Montana Wetlands Legacy:Voluntary Partnership

Solution

State Wetlands Workshop:An Examination of Best Practices

Post –SWANCC October 22, 2002

From the time the Corps of Discovery crossed Montana, until the Corps of Engineers was charged by the Clean

Water Act to protect Montana’s wetlands, the state lost an

estimated 300,000 acres of wetlands.

Of the plants and animals of Montana listed as threatened, endangered, or are candidates

for listing, 18 of 21 are wetland/riparian obligates or need wetlands and riparian

areas for some part of their life cycle.

-Rob Hazlewood, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Helena

Montana Wetlands Legacy

Goal Statement

“The goal of the Montana Wetlands Legacy is to ensure protection of

Montana’s wetlands, riparian areas, and associated uplands by understanding and appreciating these special places

and how they add value to our lives. As a first step, we commit to protect an

additional 250,000 acres of ecologically important wetlands, riparian areas, and associated uplands by the year 2005.”

Montana Wetlands Legacy Partners

American Public Land Exchange American RiversAquatic Design and Construction Bitter Root Land TrustDucks Unlimited, Inc. Five Valleys Land TrustFlathead Land Trust Gallatin Valley Land TrustMontana Audubon Council Montana Department of Environmental

QualityMontana Dept. Natural Resources and Conservation Montana Department of

TransportationMontana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

FoundationMontana Land Reliance Montana Natural Heritage ProgramMontana Natural History Center Montana Ranchers, Farmers & other

LandownersMontana Watercourse Pheasants ForeverPPL Montana Rocky Mountain Elk FoundationThe Conservation Fund The Nature ConservancyThe River Network The Trust for Public LandU.S. Bureau of Land Management U.S. Bureau of Reclamation U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceU.S. Forest Service Watershed Education Network

Montana Wetlands LegacyCompleted Projects

Palmer Acquisition Project Ninepipe WMA

Location: Lake County – NE of CharloPartners: Bonneville Power Administration

Pheasants Forever – Mission Valley ChapterBig Sky Upland Bird Association Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Project Size:150 acres including 2 wetlands (6 acres) and remnant drained and

filled wetlandsProject Cost:

$450,000Species Richness:

Ring-necked pheasant, raptors including short-eared owl and northern harrier, Canada geese, dabbling ducks and other waterfowl, shorebirds, sandhill crane, bald eagle, peregrine falcon

Opsata Conservation Easement Project

Location: Powell County – 7 miles northwest of OvandoPartners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Ducks Unlimited, Inc.The Blackfoot ChallengeMontana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Project Size:64 acres of mixed native prairie and natural pothole wetlands

Project Cost:$160,000

Species Richness:Elk, mule deer, grizzly bear, 13 waterfowl species, long-billed

curlew, black tern, sandhill crane, vesper sparrow

Dean Ranch Conservation Easement Project

Location: Lewis & Clark County – 2 miles north of LincolnPartners: Five Valleys Land TrustProject Size:

160 acres including 80 acres of palustrine wetlandsProject Cost:

Donated easementSpecies Richness:

Bog birch, moose, greater sandhill crane, waterfowl, wading birds,tundra swan, nesting osprey and bald eagle, 3 mated pairs of

greater sandhill cranes, marsh wren, short-tailed weasel, mink,moose, elk, white-tailed deer, mountain lion, coyote, gray wolf,and grizzly bear

Montana Wetlands LegacyCurrent Projects

Weaver Slough Conservation Easement Project

Location: Flathead County – 8 miles east of KalispellPartners: Flathead Land Trust

Bonneville Power AdministrationUSDA NRCS Farmland Protection ProgramThe Conservation FundAmerican Public Land ExchangeAmerican Farmland TrustMontana Agricultural Heritage ProgramMontana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Project Size: 1,218 acres including 150 acres of riparian wetland and 200 acres open

waterProject Cost:

$2,436,000Species Richness:

Migratory waterfowl, wading birds, tundra swan, nesting or foraging osprey and bald eagle, pileated woodpecker, belted kingfisher, beaver, river otter, pheasant and wild turkey, white-tailed deer

Bull River Watershed Protection Project

Location: Sanders County – 12 miles southwest of LibbyPartners: Avista Corporation

North American Wetlands Conservation ActThe Conservation FundBull River Watershed CouncilU.S. Forest ServiceU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceMontana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Project Size:716 acres

Project Cost:$2,340,000

Species Richness:Elk, moose, bighorn sheep, deer, lynx, osprey, eleven species of

waterfowl,westslope cutthroat trout, grizzly bear, bald eagle, bull trout,

neotropical migratory birds

Obrect/BLM Wetland Restoration Project

Location: Blaine County – 8.5 miles northeast of TurnerProject Partners:

Obrecht RanchU.S. Bureau of Land ManagementDucks Unlimited, Inc.U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceNorth American Wetlands Conservation ActMontana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Project Size:16 sections with 135 drained wetlands, 95 acres restorable wetlands

Project Cost:$115,000

Species Richness:Northern pintail and mallard, as well as other waterfowl common to the

area; northern harrier, peregrine falcon, avocet, marbled godwit, Franklin’s

gull, mule deer, antelope, plains garter snake, northern leopard frog, western chorus frog

Opportunities on the Horizon

• North American Wetlands Conservation Act: Senate and House Mark-ups of DOI FY03 Budget -$43.5 Million

• NRCS Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program for the Madison/Missouri Watershed - $40 Million

• In Lieu Fee Mitigation Program for Montana – $500K - $1M annually

• PPL Montana 2188 Mitigation for Operation of Nine Mainstem Missouri River Dams – $10 Million

“I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition and even some affection but with Montana it is love, and it's difficult to analyze love when you're in it ."

~John Steinbeck, Travels with Charlie