Ten years ago, the Whitefish community was faced with the challenge to meet the requirements of a 10-year obligation to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to develop alternative revenue streams for the 13,000 acres of school trust land surrounding Whitefish. These lands are vital to our way of life and economy – open spaces, viewsheds, clean water, working forests, and connected landscapes. This past week, Whitefish Legacy Partners officially met its fundraising goal of $2 million to secure a permanent conservation and recreation easement on 1,520 acres in the Beaver Lakes area. A significant portion was funded by numerous private and nonprofit entities, notably Mike Goguen, Joe and Cindy Gregory, Jim and Lisa Stack, the Whitefish Community Foundation and equally important, the hundreds of donors who contributed $5, $50, $500, $5,000, and $50,000 dollars to make this project happen. We appreciate you, and we appreciate the efforts of Whitefish Legacy Partners!
As we celebrate this accomplishment, I transcend to a meeting that occurred over 11 years ago when the Whitefish community was presented with a plan that slated these lands for development. This meeting culminated in the development of the Whitefish Area Trust Lands Neighborhood Plan, a plan that was created collaboratively with multiple governmental and non-profit entities and mandated that the 13,000 acres of state lands surrounding Whitefish that have important natural resource and recreation values would be protected for the benefit of clean water, wildlife habitat, viewshed protection, and recreation. A critical element of this plan was to ensure these lands would forever be managed responsibly for a variety of forest product sales that help support our local economy while retaining the natural value of the lands for the benefit of the community.
Together with you, we met our obligation and we delivered our 10-year assessment and progress report to the Montana Board of State Land Commissioners on Dec. 15! With your leadership and support, we have exceeded the expectations of the neighborhood plan by permanently protecting over 3,000 acres of land while generating $12.5 million dollars in gross revenue for the trust land beneficiaries. Simply stated, this is unprecedented in the history of state land management.
Celebrate this accomplishment! Our hope is that your efforts and the conservation and economic model we have created in Whitefish will serve other Montana communities well into the future.
John Muhlfeld is the mayor of Whitefish