State Denies City’s Application to Extend Whitefish River Walking Trail
Citing adverse impacts to the river’s bed, banks and fishery, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks rejected the proposal but encouraged city officials to consider an alternate concept
By Tristan Scott
The complicated quest to complete a walking trail along the Whitefish River encountered another stumbling block on Thursday when a state agency denied the city’s request for a permit allowing the trail’s extension between the river and the BNSF railyard.
Last May, the Whitefish City Council directed city staff to apply for a Montana Stream Protection Act permit to construct a missing section of the Whitefish River Trail near downtown that would connect the existing trail on BNSF Railway property near Railway Street downstream with the existing trail terminus near the Veterans Memorial Bridge on Second Street. The proposed trail extension would cross two private properties and extend into the Whitefish River within the riverbed and the ordinary high-water mark.
Although the missing section of trail is less than the length of a football field, fisheries biologists determined that its construction would destabilize the streambank and negatively impact aquatic, avian and terrestrial wildlife habitat, among other “adverse impacts to fish and wildlife and their associated habitats.”
“This decision rests on our responsibility to protect and conserve our fisheries and habitat. Our hard-working biologists concluded this project would have long-term adverse impacts to the Whitefish River’s bed, banks, and fishery,” according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ (FWP) letter denying the application, which was written by Adam Strainer, the agency’s fisheries division administrator.
When asked about the city’s next steps, Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith said Thursday afternoon that city officials had just received notice of the denial and were still reading through FWP’s environmental assessment to determine how to proceed.
The City’s Capital Improvements Programs Report (Fiscal Years 2024-2028) estimates the cost of the proposed project to be $2.1 million.
As it was proposed, the trail augmentation connecting the existing terminus of the Whitefish River Trail would be 10 feet wide and 648 feet long. Approximately 393 feet of the proposed trail augmentation would parallel the Whitefish River on its bank, while the remaining 255 feet would be built partially or completely within the channel of the Whitefish River.
In its decision notice denying Whitefish’s stream permit application, FWP said “this decision was not taken lightly” but the agency “takes seriously its responsibility to balance outdoor recreation and our state’s natural resources.”
“I applaud your innovative idea to expand the Whitefish River Trail and increase its connectivity throughout your community,” according to Strainer. “This decision rests on our responsibility to protect and conserve our fisheries and habitat. Our hard-working biologists concluded this project would have long-term adverse impacts to the Whitefish River’s bed, banks, and fishery. Impacts include major modifications to in-stream and bank habitat, and decreased bank stability resulting in erosion. The proposed project footprint alone, including piers, asphalt, and the associated retaining walls, would result in direct loss of significant riparian vegetation and increase erosion. In short, this project would fundamentally change the natural, existing state of fish habitat in the project area.”
Included among FWP’s decision notice and draft environmental assessment is an alternative proposal that FWP officials said would mitigate the impacts they identified in their review.
“To eliminate or minimize impacts to the Whitefish River’s bed and banks, FWP recommends the applicant pursue a design that avoids permanent and intensive infrastructure below the ordinary high-water mark,” according to the decision notice by Dave Landstrom, FWP’s acting supervisor for Region One .
FWP included a rendering of a trail design that “minimizes impacts and accomplishes the applicant’s vision of a connected, ADA friendly system.”
“At the very least, we can start thinking about and discussing different solutions to complete the Whitefish River Trail, recognizing its importance to the community,” according to the letter from Strainer, the state’s fisheries administrator.
A city report describes the area for which the permit, a Stream Protection Act 124 permit would apply, as extending from the north edge of the Montana Department of Transportation-built underpass to the BNSF Loop Trail, including a section of trail adjacent to the Riverbend Condominiums and a section of the trail adjacent to the completed condominiums at 28 Miles Avenue.
The alternative concept would route the trail along the top of the bank to the west of the Miles Avenue Condominiums (MAC) and to the east of the Riverbend Homeowners Condominiums (RHC). Near the southeast corner of the RHC the trail would drop onto the riverbank and pass through two switchbacks before connecting with the existing trail at the Veterans Memorial Bridge underpass. The alternative concept would still require additional engineering and a Stream Protection Act 124 permit.