Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will celebrate 10 years of cooperative habitat restoration and wildlife conservation across the state on September 11 in the Big Hole Valley with a public tour of State Wildlife Grant projects. The celebration is part of the national Teaming With Wildlife Week September 4-12.
“State Wildlife Grants, totaling $9.6 million in federal dollars and another $6.35 million in matching funds, have made it possible to tackle 50 priority projects identified in Montana’s Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy in the past 10 years,” said Joe Maurier, FWP director.
Montana’s Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy is an exhaustive analysis of more than 600 species of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, crayfish and mussels. It chronicles the places they live and recommends ways to help conserve them. Scientists, anglers and hunters, conservationists and communities worked together on the recommendations.
FWP and its partners have carried out numerous projects that enhance management of the state’s fish and wildlife and their habitats.
* Riparian corridors in the Big Hole River Valley on about 25 river miles were restored, including 120 miles of riparian fence, 48 stock water improvements, 100 irrigation system improvements and the installation of fish ladders and screens. These habitat improvements help Arctic grayling, the last river-dwelling grayling population in the lower 48 states, and benefit birds, insects and amphibians.
* Studies of about 1,200 sites on never before surveyed prairie streams in eastern Montana revealed 48 different fish species, 30 of them native, living in what were once thought to be “fishless” prairie streams.
* Surveys of secretive species such as bats, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals established baseline population information required to track the relative health and diversity of these species. SWG dollars have funded survey crews for the past three years that have successfully documented 12 species of concern including amphibian, reptile, small mammal and bat species.
* Since 2005, 142 trumpeter swans have been released in the Blackfoot Valley near Ovando in an effort to restore the species and provide a unique public wildlife viewing opportunity.
“State Wildlife Grants provide a stable funding source to tackle complex, multi-year conservation projects that produce long-term benefits for multiple species and habitats,” Maurier said. Numerous smaller, high priority, habitat and species-specific projects were also completed.
Maurier said Montanans also benefit through direct and indirect economic benefits associated with State Wildlife Grant Program funded projects.
“Those involved in habitat restoration and wildlife projects rely on area suppliers, restaurants and temporary workers, while their work helps to enhance and conserve area wildlife and habitats,” he said. “Wildlife viewers alone contribute about $365 million in trip-related expenditures annually to Montana communities with the wildlife and habitats to attract them.”
Montana Teaming with Wildlife, a conservation coalition of 117 organizations and landowners, participated in shaping Montana’s comprehensive fish and wildlife conservation strategy. Partner organizations include: the National Wildlife Federation, Montana Wildlife Federation, Montana Trout Unlimited, Montana Audubon, the Five Valleys Land Trust, the Heart of the Rockies Initiative, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the Montana Association of Land Trusts, and the Future Fisheries Improvement Program.
Congress created the groundbreaking Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program in 2000. Nationwide, the State Wildlife Grant Program has channeled nearly $622 million in federal funding to state fish and wildlife agencies and it enjoys the support of a national Teaming With Wildlife coalition of more than 6,300 organizations.
To participate in the State Wildlife Grant Program Big Hole Valley field tour set for Sept. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., contact FWP by phone at: 406-444-2612, or by email to: lhanauska-brown@mt.gov . For more information, visit fwp.mt.gov. Click Teaming With Wildlife Week.
Or, for a virtual tour of the grant program and projects, go to the FWP website at fwp.mt.gov on the Wild Things page. Click Conservation in Action . -fwp-
Contact:
Diane Tipton
406-444-3079
fwp.mt.gov
