acres of Common Schools trust land so Michael Goguen can add to his estate above Mackinaw Bay, and a purchase of conservation rights on 1,500 acres of state trust lands.
Now, while public recreation and conservation are both wonderful, some folks seem to have forgotten the full name of the Plan: Whitefish School Trust Lands Neighborhood Plan. But the trust beneficiaries have certainly not forgotten.
As the plan itself explains on page 47, “School trust assets cannot be diverted to accomplish other nontrust goals without capturing the full market value of that use for the financial benefit of the trust beneficiaries.”
So, what kind of “full market value” should the plan capture? Well, the plan appendix reads on page 51 that average Northwest Montana raw land was selling for $8,743 per acre in 2003. Therefore, the various trusts should have eventually scored $113 million as plan trust lands went to the highest bidders – plus the plan duly acknowledges that “actual appraisals around Whitefish are likely to be higher.”
WSTLNP presented a different vision: In a phased process over a period of 20 years, some of the land (10 percent or about 1,300 acres) would be sold on the open market for top dollar. But most would be preserved from development, paid for by “conservation buyers” willing to buy “development rights” from the trust beneficiaries for an average $4,370 per acre. Applied across the 11,700 acres “saved,” that was about $51 million.
Some beneficiary trustees bucked at having their interests sold at a discount. In general, they questioned the ability of the Whitefish Neighborhood Plan to produce the mandated full market value. Proponent Alan Elm of Whitefish then responded directly, telling the Land Board the “plan very much anticipates getting full market value for any conservation uses […] implemented within the plan.” The Land Board approved the plan unanimously.
So, where are we today, seven years of 20 down the “trail” to $51 million in conservation money to the trustees? How about the additional full-value sale of the sacrificial 1,300 acres – which should be around $11.3 million?
Well, in 2008 there was the Lupfer land swap with Mr. Goguen, in which he also donated $3.1 million to the City of Whitefish.
What did the trust beneficiaries get? The Public Buildings trust was assigned the 570 Lupfer acres, which had a pre-existing Flathead Land Trust conservation easement and is to be managed for “old growth” – even though the plan notes “State trust lands cannot be utilized for old growth timber preservation” without full compensation.
Most of Goguen’s donation to Whitefish, plus $500,000 of off-road gas tax money, went to the design and construction of the 19 miles of the Whitefish Trail system – which in turn has paid $47,687 in lease/license revenue up to April 18, 2011.
But there was another million entrusted to the city for purchasing “conservation” rights in accordance with the plan. After several years of dickering, first through a steering committee, then a Revenue, Recreation and Conservation Core Group, a Legacy Lands Advisory Committee finally decided Goguen’s million will be applied to 1,500 acres of permanent protections.
There’s supposed to be more: As Whitefish Legacy Partners’ website explains, to complete the project “we need to raise $1 million locally by the end of the year.” That’s $2 million – across 1,500 acres, an average of $1,333. But that is far short of the plan’s $4,370/acre goal.
Meeting the plan would require a payment of $6.5 million to the affected beneficiaries, but that’s not being offered – yet, and the proposed sale to Goguen is a separate transaction that itself seems on the slim side.
While the partners are excited, the ongoing inability of the Whitefish School Trust Lands Neighborhood Plan to produce full value is probably making certain school trust beneficiaries very upset – upset enough to call a lawyer.