Local foresters utilizing native plants for healthy ecosystems

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

Although they may not envision a Whitefish that is completely free of introduced plant species, a group of local foresters would like it to come close.

Greg Gunderson, Dave Noftsinger and Andrew Beltz are local trail builders, forest health consultants, landscapers and owners of their own company, Forestoration Ecosystem Management.

"We're not saying that no one should have non-native plants," said Gunderson. "There's a place for them. But native species are adapted to this area. They provide corridors for wildlife and bird habitat. We are a community that thrives on clean water. Native plants filter out sediment, provide erosion control and improve water quality. So what is the role of native plants? They provide an intact ecosystem."

The three men have made it their mission to help restore native species to public and private property in the area. Aspen, red dogwood, serviceberry bushes and kinnick kinnick (also called bearberry) are just a few of the Made-in-Montana species of plants that they use to restore land back to something closer to the original Montana landscape.

"Native plants provide a sense of place," Noftsinger explains. "All the trees, shrubs and other plants - there is a connection between people and the vegetation."

"More than one of our clients has expressed the feeling that their property feels like a state park," Gunderson said.

The company works mainly with private landowners who want their property to look, feel and smell more natural. They have also been working on a lot of city and county projects as well lately, such as urban parks that have to be set aside by developers.

"A lot of people live on the edge of forests, and they want something that resembles the Montana landscape as opposed to having showy, flashy non-native species," Gunderson said. "Some people have big houses with a lot of interesting exotic plants, but most people want their plants to look like the woods around them."

The men agreed that the landscape of the city and surrounding areas is changing as a result of the influx of people to the valley over the last few decades.

"What we have been seeing is a slow conversion (to non-native species) that's happening with development," Noftsinger said. "If you look around Whitefish, you will see hydrangea from who-knows-where or Kentucky bluegrass. What we're trying to do is create a sense of place. When people come to Montana, they should feel like they are in Montana, not somewhere else. Plants have a lot to do with that."

Since the spring of 2002, the three men have been working on all sorts of different projects. They restore streams and work as watershed consultants, as well as design trails and even build decks and osprey nests.

"We like to think we can do it all," Noftsinger said.

They trio uses the Whitefish farmer's market to display the native species that they use and educate people on what they do. They get their native seedlings from a collector who lives in Kila.

"These aren't plants that you can just go down to Hooper's (a local nursery/greenhouse) and buy," Gunderson said.

Their company received the contract from the City of Whitefish to design the "A Trail Runs Through It" trail system west of Whitefish Lake, from Lion Mountain to Skyles Lake. They were the only company that made a bid to design the trail, and they are hoping they get the contract to actually construct the trail as well. The trial system is still in the planning process.

"We design our trails to take people to the most interesting parts of the forest," said Beltz, who has a forestry degree from the University of Montana. "We make sure the trial takes people by all the old growth parts. It is a sinuous trail that works with the landscape. The grade is mellow for families, and we will have a wheelchair accessible loop. When we are done, the forest looks and feels healthy."

The men try to have as little impact on the land they are working on as possible. They harvest their wood on site, and they do all their work by hand whenever possible.

"Hand falling trees takes a little bit more time, but we don't leave ruts and mud," Beltz said. "We try to have minimal forest soil disturbances, because noxious weeds move in if you do that, and then you've got a real headache."

"We pride ourselves on being low-impact," Gunderson said. "We are very light on the land."

All three men expressed a desire to educate people on the benefits of native plants and healthy forests.

"There's a value to it," Noftsinger said. "But sometimes it's something you don't notice until it's gone."