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 Rivers Aquatic Design and Construction Bitter Root Land Trust Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Five Valleys Land Trust Flathead Land Trust Gallatin Valley Land Trust Montana Audubon Council Montana Department of Environmental Quality Montana Dept. Natural Resources and Conservation Montana Department of Transportation Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Foundation Montana Land Reliance Montana Natural Heritage Program Montana Natural History Center Montana Ranchers, Farmers & other Landowners Montana Watercourse Pheasants Forever PPL Montana Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation The Conservation Fund The Nature Conservancy The River Network The Trust for Public Land U.S. Bureau of Land Management U.S. Bureau of Reclamation U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Forest Service Watershed Education Network

Montana Wetlands Legacy Completed Projects

Palmer Acquisition Project Ninepipe WMA Location: Lake County – NE of Charlo Partners: Bonneville Power Administration Pheasants Forever – Mission Valley Chapter Big Sky Upland Bird Association Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Project Size: 150 acres including 2 wetlands (6 acres) and remnant drained and filled wetlands Project Cost: $450,000 Species 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 Ovando Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ducks Unlimited, Inc. The Blackfoot Challenge Montana 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 Lincoln Partners:Five Valleys Land Trust Project Size: 160 acres including 80 acres of palustrine wetlands Project Cost: Donated easement Species 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 Legacy Current Projects

Weaver Slough Conservation Easement Project Location: Flathead County – 8 miles east of Kalispell Partners: Flathead Land Trust Bonneville Power Administration USDA NRCS Farmland Protection Program The Conservation Fund American Public Land Exchange American Farmland Trust Montana Agricultural Heritage Program Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Project Size: 1,218 acres including 150 acres of riparian wetland and 200 acres open water Project Cost: $2,436,000 Species 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 Libby Partners:Avista Corporation North American Wetlands Conservation Act The Conservation Fund Bull River Watershed Council U.S. Forest Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Montana 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 Turner Project Partners: Obrecht Ranch U.S. Bureau of Land Management Ducks Unlimited, Inc. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service North American Wetlands Conservation Act Montana 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