For the better part of this year, the city of Whitefish, the state and F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. have been hammering out the details of a conservation easement that aims to protect more than 3,000 acres north of Whitefish from future development.

The Haskill Basin watershed conservation easement and multi-resource management plan documents outline the deal that was first announced in June of 2013. In the deal, Trust for Public Land secured the option to purchase development rights for the property from Stoltze in an effort to permanently protect Whitefish’s main water source.

Whitefish city manager Chuck Stearns describes the conservation easement as a perpetual and more rigid document that strips the ability to develop the land with housing while leaving the option for harvesting timber. The multi-resource management plan, in comparison, is more flexible and could be changed based on the needs of the community, Stearns said.

The conservation easement is expected to close next year.

“The goal is to get the document together and hopefully close in February or March,” Whitefish mayor John Muhlfeld said.

City Council held a work session Nov. 2 to look at the easement and management plan documents. Council will hold a public hearing and vote in January or February on the conservation easement, management plan, and an easement agreement that secures access to the city’s water intakes in Haskill Basin. A separate trail easement is being negotiated with Whitefish Legacy Partners to allow for the construction of a portion of the Whitefish Trail on the property.

The conservation easement would be held by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the city of Whitefish, while Stoltze would continue to own and manage the property.

Paul McKenzie, land manager for Stoltze, said the goal is to maintain the status quo of the land.

“We will still continue to manage public access as we’ve done,” he said. “The focus is on protecting the resource, protecting the land and our ability to grow trees. The goal is to manage with the status quo and that’s covered in the multi-resource management plan.”

The document defines the numerous goals of the easement.

Top among the priorities is to protect the city’s water quality and supply from First, Second and Third creeks. The easement also aims to protect environmentally important forest areas, preserve the land for forestry products, keep the ability to manage the floodplain, riparian areas and stream habitats, and continue to allow public access for recreation.

Under the easement, Stoltze retains the right to sell the property in whole or in up to three separate parcels. However, the conservation easement would remain with the property no matter the owner. The easement allows for tranfer of the land up to three different parcels.

The public recreational trail corridor, which will contain a section of the Whitefish Trail, can only be transferred to the city of Whitefish.

“Stoltze can sell ownership,” Stearns explained. “But there can’t be a subdivision of the land. Somebody can buy it for timberland, but the conservation easement stays with the land. There’s not much value when you strip away the development rights.”

The easement outlines Stoltze’s rights and abilities on the property, including forest management, road maintenance and construction, use of motorized vehicles, using fertilizers, habitat enhancement and restoration, the right to lease one acre of property for one additional telecommunications tower, to manage commercial recreation, lease or enter agreements for cross country ski trails, construct utility pipelines, allow grazing, construct fences and the extraction of sand, gravel and rock to be used on the site.

Stoltze also regulates public use, including temporarily restricting use to protect and restore environmentally sensitive area, sites damaged by use or natural processes, areas undergoing timber harvest, in emergency situations or for public safety reasons. This includes Stoltze’s ability to close access because of high fire danger.

Stoltze can suspend public access for up to three years due to liability concerns. If a solution can’t be found, then the city and FWP could purchase the property to restore public access with Stoltze retaining all timber managemnet rights.

The conservation easement calls for the commission of a baseline report, which would inventory the existing physical and biological conditions of the Haskill Basin property. The draft report is expected in January.

The multi-resource management plan identifies the objectives and actions that Stoltze will take to “protect, manage, maintain, and enhance soil, water, range, aesthetic quality, recreation and public access, timber, fish, and wildlife resources” to protect environmentally important forest areas.

The management plan calls for a liaison team consisting of a representative each from Stoltze, FWP and the city to be created to deal with management issues. The document says it can be amended over time to better represent the current knowledge and conditions on the ground.

Stearns said the liason team will work to balance issues as they arrise.

“It will be a balance of uses historic and in the future,” he said. “We’re part of all the discussions.”

During public comment at the work session, Jeff Raper asked about impacts to the historical public recreation uses of the land.

“The existing uses has been motorized — ATVs and snowmobiles,” he said. “I’m wondering if there will be changes in past use.”

Muhlfeld said the “status quo” of the land will remain with dispersed recreation throughout most of the property. He said the one exception would be more managed recreation along the Whitefish Trail, which is set to run along the western portion of the property.

McKenzie pointed to Stoltze’s open lands policy, which is incorporated into the multi-resource management plan, as the guide for what will continue to be allowed on the land. It says that off highway vehicles are allowed on established road systems, it prohibits trail building or construction of permanent structures, it prohibits firewood or tree cutting and limits camping over seven days, among other restrictions.

“There are some restrictions under the current Stoltze lands policy — it’s not a free-for-all — those will continue to be in place,” McKenzie said. “For Haskill Basin we allow motorized access on our roads and that will continue. Some of the things that are not consistent with our open lands policy and those won’t be able to continue.”

An appraisal needs to be completed on the property before the easement can close, according to Alex Diekmann with The Trust for Public Land, before grant requests can be submitted for the $9 million in federal funding that has been earmarked for the easement. In a letter to the city, he said those could likely be completed in February.

FWP is also currently completing a public review of an environmental assessment for Haskill Basin and 7,000 acres in the Trumbull Creek conservation easement northwest of Columbia Falls. The review process is expected to be completed in time for the Fish & Wildlife Commission to vote on it in December. FWP will hold both easements for long-term monitoring and enforcement. Final approval of the project will also require approval from the State Land Board in December.

The Haskill Basin easement is expected to cost $20.6 million. Stoltze has agreed to contribute $4 million to the project, while the Forest Service is expected to provide a $7 million grant, and a $2 million grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also is expected. The city will contribute about $7.7 million through an increase in its resort tax.