Are Montana's "Trophy Houses" Blocking the View?
Lewis & Clark's Lolo Trail Faces More Development.
By Christopher Percy Collier | Online Only | July 18, 2008
Though parts of Montana's Lolo Trail were destroyed by development decades ago, new subdivisions are now threatening other formerly pristine sections of Lewis & Clark's route.
Credit: Lewis & Clark Trail Adventures
Six years ago, President George W. Bush directed federal agencies to work toward memorializing the 4,600-mile path taken by explorers Lewis and Clark, calling this journey one of the most "remarkable" examples of "heroism and adventure" in America. It was one in a series of actions taken to honor the bicentennial of these explorers' cross-country journey that spawned a modern travel bonanza. Scores of travel magazines touted trips retracing the steps of Lewis and Clark. Books, movies, and television shows were devoted to the subject. Meanwhile, people set out to explore a portion of the path, across land and water. But now, six years later, one of the routes used by Lewis and Clark is in jeopardy of being developed. The Lolo Trail, found on the outskirts of Missoula, Mont., has been placed on the Preserve Historic Missoula's 10 Most Endangered List.
The 100-mile Lolo Trail, which traverses the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana and Idaho, is considered the most difficult portion of the duo's expedition. Those who run trips along the trail today, such as Missoula-based Lewis & Clark Trail Adventures, tell stories of how the team had to eat their own horses as they tried to avoid frostbite during their mid-September passage. At this point, Clark writes in his journal that he had never been so cold or wet. The trail is an ancient travel route used by Native Americans in search of buffalo and salmon; also, the Nez Perce used as they fled Canada in the Nez Perce War.
Hikers on a pristine section of the Lolo Trail in Montana's Bitterroot Mountains
Credit: Lewis & Clark Trail Adventures
Today, many travel this path during the warmer months, when conditions are more forgiving. And, not surprisingly, much of this historic route is federally protected. But, as Preserve Historic Missoula has gone out of its way to point out, not all of this path remains free from excavators and backhoes.
"As you leave Travelers Rest and proceed west to Graves Creek," says Dan Hall, President of Preserve Historic Missoula, "there's a checkerboard of ownership." And, although parts of the Lolo Trail have been covered by strip malls in places like Lolo, Mont., he notes, this is a somewhat new phenomenon.
Hall attributes this multi-owner dynamic to a changing local economic model. "We're going from an extractive industry of mining and timber to a more service- oriented, travel economy. Now this area is valued differently. People are moving here for the scenery."
Janine Caywood, who sits on the board of Preserve Historic Missoula, originally suggested putting the Lolo Trail on its "endangered list" for this very reason. The town is growing and, as planned communities crop up, the grand, empty landscape that attracted people in the first place is disappearing for subdivisions.
There is a certain romantic ideal that's associated with living in a place like Missoula, observes Caywood. It is, in a number of ways, the quintessential Western town with high marks when it comes to natural amenities. "It's a physically a beautiful environment," she says. "The quality of life is really good. You can ski, fish, or float a river. Around here, it's all available to you."
For many years, this landscape remained relatively untouched. Rivers remained less crowded and rich with trout; trees were not in short supply. These days, however, Missoula is no longer a very well kept secret. National Geographic Adventure magazine, for instance, recently named it an "Adventure Town."
"When I moved here 30 years ago, Missoula was a fairly bounded community with little development," she says. "Since then, the subdivisions have crept up. Hay fields are being paved over. The old farms are going away."
As Missoula continues to experience growing pains, Caywood and Hall are among leaders heading up an effort to re-think the city's continued growth.
It's not enough, contends Caywood, to simply preserve certain pieces of architecture as the land around it gets developed. Saving a farmhouse, for instance, has little value if it is then surrounded by new construction, she notes. And hiking past someone's back yard hardly seems like an expedition worthy of repeating—no matter whose footsteps you're attempting to follow. "It should be more about preserving one's experience of the landscape," she says. "You have to preserve the view just as real-estate developer would preserve a view of the ocean."
The big changes affecting this section of the Lolo Trail and Lolo Creek, according to Caywood and Hall, involve timber companies such as Plum Creek, which has become a real-estate entity capable of selling off parcels of land to private owners. They point to the increasing presence of planned communities like Lolo Creek Trails along this once historic corridor as a possible outcome for other parcels of land that remain unprotected.
"There's a saying in Missoula that these planned communities are often named after the things they are taking away from us," says Hall going on to note that, somewhere along the way, that the natural characteristics and rich heritage the people have come to associate with this place may soon no longer exist.
"People come here because they like the character of the place," says Caywood. "But then they want to make it more like somewhere else, with big trophy homes."
The changes that have taken place along the section of the Lolo Trail that are not federally owned are not yet dramatic; and to stem potential development of this land, the organization endorses easements or the outright sale of the land to the U.S. Forest Service.
Caywood contends that the effort to save this area will requires a slight change in the perspectives of preservationists.
"People seem to get the idea of preserving a building," she says, "though once you go beyond that, sometimes it gets foggy for people. But we can't just focus on the built environment in a vacuum. If we lose all this land around us, we really will lose the historic character of the area."
Christopher Percy Collier has written for The New York Times, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Smithsonian, Men's Journal, and many other magazines. His stories can be found at www.christopherpercycollier.com.
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