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NEWS
Haskill Basin Conservation Easement Finalized Deal to preserve open land near White sh completed after years of work
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BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
For years, conservation groups and city o cials have recognized the devel- opment pressure that could bear down on Haskill Basin, a block of land east of White sh owned by F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co.
And for years, those concerns were quelled by a good-faith agreement with the Stoltze family, who for more than a century has maintained its commitment to managing the Haskill parcel as a work- ing forest, rather than leveraging it into a revenue-rich development deal.
On Wednesday, the handshake deal was inked into the history books as White sh city o cials, along with Mon- tana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Stoltze, and the nonpro t Trust for Public Land, nalized an agreement to furnish per- manent protections on 3,020 acres of land in the Haskill Creek watershed.
It marks one of the most complex land swaps in state history, according to pub- lic land managers, and protects a block of land that sees among the heaviest con- centrations of use in Montana – it is a working forest, a recreational haven, and the source of the lion’s share of White- sh’s municipal water supply.
Turn on the tap in White sh and the trickle of water that springs forth likely originated from the cold, clean headwaters of Haskill Creek, which accounts for about 75 percent of White sh’s water supply.
Closing the deal means the land will be permanently protected to support local timber jobs and important sh and wildlife habitat, while also providing the City of White sh with the majority of their water supply and the public with continued opportunities for close-to- home outdoor recreation.
The $16.7 million necessary to pay for the easement came from a hodge-podge of sources, including the City of White- sh and two federal programs – the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acqui- sition Program.
Stoltze also generously agreed to sell the conservation easement at a signi - cant discount below the appraised value.
The Forest Legacy Program provides matching grants to states to protect important and threatened forests. It is funded by the Land and Water Conser- vation Fund (LWCF), which is nanced by federal revenues from energy com- panies drilling for oil and gas in public waters o shore. The Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Program helps to reduce potential for con icts between species conservation and other land uses and is also funded by the Land and Water Con- servation Fund.
F.H. Stoltze land in Haskill Basin. BEACON FILE PHOTO
“This is truly a remarkable achieve- ment and a win-win for everyone,” said Dick Dolan of The Trust for Public Land. “Almost 5 square miles of beautiful for- estland will be preserved forever in the backyard of White sh, and remain part of the vital local timber economy.”
Chuck Roady, vice president of Stol- tze, said the company has long wanted to formalize an agreement with the City of White sh to protect the municipal watershed, intakes, and water system located on its private forest lands, but the means to do so remained out of reach.
“The Haskill Basin conservation ease- ment was the perfect tool to accomplish this project,” Roady said. “The Stoltze family will still retain the ownership of the land and the management of their timberlands, while providing permanent recreational access, water for the City of White sh, and a continuous supply of wood to their local milling facility.”
White sh Mayor John Muhlfeld said the city was concerned about a private entity buying the property because it provides access to three-quarters of the city’s water supply, without which the city would have to pump and purify water out of White sh Lake at an addi- tional expense of $500,000 a year.
Last April, voters overwhelmingly approved a 1 percentage point resort tax increase that will help nance the pur- chase of the Haskill easement.
“After nearly ve years of hard work and perseverance, I am just thrilled to see this monumental project close,” Muhlfeld said. “I owe a debt of gratitude to the good folks in White sh who real- ized the historic signi cance and impor- tance of this project by overwhelmingly voting to approve $7.7 million in local funding. It is a legacy project that will
give back to the White sh community for generations to come.”
“This is a great example of industry, conservation and government organi- zations working together for the ben- e t of Montana’s wildlife and outdoor recreation enthusiasts,” added Alan Wood, FWP’s science program manager. “Thanks to the support from our federal funding partners, Stoltze and the City of White sh, these lands will remain a valuable part of the local economy, a home for sh and wildlife, and a trea- sured recreational resource for genera- tions to come.”
The Haskill Basin project is part of the South White sh Range Conserva- tion Project, which will employ a simi- lar funding template to nalize a con- servation easement on a 7,150-acre par- cel on Trumbull Creek, a chunk of Stol- tze-owned land northwest of Columbia Falls.
The projects rely on separate funding sources, but have been rolled into the same project due to their proximity and similarities, including analogs between their wildlife habitat, working forest- lands, recreational uses, and proposed management actions.
The Trumbull Basin easement was last appraised at $12.7 million and will be paid for by $8.5 million in federal grants, including $6.5 million from the Forest Legacy Program and $2 million from the Habitat Conservation and Land Acquisition Program, and $3.2 million in donated land from Stoltze.
The Trust for Public Land is still actively seeking an additional $1 million to purchase the easement, which may come from private donors.
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
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FEBRUARY 24, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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