Deal would block development on 28,000 acres in Lincoln County
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
September 15, 2011
Plans for a conservation easement barring development on 28,000 acres of Stimson Lumber Co. land in the Troy area are moving ahead with partial funding for the multimillion-dollar project secured and completion on target for 2012.
The easement is being modeled on one put in place on 142,000 acres of Plum Creek land in the Fisher and Thompson River drainages between 2002 and 2004 at a cost of $40 million. Once finalized, it would permanently block any residential or commercial development on all of Stimson’s holdings in the western part of Lincoln County while allowing timber harvest and preserving public access.
During a meeting last week with the Lincoln County commissioners, Robert Rasmussen of the Trust for Public Land said word was recently received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicating that a $4 million grant for the project had been approved. Another $6.5 million in funding through the federal Forest Legacy program is included in the president’s budget and would cover most of the remaining cost if approved by Congress, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said the project was ranked highly compared to other proposals for Forest Legacy dollars and is expected to be funded. Completion of the easement is likely in 2012, he said.
Alan Wood of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks told the commissioners his agency will hold public meetings in Lincoln County to share information and gather input once funding is definite. He said he would like to see a final decision on the project by next April or May.
Looking at a map showing Stimson’s properties in the Troy and Yaak areas, Commissioner Tony Berget noted that some smaller parcels are isolated from the company’s other holdings and are adjacent to private land. He suggested setting aside some of those parcels for further review and possible development in the future.
"It just seems like we’re tying up more and more in our state," Berget said.
Wood said those parcels will be looked at during the public comment process, and that input from the county planning department would be considered.
Berget also expressed concerns about the possibility if Stimson closes roads on its property covered by the easement, access to Forest Service land could be blocked.
In most of the cases where that could happen, Stimson’s roads are already closed, said company representative Darryl Pfeifer.
"They’re not accessible now, and I don’t see that changing, regardless of whether there’s a conservation easement," he said.
The easement is more likely to preserve public access than the alternative of selling the property for development, Pfeifer added.
"If they sold those parcels off for real estate, then they wouldn’t be going across there," he said.
Stimson plans to open some of its gated roads in the Ruby-Brush area near Troy during hunting season this fall on a trial basis, Pfeifer told the commissioners. The company will be evaluating the trial run with an eye toward concerns about all-terrain vehicles being driven behind gates and berms, garbage being dumped and road maintenance and habitat issues.
"We’ll see how this goes with this temporary period, and if all goes well we’ll probably do this in the future," Pfeifer said.
Plans call for the 7.4 mile Ruby Loop to be open through Oct. 16 for archery season and for the shorter 3.3 mile Ruby Brush Loop to be open until Nov. 30 to allow access through the general rifle hunting season.
Commissioner Ron Downey asked why the longer loop wouldn’t be open through the general season. Pfeifer noted that there are three stream crossings on the road, and Stimson is concerned about sediment from vehicles traveling the road negatively affecting westslope cutthroat trout habitat. If some work is done to reinforce the crossings to reduce the sediment hazard, the road could possibly be open for an extended period in the future, he said.
Berget suggested that the county might be able to help place rock at the crossings, and that volunteers might be available to help clean up any messes left behind by inconsiderate road users.
"If there’s something we can do to help maintain that, I think it’s important," he said. "Because we’re losing access, losing access, losing access."
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Editor's Note: See the September 13, 2011 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Tuesdays, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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