fbpx

Robbing Peter

Why must everyone except Whitefish foot what is a crazy-big bill?

By Dave Skinner

Early this month came major developments in the Haskill Basin/Whitefish/F.H. Stoltze conservation project. Added to the initial 3,020 acres in Haskill Creek was another 7,150 acres of F.H. Stoltze land on Trumbull Creek to the packet, plus 9.5 million more federal dollars, raising the ante to $26.2 million. Holy cow, Batman!

When looking at deals like this, even those funded with other people’s money, I still like to examine how such deals actually pencil out for the real buyers – you, me and everyone else.

Last week, Bozeman Chronicle reporter Eric Dietrich put together a nifty article on “Who Owns Gallatin County” that listed Gallatin’s biggest landowners and, importantly, the property valuations – which (in theory at least) are based upon a property’s ability to pay for itself through either income or future sale. Capitalism, ya know….

Uncle Sam is Gallatin’s biggest landowner, of course, 724,000 acres worth $186 per acre. Climbing Arrow Ranch: $98 an acre. Ted Turner’s ranch: $237 an acre. Dietrich even examined some former Northern Pacific land grant timber which late Idaho zillionaire Ron Yanke bought in order to supply his R-Y Timber sawmills. Valuation? $246 per acre.

I then went to the same Montana Cadastral site reporter Dietrich used and pinged on the F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. parcels. A random “grab” of 279 Trumbull acres is valued at $118,766, or $425 per acre, another full section comes to $458, another half $634. Moving over to the Haskill portion, 440 acres, $398/acre. And 208 acres right back of Iron Horse? $457/acre.

As working-forest valuations, these numbers make perfect sense. Stoltze has always carefully kept its land well-stocked and productive, plus the Yanke parcels are higher, drier and colder.

But the tag for Haskill is off the charts – $5,529/acre; and $1,328/acre for Trumbull. Once that money goes in, it will never, ever come back out. So what the heck is really going on here?

Robbing Peter to pay for Paul’s goodies, of course.

Back when America was a capitalist country, from time to time as demand warranted, Stoltze, or Plum Creek, or anyone else with land of sufficient size, location and market desirability, sold off lands for development – as with Iron Horse (Stoltze) and Whitefish Hills (Plum Creek). Then the happy sellers could re-invest the proceeds in, say, more forest lands for timber production, or other means of generating a fiscal return.

But, in case you haven’t noticed, the City of Whitefish is adamantly opposed to development – even developments proposed in lockstep with the Whitefish “vision.” Nor has the city hesitated to use regulations such as “critical areas” and “infill” to trample upon the property rights of anyone daring to build anything new anywhere near anything.

Can you imagine the political and legalistic hurricane if Stoltze ever again tries to sell for development? Try orders of magnitude nastier than what we’ve enjoyed so far.

However, Whitefish has done poorly in court, examples being critical areas and the doughnut. Whitefish could try to stonewall Stoltze, but if that stonewalling devalues Stoltze’s interest, the city might be ordered by a judge to write Stoltze a really, really big check.

That. Would. Go. Over. Really. Well.

So, Whitefish called in the Trust for Public Land, experts in grabbing “other people’s money” for really big checks. While around $8 million will come from the “resort” tax, that’s mostly paid by unknowing tourists. The vast bulk will come from Uncle Sugar, with only $1 million in “private” funds pretending to be Whitefish’s “skin” in the game.

For its part, F.H. Stoltze has been a great neighbor, both as a company and as Flathead citizens. After a century of success on a tough landscape in an unforgiving business, Stoltze has a right to be made whole, period. The Stoltze family shouldn’t have to fight for what is rightfully theirs.

Still, this deal is all about what Whitefish wants. The benefits clearly fall primarily upon Whitefish, and serve what is mainly a Whitefish “vision.” So why must everyone except Whitefish foot what is a crazy-big bill?

Politics – the same stupid politics that has America $18 trillion in the hole and counting.