Photo by Gravty Shots.com
THE FLATHEAD RIVER WATERSHED supports one of the most diverse assemblages of wetlands in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The Glaciated Valleys of Northwest Montana program is a cooperative effort among public and private entities to protect and enhance the unique riparian and wetland habitats of the Flathead Watershed.
THE REGION IS HOME to more than 300 aquatic species, including 105 kinds of stoneflies comprising one-fourth of all stoneflies found in North America. The area’s “Wildlife Who’s Who” includes big names like bull trout, grizzly bear, gray wolf, peregrine falcon, west slope cutthroat trout, lynx, and bald eagles as well as less-known species such as the leopard frog, black tern, and osprey.
FLATHEAD LAKE, THE FLATHEAD RIVER, and surrounding wetlands provide important staging and stopover habitat for migratory waterfowl. The watershed is home to one of the largest native populations of Canada geese in the western U.S. Pothole wetlands formed by receding glaciers created valuable wetlands that dot the Swan and Mission Valleys. These wetlands provide excellent breeding habitat for waterfowl and water birds that depend on both forest and prairie upland habitats. The area also hosts some of the highest reported densities of nesting short-eared owls and northern harriers in North America.
THE INCREDIBLY DIVERSE SWAN VALLEY has been a focal area for intense local and regional conservation efforts over the last decade. Recently, through the Montana Legacy Project, over 40,000 acres of corporate timberlands, including hundreds of acres or riparian and wetland habitats, are being transferred to the Forest Service. Private land trusts have already conserved an additional 7,200 acres of important private land while Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has acquired conservation easements or fee title to nearly 9,000 acres of corporate timberlands.
WETLAND AND RIPARIAN AREA CONSERVATION EFFORTS for the Flathead Valley date back to the 1970s but efforts have recently ramped up under the River to Lake Initiative. In spite of high development pressures, the Flathead’s conservation partners worked hard to protect over 5,000 new acres of the valley’s oxbow lakes, forested cottonwood galleries, other associated wetlands as well as adjoining agricultural or forested lands during the past five years.
THE GLACIATED VALLEY’S CONSERVATION PARTNERS include generous private landowners, Flathead Land Trust, Flathead Lakers, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Montana Land Reliance, American Bird Conservancy, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Swan Ecosystem Center, The Doris Duke Charitable Trust, The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, Trust For Public Land, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and local sports groups such as Flathead Wildlife and the Big Sky Upland Bird Association. This incredible partnership has obtained significant funding for conservation efforts from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, Farm and Ranch Protection Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Access Montana, Montana Migratory Bird Stamp program, MT Agricultural Heritage Program, numerous fish and wildlife mitigation programs, private donations, and grants from private foundations.
Photo by Don Baccus
