Trail builders take aim at Spencer Mt.

Whitefish Legacy Partners, the organization that oversaw development of the Whitefish Trail, now has its sights set on development in the Spencer Mountain area.

Spencer Mountain encompasses 2,500 acres of public state school-trust lands managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The state is currently writing an environmental assessment for the proposed Spencer Lake Timber Sale, which would treat 1,650 acres, build 9.5 miles of new roads, re-open 10 miles of existing roads, and take place over several years. Comment on this project ended Jan. 24. The draft assessment is available for review online at www.dnrc.mt.gov.

Whitefish Legacy Partners is proposing a set of recreation-friendly recommendations to maintain existing recreational uses and provide for future recreational use as part of the proposed timber harvest project. The group wants to maintain the high quality recreational experience Spencer Mountain provides long term.

The group has already built 12 miles of trail on state trust and private lands and has plans to build another six miles in the Beaver Lakes area in 2011. According to David Noftsinger, designer of the Whitefish Trail, the recreational experience is about more than the trail itself.

“It’s about surroundings, the views, and the movement up, down, around, and through different types of environments — open, closed, sunny, shady,” he said.

The Whitefish Legacy Partners’ guidelines recommend leaving more large trees, giving viewsheds a natural and varied appearance, cleaning up disturbed sites, minimizing construction of new roads and reducing wildfire fuels. In particular areas of concern, such as the 72 acres behind Spencer Lake, the guidelines recommend paying attention to aesthetics.

“Areas like Spencer Mountain are irreplaceable community treasures,” Whitefish Legacy Partners director Diane Conradi said. “The Spencer Mountain as we know it is going to change — some people will like it, some won’t. We hope we can continue to enjoy high-quality views, trails and quiet places to get away from it all.”

The aim of the group’s “Recreation Stewardship Initiative” is to secure and enhance the high-quality recreation and conservation values that state trust lands provide.

Whitefish Legacy Partners and its partners, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, DNRC and the city of Whitefish, are exploring ways to create public recreation areas that include trails, forest management, viewsheds, wildlife and watershed protection while compensating Montana’s schools and universities.

For more information about Whitefish Legacy Partners, visit online at www.whitefishlegacy.org.