Coming Soon....Wildlife Webcam! The Word Wildlife Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have teamed up to bring you a wildlife webcam.

 

Cottonwood bottoms of the Missouri River within the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.

Credit Maribeth Oaks/The Wilderness Society

Containing some of the most unique habitat in all of Montana, the Missouri River and the Missouri River Breaks is host to a whole plethora of wildlife species. Introduced in 1951, the breaks offer some of the best habitat for rocky mountain elk. Originally home to the plains elk, rocky mountain elk have managed to flourish in the area over the last few decades. In addition to elk, the Refuge contains both white-tail and mule deer, pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets, and over 236 species of birds.

Habitat

With the buzz about climate change, the Service is looking to establish clear direction and assistance in the ever changing future. In an effort to lead the way, Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) has begun to conduct a climate sentinel plant monitoring program on the Refuge. Climate sentinel plant species are those species first to decline with climate change and simultaneously looks outs for too much or too little expression of ecological processes (such as grazing and fire). Sentinel Animals, being herbivores, pollinators, or predators, are animals that depend on sentinel plants or their habitats. The purpose of Sentinel Adaptive Management is to 'keep the pieces' at the food webs foundation. We work based on the assumption that resources for monitoring and management (time and money in our society) are small and responsibilities are large. Sentinel Management is designed to conserve the diversity of plant and animal communities most cost effectively. The collection of plant species native to a region and the animals that depend on them are conserved by managing for viable populations of the species that vanish first. Our hope here at the Refuge is to maintain a diversity of habitats to support a diversity of wildlife by monitoring those plant species that are most sensitive to extreme changes in ecological processes on both ends of the spectrum.

  

Wildlife

The Refuge conducts numerous surveys and research projects to monitor population dynamics such as survival, sex ratio, habitat preferences, etc. of several wildlife species inhabiting the refuge. Currently sage grouse and sharp-tail grouse listening surveys are completed twice each spring. By completing these surveys the staff is able to monitor the use of grouse leks and fluctuations in their populations. Several times each year the refuge is flown by our wildlife biologist to assess mule deer, rocky mountain elk, and bighorn sheep populations and distributions. These flights take place during all four seasons. In the fall hunter check stations are setup to collect samples for chronic wasted disease testing. Hunters are asked to voluntarily submit their elk or deer heads to continually test for the disease. To date, chronic wasting disease has not been found in Montana. This is only a fraction of the surveys the refuge is currently conducting. Additional surveys on raptors, raptor nests, bats, mourning doves, spiny soft-shell turtles, prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets, mountain plovers, burrowing owls and others are also being conducted. By researching and monitoring wildlife populations and their habitats, the refuge hopes to continue to support diversity of wildlife species and their habitats for all the public to enjoy.

Grazing 

Since the establishment of the refuge in 1936, livestock grazing has occurred on the Refuge. In 1986 the Service completed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which reduced cattle grazing 33% from 66,000 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) to 40,000 AUMs. In 2007, approximately 18,000 AUMs were grazed on the refuge. Some of the reduction in AUMs can be attributed to permittees choosing to take nonuse, by choice are not grazing their allotted AUMs. Grazing permits are issued annually to the permittee and are transferrable only to members of that immediate family. The refuge is currently evaluating the use of grazing on the refuge within the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) process. To learn more about the CCP and where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is at in the planning process, please visit the planning page accessible through the planning tab above.

Wilderness

UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge (UL Bend) is within the executive order boundary of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (refuge). Within UL Bend is the only designated wilderness area within the refuge boundary. The wilderness area consists of 20,890 acres and was designated by Congress in 1976. In addition to the UL Bend wilderness area, the refuge contains 15 proposed wilderness areas that total 155,288 acres. These proposed wilderness areas, not-yet being designated wilderness areas, are managed as if they are officially designated as wilderness according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) policy. By managing the proposed wilderness as designated wilderness, the Service is maintaining the areas wilderness qualities in the event that Congress does officially designate them as wilderness areas. Within the designated and proposed wilderness areas, only non-motorized, non-mechanical travel is permitted. The use of a game cart is allowed within the proposed wilderness areas. Hiking, horseback riding, photography, hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and backcountry camping are among the permitted uses of the wilderness areas.