Page 52 - Flathead Beacon // 2.10.16

OUT OF BOUNDS 53 Outdoors
Friends and Colleagues Remember Passionate Conservationist Alex Diekmann’s work with the Trust for Public Lands helped furnish protections on White sh’s Haskill Basin
Alex Diekmann, right, and White sh Mayor John Muhlfeld. COURTESY JOHN MUHLFELD.
ABY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
LEX DIEKMANN WAS TO THE conservation world what a con- ductor is to a concerto, and the
coda to his sterling career will continue to play out in White sh and across Mon- tana in perpetuity.
Diekmann, a senior project manager for the nonpro t Trust for Public Land, died Feb. 1 after a courageous battle with can- cer. He was 52, and leaves behind his wife, Lisa, and their two sons, Liam and Logan.
But his legacy as a guardian of Mon- tana’s open spaces will live on in a world without end, and as his friends, family and colleagues come to grips with the loss, they remember a man who con- ducted his work quietly, but with unri- valed passion.
In White sh, Diekmann was the mas- termind behind the sprawling conser- vation easements to protect the city’s municipal water supply while preserving recreational access to a 3,000-acre tract of land in Haskill Basin and more than 15,000 acres north of White sh Lake.
In brokering the Haskill deal, which is set to close this month, Diekmann brought together scores of stakehold- ers with varied interests and instilled in them a common goal.
Prior to his death, Diekmann described the complementary conser- vation projects in and around White sh “truly remarkable,” and as the pieces fell into place his friends and colleagues observed a progression of complexity in the deals he negotiated.
“He was the glue,” said Dick Dolan, the Northern Rockies director of the Trust for Public Land. “I likened him to a cho- reographer. There is so much that goes into these deals behind the scenes. It is so intricate and complicated and there are so many hiccups that can derail a proj- ect. And Alex was so talented at bringing everyone together to nd a solution and keep everyone on track.”
The Haskill Basin project is unfolding on land owned by F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co., which is also the source of 75 percent of the city’s water supply, and the easements provide the nal safeguard from the threats of development.
Dolan continued: “Haskill may be the best example of how complex it can be to make these projects a reality. Not only do you have the usual elements – the scenic viewshed, the prized recre- ation opportunities, the wildlife habitat and pristine water quality – but you have
the city’s direct interest in its drinking water. That really made it unique. That brought in this whole other layer of com- plexity. But you had all these people who had the resources to get it done, and they did. And Alex was at the center of that. It is no small feat.”
Statistically, the magnitude of Diek- mann’s land legacy is staggering.
Between 2001 and 2015, he completed 55 land protection e orts across the Northern Rockies – from maintaining access to the famed Three-Dollar Bridge, a prized shing hole in the Madison Val- ley, to the stunning Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho. His e orts total more than 100,000 acres of farms and ranches, restored spring creeks, timberlands open to shermen and sportsmen, and even an historic homestead within the con nes of Glacier National Park.
White sh Mayor John Muhlfeld said the local projects never would have come to fruition without Diekmann’s vision, his extraordinary talent at connecting people and bringing together diverse interests – landowners, elected o cials, government agencies, nonpro ts – and his enormous passion for the outdoors, which he navigated as a runner, Nordic skier, sherman, and mountaineer.
“The best way we can commemorate Alex and the work he did for White sh is for all of us to live our lives to the full- est. Get out with your friends and fami- lies and enjoy the wild places that Alex helped protect, and pause from time to time to remember Alex and the wonder- ful gift he gave the White sh community and the north Flathead Valley,” Muhlfeld said. “Alex’s legacy will remain forever across the landscapes he helped conserve, from the Madison River Valley, to Haskill Basin, to the north end of White sh Lake.”
Muhlfeld, a hydrologist and president of the River Design Group, which special- izes in river, stream and wetland resto- ration projects, rst met Diekmann in 2010 while working on a conservation project in the Madison Valley, which paved the way for the restoration of one of Montana’s largest drained wetland complexes, the O’Dell Creek headwaters.
Je Laszlo and his family are the fth-generation owners of the Granger Ranches just outside Ennis, and the principal participating landowner in the O’Dell Creek project. He worked closely with Diekmann to secure the easements and set the O’Dell Creek Headwaters Project into motion. The ambitious res- toration project has since transformed
miles of drainage ditches back to the stream’s original meandering path, and has transformed O’Dell Creek. Once a clogged artery of the Madison River, it now pumps clean, spring-fed water through its channels.
Once the deal was done, Diekmann continued to facilitate the restoration project and o er guidance, developing a close personal friendship with Laszlo and Muhlfeld along the way.
“One of the rare qualities that set Alex apart was that when our deal was done, he remained fully engaged. He stayed involved because he loved the project. He loved what he did and he loved seeing great things happen. And he wanted to be part of making more great things hap- pen,” Laszlo said.
At a White sh City Council meeting on Feb. 1, the date of Diekmann’s death, the council passed the nal resolutions approving the Haskill Basin project, and Muhlfeld called for a moment of silence tohonorDiekmann.
“Please keep Alex forever in your thoughts when your footsteps carry you through the lands he helped us protect,” Muhlfeld said.
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
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FEBRUARY 10, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM