Challenges & Opportunities

Whitefish Planning Process

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation recently completed a collaborative, community-based land use planning process in the town of Whitefish, a gateway community to Glacier National Park. Although traditionally the Whitefish economy has been dependent on timber and rail industries, the community has grown rapidly over the past few decades and has shifted from a resource-based economy to a service-based economy that relies on the natural amenities of the area. The approximately 13,000 acres of state trust lands in the area currently managed for timber are under increasing pressure for development. These lands also are valued for the preservation of recreational and conservation uses that contribute significantly to the local economy and its growth potential.

Because of the controversy and the high political stakes involved with the potential development of these lands, the Board of Land Commissioners engaged a diverse group of community stakeholders to develop a Whitefish State Lands Neighborhood Plan. The plan, adopted in 2004, strongly reflects the community's concerns by allocating only a small amount of land for development in the near term. It proposes to develop new revenue generating mechanisms that will increase value to the trust while preserving the lands for traditional uses, or to identify disposition strategies that will result in conservation of the lands.

Download the Whitefish State Lands Neighborhood Plan (DNRC).