Emphasis changing for timber lands
By KRISTI ALBERTSON
The Daily Inter Lake
Years ago, Mark Boardman checked out land on Haskill Mountain southwest of Kalispell. His employer, F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co., was interested in buying it but decided that at $900 an acre, it was too expensive.
"At that kind of price, you can't touch it to manage timber on," Boardman said.
Ownership has changed hands over the years, going from the U.S. Forest Service to a West Coast timber company to a developer, Haskill Mountain Ranch Inc. And after the shift from timber management to logging to developing, the land's value has increased.
Today, with money invested in roads and utilities extended to much of the property, it's worth an estimated $5,000 an acre.
Forested land is increasingly being used for development instead of traditional timber management, creating new challenges for timber companies and government agencies.
This trend toward development was the theme of the ninth annual timber tour hosted last week by the Kalispell Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has seen this change in its management of state trust fund land and the way the agency makes money for state schools. Statewide, grazing permits net $1.25 to $1.50 an acre, said Greg Poncin, Kalispell unit manager. Timber sales bring a long-term average of $9 to $12 an acre.
Leasing cabins on state land or leasing the land itself generates an average of $55 an acre. However, real estate leases account for only about 1 percent of DNRC's 5.2 million acres across Montana.
Real estate sales are worth even more. The state recently sold 82.5 acres west of Kalispell's Kidsport athletic complex for $6.4 million to a developer from Las Vegas - a per-acre price of $77,000.
The money will be banked to buy more land, and DNRC will look for 100 acres locally to offset the sale.
Managing areas for timber when land values are five to 10 times greater for development is a challenge private timber companies are facing as well, said Steve Robbins with Plum Creek Timber Co.
Meadowbrooke, a subdivision on Plum Creek land in Marion, is one example of development taking precedence over timber management.
The company's core business is managing forestland, but this particular area was an isolated piece of property, said Tom Ray, general manager of Plum Creek's Northwest Resources. With other subdivisions going in around it, developing it instead of managing it for timber seemed a better option.
"It's really in the path of future growth," he said.
David Greer of Plum Creek agreed.
"This is kind of the urban area of Marion," he said. "This is probably one of those properties we would look at for development."
It's the first development of this sort that Plum Creek has done. The goal is was create a model subdivision with attractive homes and plenty of open space. Its 530 acres have been divided into 57 lots that average 8.8 acres.
Plum Creek has designated 50-foot setbacks from meadows, 100-foot setbacks from roads and 50-foot setbacks from side property lines, Greer said. Houses will be a minimum of 1,200 square feet.
"We want a nice entrance treatment, nice park treatment," Greer said. "We really want to do a good job."
The final plat was approved in February; after just four months, only eight lots are still available. Some buyers were builders; others were individuals from in and out of state.
"I think there will be a lot of full-time residents," Greer said.
These residents will, for the most part, be "everyday Montanans," Boardman said.
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.