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SLADE
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE |
|
Kidder
County, North Dakota |
|
 Slade
National Wildlife Refuge is located in south-central section of North
Dakota, in an area famed for its wealth of waterfowl producing potholes.
This Refuge is a typical remnant of the prairie pothole breeding habitat
of the glaciated plains that, due to drainage, has so rapidly diminished
in North America.
The Refuge comprises 3,000 acres of gently rolling prairie dotted by numerous lakes and marshes formed by glacial action. It is characterized by tall and mid-grasses in a climax condition. This has not always been the situation. Most of the original prairie in this part of North Dakota disappeared with the introduction of tame grasses or through overgrazing and cultivation. The economy of this region today is still based largely on agriculture. |
|
| The Refuge contains five semi-permanent lakes and marshes, plus fifteen pothole areas, totaling over 900 acres of wetlands. The shallow potholes and marshes contain a wide variety of natural foods for nesting birds during the summer months. Bulrush and cattail stands in the deeper lakes provide excellent cover for waterfowl while molting and during migration periods. | |
| Lakes and marshes in the vicinity of Dawson, North Dakota, were well-known during the early 1900's for the tremendous number of waterfowl present and the excellent hunting opportunities. The late G.T. Slade, formerly an executive of the Northern Pacific Railroad, began purchasing land around Harker Lake in 1924 for the establishment of a private shooting club. | |
 During
the drought years in the 1930's, Mr. Slade spent a considerable sum of
money to maintain resting and feeding areas for waterfowl. Under his
direction, the land was tilled to provide food for wildlife, but because
of the drought conditions, only small yields were obtained. A large well
was dug between Harker and Upper Harker Lakes, pumping 16,000 gallons
of water per hour, This well was operated with a large turbine pump almost
continuously for an 18 month period during the late 1930's. Water from
this well was directed into both lakes through a system of pipes and
wooded flumes. Large quantities of grain then had to be purchased and
shipped in to provide supplementary food for the thousands of birds attracted
to the oasis. In 1940, Mr. Slade donated the entire club to the Fish & Wildlife
Service for the establishment of Slade NWR. |
|
| The Refuge is utilized by waterfowl approximately 9 months of the year. The first to arrive in late February - mid March are a breeding population of giant Canada geese. The summer waterfowl population is bolstered by breeding pairs of ducks. Nesting is primarily done by the dabbling duck species. Large numbers of migrating geese, snow geese, and Canada geese are present until the lakes freeze up in November. | |
 Slade
NWR is administered as a satellite refuge from the Long Lake Complex
headquarters. Because of its size, (3,000 acres) and resources, if this
refuge was located in another state, it would likely be a manned site.
Prior to the era of Complexing in the 1970's, Slade NWR was the headquarter
facility for what is now the Long Lake NWR Complex, with additional responsibilities
for Logan and McIntosh counties which are now part of the Kulm WMD. Complexing
placed the Slade Complex under the administration of Arrowwood Complex,
moved the headquarters to Long Lake NWR, reduced staff at the future
substation, and reduced the area of administration from 5 to 3 counties.
When Long Lake separated from Arrowwood in 1991, administration of Slade
NWR was included under the Long Lake Complex. |
|
| All facilities
(except for water control structures) that existed at Slade are gone
except for one grain bin. Slade Refuge is noted for contributing to the
giant Canada goose restoration program by providing some of the initial
stock for the captive breeding program.
The Refuge consists of gently rolling terrain developed from Missouri Coteau glacial outwash. There are 975 acres of wetland, 200 acres of native grassland, 1,291 acres of tame grass, 30 acres of shelter belts, and 487 acres of farming units. The bulk of the soils on the Refuge are mixes of sand and silt. |
|
| Most of
the acres are permanent lakes. A few natural temporary and seasonal wetlands
exist in the northern part of the Refuge. Several dugouts and ponds have
been created in the central part of the Refuge.
During the 1970's, the State Water Commission held a public hearing regarding the Fish and Wildlife Service water rights for Slade NWR. There was a challenge from the Lake Isabel Cabin Owners Association on the water rights. The controversy probably stemmed from the Fish and Wildlife Service building a dam across the west end of South Marsh in the 1960s that was challenged, found to be illegal in that it exceeded the Refuge's water right, and was breached. There has never been a resolution of the water rights issue for Slade NWR. We have attempted to get the dam on South Marsh restored legally through cooperation with the Lake Isabel Cabin Owners Association in an attempt to provide flood control for the lake, but have been unsuccessful. |
|
| Shelterbelts occupy approximately 30 acres of Slade Refuge. Over the years, a number of solitary trees have developed along the periphery of Refuge wetlands and some sentinel trees have developed in the grasslands. The woodlands provide shelter for resident game species during the winter months and add to the diversity of non-game wildlife that is found there. The woodlands have developed an understory of leafy spurge (an aggressive noxious weed) on some areas of the Refuge. The only management of the woodlands that is prescribed is to knock the spurge back to the margins of the woodland habitat. | |
| Soils on the Slade NWR are extremely sandy. The best use of these soils is long term cover; however, the Refuge has a persistent problem with leafy spurge. The loose soils promote rapid expansion and difficulty in control of leafy spurge. Currently a three pronged approach to spurge control is used, including biological control, chemical treatment, and farming. The long term management objectives are to establish the entire refuge to native grasses. | |
| The majority
of the farming on the Refuge is done organically. In the past, fields
being taken out of grass are farmed and then returned to a grass/legume
mixture. This will continue in the future with the exception of some
fields which will be returned to native grass. Almost 1500 acres of the Refuge are managed as nesting cover. The majority of the grassland on Slade NWR is introduced grasses and legumes. Native prairie exists in the northeast corner of the Refuge and adjacent to the numerous marshes on the refuge. For the past twelve years sheep have been used for grazing of leafy spurge on Slade Refuge. Approximately 100 acres of Refuge with spurge infestations were grazed this year. In 2000 some new sheep fencing was constructed. This year some of the old fence was torn down and removed. |
|
 Approximately
90,000 leafy spurge beetles were released this year. Prior to this release,
insects were released in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2000. The previous releases
were 500 to 1,000 beetles at a time. Activity of beetles were apparent
at almost all of the previous release sites and beetles were located;
however, numbers were not of a collectable size on most of the sites
probably due to the low number originally released. One site did have
a collectable number of beetles in 2001 and the area surrounding the
first release site was vacant of spurge. About 5,000 beetles were collected
from this site and moved to another infested area on the Refuge. With
the larger release of beetles in 2001 it is our hope that beetles can
be collected on the Refuge and moved to leafy spurge infestations that
do not have beetles or to previous release sites where beetles have not
thrived. |
|
 Most
infestations of leafy spurge on the Refuge were located and marked using
a Trimble GeoExplorer3 GPS unit. All leafy spurge release sites and numbers
were also located and recorded with the GPS. This will help accurately
and visually measure the effects of treatments on various infestations
of leafy spurge.
For the last several years there has been a cooperative farming agreement in effect that allows the cooperator to spray spurge in exchange for farming operations. Since Slade NWR is approximately an hour away from the headquarters at Long Lake, this saves an invaluable amount of resources that can be redirected to other management areas. The spurge locations are widely scattered across the Refuge. The cooperative farmer has an excellent knowledge of these areas and does a good job treating them. Hay cutting is also used in fields were spurge plants are very widely scattered across the field. |
|
| Many of
these infested areas were mapped using a GeoExplorer 3and introduced
into the Refuge data base this year.
The marshes and uplands support a wide variety of migrant and resident wildlife.
Ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, and gray partridge are commonly observed on the Refuge. Pheasant numbers declined substantially during the 1993/94 winter and again in the winter of 1996/97, and recovery has been slow. During winter visits to the Refuge, staff noted an evident lack of pheasants in the Refuge food plot areas. Coyotes and red fox are both commonly observed on the Refuge with coyotes being predominant. |
|
Lake Isabel, located adjacent to Slade NWR, supports a northern pike fishery. A forage base of fathead minnows is also present. As in most years, there was a small spring movement of these species into the south marsh. During high water years, the fish can expand into all of the larger Refuge lakes. It is suspected that the deep permanent wetland basins host northern pike and possibly other gamefish as well. Equipment used to maintain and manage the Refuge is shared with the other Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge Complex subunits.
|
|
Please direct questions and comments to: Long Lake
National Wildlife Refuge |
|
White-tailed
deer utilize Slade NWR on a year round basis. The Refuge combines with
the North Dakota Game & Fish Dawson Game Management Area (GMA)
(3040 acres) to carry a substantial deer herd in the general area.
Located between the two areas are a number of center pivot irrigation
fields, several of which produce corn each year providing a source
of winter food in addition to winter feeding stations established on
the GMA.