The National Bison Range Complex includes four National Wildlife Refuges and the Northwest Montana Wetland Management District, and is located in the northwestern region of Montana in the northwestern United States. [1]
All of the refuges and associated lands are managed from headquarters at the National Bison Range by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency under the US Department of the Interior. The National Bison Range is located near Moiese, off U.S. Highway 93, and north of Missoula.
The different units are scattered throughout the Flathead Valley, Mission Valley, and Pleasant Valley. They include habitats of open water and open grasslands, cliff tops and tree tops, pine groves, and quaking aspen groves. Bison herds are protected and supported within them.
The Ninepipe, Swan River, and Pablo National Wildlife Refuges are not permanently staffed. However, the Lost Trail Refuge and National Bison Range both have interpretive visitor centers and naturalists.
The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex is part of the United States system of National Wildlife Refuges (NWR). It is located in northern California, in the valley of the Sacramento River.
The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes – also known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The reservation, often referred to as the Flathead Nation, or simply Flathead or by its official acronym C.S.K.T., was created through the July 16, 1855, Treaty of Hellgate.
The Innoko National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge of the United States located in western Alaska. It consists of 3,850,481 acres (15,582 km2), of which 1,240,000 acres (5,018 km2) is designated a wilderness area. It is the fifth-largest national wildlife refuge in the United States. The refuge is administered from offices in Galena.
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a 15,988-acre (24.981 sq mi) National Wildlife Refuge located adjacent to Denver and Commerce City, Colorado, in the United States. It is approximately 8 miles (13 km) northeast of downtown Denver. The refuge is on the grounds of the former Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a United States Army chemical weapons manufacturing facility. The site was designated a national wildlife refuge in 1992 by the United States Congress, and underwent a costly environmental cleanup in order to remove pollutants. The refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 330 species of wildlife inhabit the refuge, including raptors, deer, raccoons, coyotes, white pelicans, black-footed ferrets, black-tailed prairie dogs, and bison.
The Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Montana on the Missouri River. The refuge surrounds Fort Peck Reservoir and is 915,814 acres (3,706.17 km2) in size. It is the second-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the lower 48 states of the United States, and the largest in Montana. Created in 1936, it was originally called the Fort Peck Game Range. It was renamed in 1963 after Montana artist Charles M. Russell, a famous painter of the American West. In 1976, the "range" was made a "refuge".
Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a 12,459-acre (5,042 ha) National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in the central part of the U.S. state of Montana.
The CSKT Bison Range (BR) is a nature reserve on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana established for the conservation of American bison. Formerly called the National Bison Range, the size of the bison herd at the BR is 350 adult bison and welcomes 50–60 calves per year. Established as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1908, the BR consists of approximately 18,524 acres (7,496 ha) within the Montana valley and foothill grasslands. Management of the site was transferred back to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in 2022 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after more than a century of federal management and nearly two decades of negotiations.
Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge is a 8,834-acre (3,575 ha) National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in Montana. Established in 1999, it is one of the newest National Wildlife Refuges in the U.S. and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The refuge was originally a sprawling horse and cattle ranch dating back to the late 19th century and was known as the Lost Trail Ranch. The refuge consists of prairie and wetlands, and has a wide diversity of plant and animal species, including over 100 species of birds such as canada geese, sandhill crane, wood duck, green-winged teals and herons. Several species of grouse also inhabit the refuge. Predatory bird species such as the great horned owl and red-tailed hawk are also found here.
Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge is a 4,027-acre (1,630 ha) National Wildlife Refuge and unit of the National Bison Range Complex, located in Lake County, Montana.
Pablo National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in northwestern Montana. It is a unit of the National Bison Range Complex of refuges. It is within the Flathead Indian Reservation, about 2 mi (3.2 km) south of Polson.
Swan River National Wildlife Refuge is a 1,778-acre (720 ha) National Wildlife Refuge in Lake County of northwestern Montana. It is a unit of the National Bison Range Complex.
The Northwest Montana Wetland Management District is a wildlife management region in the U.S. state of Montana, a part of the National Bison Range Complex along with four other wildlife refuges and the National Bison Range.
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of Nebraska and includes 19,131 acres (77.42 km2). The refuge borders the Niobrara National Scenic River on the west and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. From 1879 to 1906, the Fort Niobrara Military Reservation was located on what later became refuge lands to house a garrison of the U.S. Cavalry. After the fort was closed, the effort to preserve the region as a wildlife refuge culminated in the creation of the refuge on January 11, 1912. The refuge also manages Valentine and John and Louise Seier National Wildlife Refuges as parts of the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge is a natural area in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, United States. It was created to provide wintering habitat for dusky Canada geese. Unlike other Canada geese, dusky Canada geese have limited summer and winter ranges. They nest on Alaska's Copper River Delta and winter almost exclusively in the Willamette Valley. Habitat loss, predation, and hunting have caused a decrease in population.
Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge is located in the fertile Willamette Valley of northwestern Oregon, 12 miles (19 km) south of Salem. The valley was once a rich mix of wildlife habitats. Valley wetlands were once extensive, with meandering stream channels and vast seasonal marshes. Today, the valley is a mix of farmland and growing cities, with few areas remaining for wildlife.
Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge is in northwestern Oregon, 10 miles (16 km) west of Salem in Polk County. The Refuge consists of 1,173 acres (4.75 km2) of cropland, which provide forage for wintering geese, 300 acres (1.2 km2) of forests, 550 acres (2.2 km2) of grasslands, and 500 acres (2.0 km2) of shallow water seasonal wetlands and 35 acres (0.14 km2) of permanent open water. In 1965, Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge was created to help ensure some of the original habitat remained for species preservation. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Montana.
The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex is located in the northern San Joaquin Valley, within Merced County and Stanislaus County of California. The complex, with four federal National Wildlife Refuges, is managed by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service.
The Summer Lake Wildlife Area is a 29.6-square-mile (77 km2) wildlife refuge located on the northwestern edge of the Great Basin drainage in south-central Oregon. It is administered by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The refuge is an important stop for waterfowl traveling along the Pacific Flyway during their spring and fall migrations. The Summer Lake Wildlife Area also provides habitat for shorebirds and other bird species as well as wide variety of mammals and several fish species. The Ana River supplies the water for the refuge wetlands.
The Montana valley and foothill grasslands are an ecoregion of northwestern North America in the northern United States and southern Canada.