Groups unite to help develop new Whitefish Trail

One year per mile. Never has so much effort been put into scratching a hiking trail through the woods.

It's taken seven years worth of land negotiations, a steadfast commitment to partners and even a cosmic intervention of sorts to complete the initial phase of the newly constructed Whitefish Trail from Lion Mountain to Beaver Lake.

"We have some planets aligned here," Lin Akey, chairman of Whitefish Legacy Partners, the nonprofit developing the trail, joked recently when describing the road blocks that have been overcome since the idea of a trail was first proposed in 2003.

The major cruxes were found in land easements and getting the appropriate parties onboard with the idea that a 55-mile corridor of trails circling Whitefish Lake was a worthy endeavor. Formerly called A Trail Runs Through It, the path cuts across five separate land ownerships in the first phase alone, including state, Forest Service and three parcels of private land.

Now, with the "perfect storm" of community leaders, land owners and volunteers involved, the trail that Akey calls the most expansive public project he's worked on in his career, is a becoming a reality. This Saturday, the city will congregate at the Lion Mountain Loop Road trailhead to celebrate the first phase of the historic project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Working together

"If you get everybody to sit around and describe what the city is going to be forever, you all have the same vision," Akey said. "You want to protect what's neat about our town. Certain people have visions about development, and we certainly can argue about that all day. But everybody wants to protect what is uniquely ours, here."

For Akey and Legacy Partners, it's the open space around Whitefish that's worth protecting. But with the jigsaw puzzle of land ownership surrounding the lake, ensuring public access proved to be no easy task.

"It's one thing to put a trail on public lands," said Diane Conradi, Legacy Partners executive director and local land-use attorney. "It's another to put a public trail on private property. I think the fact that private landowners were willing to buy in and work with the city is a huge testament."

The project gained major headway when high-tech investor Michael Goguen concluded a land swap with the state in 2008, consolidating land around his Two-Bear estate. He also gave the city $3.1 million for trail construction, and agreed to pay for building the 2 1/2 miles of trail that crosses his property south of Beaver Lake Road.

"One of the reasons we've been so successful with the trail and the land exchange is that the vision I have for where I live is the same as the community's and the state's," Goguen said. "I really like the trail, my kids like the trail, and we all cherish clean water, abundant wildlife and the beautiful vistas these lands have to offer."

Private landowners John and Susan O'Donnell and Richard Deats also made concessions so the trail could continue north to Beaver Lake Road.

"They were skeptical about allowing public use on their property," Conradi said. "But when we worked out the details of how their property rights would be respected, of how the trail would be designed to minimize disturbance to their property, how it would be maintained by volunteers and Whitefish Legacy Partners with the city, they agreed to give it a try."

An unwavering trust between Legacy Partners and each landowner, public and private, was the key to the trail's progress, Conradi said.

"This isn't the kind of thing you can throw money at," she explained. "You can't just give a bunch of money and expect something like this to happen. It doesn't work like that. It works on relationships. It works on building trust. It works on working things out. There can be a vision, but there has to be the working tools."

Akey pointed out that credit for getting the project started is due in a number of places, from the governor's office and the school land trust board, to local community leaders like Charlie Abel, state senator Ryan Zinke and house representatives Mike Jopek and Bill Beck.

"We've crossed a lot of aisles here that usually don't talk to each other," Akey said.

Blazing ahead

The 12 miles of completed trail, including a separate section near Lupfer Road, is the first of many more to come. The path will eventually go beyond Beaver Lake to the north end of Whitefish Lake, past Swift Creek, onto Big Mountain's trails and into Haskill Creek.

"These guys have accomplished a lot and we're going to celebrate some neat things," Akey said. "But in the broader sense, there's a whole lot more to do. This is going to take some big commitments. There will need to be commitments in the millions of dollars to make this work forever."

A foundation will be set up to endow the project, Akey said, and the group is currently applying for a Recreational Trails Program grant worth $766,977 that would be matched dollar for dollar.

Much of the trail crosses state school trust lands, and funds that were typically derived from the land by logging will need to be repaid by the city annually since Whitefish is the "landlord" of the trail. The foundation suggests that it will likely generate the school trust money through continued logging, trail permit fees and limited land development.

Get out there

A railroad crossing at the north end of Whitefish Lake is the next big roadblock in trail construction, Conradi said. The crossing can't be at grade and none of the proposed solutions in the master plan are ideal, she said.

The crossing, however, is miles of trail and months of planning away. Until then, hikers, bikers and equestrians have easy access to a chunk of trail that was designed with families and multiple-use in mind.

Led by designers Greg Gunderson and David Noftsinger, of Forestoration, Inc., the trail was constructed by 20-some contractors with the help from hundreds of volunteers. Experienced trail builders and avid cyclists Pete Costain and Jake Christiansen were both key in building the trails this spring and summer.

The path includes banked corners for biking, an exposed cliff section near Skyles Lake, and scenic views of the Whitefish Range. There is a parking area at the main trailhead at Lion Mountain Loop Road and another trailhead with limited parking at Skyles Lake.

Saturday's ribbon cutting at the new trailhead at 9:30 a.m. will be followed by an afternoon party in Depot Park from 4 to 7 p.m. The grand opening will feature a "hootenanny dance party," a kid's bike rodeo, local food vendors and beer from the Great Northern Brewery.

Guests will have the opportunity to support the conservation efforts by becoming a "Friend of the Trail" or by sponsoring sections of the trail. To learn more about the trail project, visit online at www.whitefishtrail.org.