Family Conserves 110 Acres Along Stillwater River Near Whitefish

A family with a legacy of land conservation in the Flathead Valley has added 110 acres to its block of protected parcels along the Stillwater River near Whitefish, where they began reassembling a single tract of farmland and wildlife habitat more than 20 years ago.

Recognizing the development pressure bearing down on the Flathead Valley, where land is being subdivided at an accelerated pace, Doug and Carolyn Kohrs first visited Whitefish with their children in the early 2000s from Minnesota. In 2005, they purchased their first 20 acres of land in the Flathead Valley, on a property bound by wildlife habitat along the Stillwater River southwest of Whitefish.

“We took our children on a trip to Big Mountain and they loved it, and we just loved the vibe of town,” Doug Kohrs said Tuesday after announcing his family’s latest conservation easement. “But we also know that this place is going to be on the map soon and other people are going to discover it.”

Since then, his hunch has proven to be a prescient one.

“When things got crazy here during Covid, I think that’s when a lot of people started appreciating what we’ve done,” he said.

Working in partnership with Flathead Land Trust, the Kohrs family this week took another step toward augmenting the acreage.

“I’m talking to you from that original 20 acres right now,” Kohrs said. “Since then, we’ve now done eight transactions and put together nearly 800 acres.”

Since the family leases the land to a farmer who grows canola and wheat, it remains in active management, while Great Northern Honey Co. raises bees on the property and cultivates honey for local retailers.

According to Flathead Land Trust, which works to protect northwest Montana’s land and water legacy through community-based conservation easements, the Kohrs property was originally slated for an eight-home subdivision. Flathead Land Trust applauded the family’s enduring choice to opt for “conservation over development, fulfilling a vision they first established when they began acquiring land in the area in 2005.”

The new 110-acre conservation easement augments 655 acres protected by the family under easements in 2022, adding to a significant conservation block adjacent to thousands of acres of contiguous protected and public lands.

The Kohrs’ conserved parcels also connect to the 1,560-acre Kuhns Wildlife Management Area and are contiguous with a nearly 5,000-acre block of undeveloped habitat, including 1,850 acres of state-managed forest and nearly 900 acres of U.S. Forest Service land, “creating a seamless, intact landscape.”

“Wildlife traveling along the Stillwater River find vital sanctuary on the newly conserved property, which secures an additional quarter-mile of riverfront and extends a protected riparian stretch to over three miles,” according to Flathead Land Trust.

The forested property’s wetlands and fields are bisected by a half-mile of Tobie Creek, providing habitat for both grizzly and black bears. On-site game cameras have captured nearly every major regional carnivore, including mountain lions, wolves, bobcats, coyotes and foxes. Elk calves and deer fawns have also been recorded, confirming the land’s importance as a safe nursery for ungulates to raise their young.

The site also supports bird biodiversity, with 127 recorded species in the area, 95 of which were personally documented by the Kohrs family. And the Stillwater River that cuts through the Kohrs easements serves as essential habitat for bull trout and the westslope cutthroat trout.

“Just as this land serves as a vital anchor for a critical wildlife corridor, the Kohrs themselves have become a cornerstone of conservation in the Flathead Valley,” according to Flathead Land Trust. “Their dedication has created the essential framework for a landscape that remains open, connected and productive, ensuring that the region’s natural character endures for generations. By prioritizing ecological integrity over development, Doug and Carolyn Kohrs have ensured that this vital land along the Stillwater River remains a functional, wild landscape for generations to come.”

Doug Kohrs said he and Carolyn are “excited to add this additional piece of wildlife-critical land to our existing easement” and vowed that “we’re not done.”                  

“We’re going to be here a long time but when contiguous land comes up we are very interested in adding onto this conservation easement,” Doug said. “It takes a long time but we want to keep going.”

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