Montana Wetlands Legacy: Voluntary Partnership Solution State Wetlands Workshop: An Examination of...
-
Upload
damian-chapman -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
3
Transcript of Montana Wetlands Legacy: Voluntary Partnership Solution State Wetlands Workshop: An Examination of...
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