2700 Freeway Blvd #1000
Brooklyn Center, MN
55430-1779
763.253.0222

Montana Conservation Projects

	RESTORING WETLANDS AND RIPARIAN ZONES IN WESTERN MONTANA Wildlife Forever joined forces with leading conservation groups to support the $1 million Blackfoot Watershed Initiative in western Montana. The Blackfoot River, where the movie “A River Runs Through It” was filmed, was classified as one of North America’s ten most endangered rivers. This project was designed to restore wetlands and riparian areas within the Blackfoot River Valley. A number of problem areas within the 120,000-acre project area were targeted, including wetland drainage, accelerating sub-division rates, and deteriorating spawning habitat for native trout in major tributaries.
	HELPING TO MANAGE GRIZZLIES An explosion in the brown bear populations within Missoula and Flathead Counties in Montana was the impetus for Wildlife Forever to get involved with a bear management and education program. This project was designed to educate young and old alike, while at the same time providing materials in the effort to reduce conflicts between bears and humans. By donating a bear-resistant dumpster to Swan Valley Elementary School in Condon, Montana, Wildlife Forever is helping to educate young people about brown bear management, while at the same time reducing brown bear attractants from occupied habitat.
	SPAWNING AND REARING HABITAT RESTORED IN RED ROCK LAKES Arctic grayling and westslope species of Cutthroat trout in Montana's Red Rock Lakes should thrive for future generations thanks to support from Wildlife Forever. To combat siltation from adjacent farmlands, Wildlife Forever partnered with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to improve 15 miles of the lakes' tributaries - grayling and trout's essential spawning and rearing habitat. Where necessary, small roads that crossed the streams were replaced with light-duty bridges, and water-control structures were added to eliminate year-round diversions of water for irrigation. The project will help trout populations grow while benefiting Montana's only known population of grayling indigenous to lakes.