Refuge management focuses on maintaining natural area and wilderness values. In this context, management first provides habitat for trumpeter swans and endangered species followed closely with an emphasis on moose, raptors, and several sensitive species. Water is managed to provide nesting habitat for swans and other waterfowl, with a secondary benefit for fisheries. Much of the Refuge already has substantial natural habitat diversity. Our management seeks to enhance those natural area values where appropriate, and maintain them where natural processes are functioning well.

Historically grazed by bison, our present grazing and prescribed burning programs help maintain forage quality for big game grazing, and a mix of shrubs and grass structure for nesting birds. Red Rock Lakes is a highly productive, high elevation (6,600 feet) intermountain wetland habitat. In recognition of these lushly vegetated mountain meadows, we maintain dense vegetation which provides hiding cover for a balanced predator/prey coexistence without the direct intrusion of a predator control program. This results in viewing opportunities for fox, coyotes, badgers, and other predators, as well as prey species. The denser cover also maintains populations of rodents which provide prey for numerous hawks and owls. The riparian and riverine habitats on the Refuge are some of the most vegetated and diverse in the western states. Management focuses on maintaining willow densities for bird diversity and moose forage.

Refuge staff conduct occasional wildlife surveys depending on staffing levels and funding. However, the Refuge conducts two major trumpeter swan aerial surveys covering the tri-state areas of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. These surveys guide the management of the entire Rocky Mountain population of trumpeter swans. Through the years, trumpeter swans relocated from Red Rock Lakes helped to restore their populations throughout the Midwest and mountain states.       

Trumpeter Swan Surveys

The Refuge conducts two major trumpeter swan aerial surveys (in the fall and mid-winter) covering the tri-state areas of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. The Fall Trumpeter Swan Survey of the U.S. Flocks is an expanded version of the Tri-State Trumpeter Swan survey which was an annual fall survey conducted between 1967 and 1991 (triennial 1968-1982) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This survey of the U.S. flocks within the Rocky Mountain population is a cooperative effort between Red Rock Lakes NWR, Southeast Idaho Refuge Complex, Malheur NWR, Ruby Lake NWR, Benton Lake NWR, Seedskadee NWR, Idaho Department of Fish & Game, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Blackfeet Tribal Fish and Wildlife Department, and other regional wildlife management agencies, Parks, and Forests.

The primary purposes of the survey are to document the size of the U.S. trumpeter swan flocks and to enumerate the annual production of cygnets to fledgling age. The survey also provides some information on territorial occupancy and the distribution of failed breeders and non-breeders from year to year.

In response to the summer and winter range expansion programs, the Tri-State Survey was expanded to include all trumpeter swan flocks within the Rocky Mountain Population that summer in the continental U.S. The expanded survey includes: the Eastern Rocky Mountain Front in Montana; Gray's Lake NWR, the Bear River, and lower Snake River in Idaho; Ruby Lake NWR in Nevada; Malheur NWR and Summer Lake WA in Oregon; and the Salt, Wind, and Green Rivers in Wyoming. Because "Tri-state" no longer adequately describes the area surveyed, the survey's name has been changed to "Trumpeter Swan Survey of the Rocky Mountain Population/U.S. Flocks".

The Mid-Winter Trumpeter Swan Survey is an annual survey conducted in late January or early February; it is intended to provide a total count of the entire Rocky Mountain population. The Mid-Winter survey is the best way to census and determine the distribution of the entire wintering population. It provides essential data for waterfowl managers in three provinces of Canada and five U.S. states, as well as numerous other administrative entities. The 1998 Mid-Winter Survey counted 2,189 swans.

Trumpeter Swan Banding

In addition to the two annual aerial surveys, Refuge staff participate in banding of adult and juvenile (cygnets) trumpeter swans. During summer fledging, adult swans are checked for health status, weighed, sexed, and banded, and previously banded swans’ band numbers are recorded. Refuge staff band cygnets in the fall, before they are flighted.

Trumpeter swan management in the tri-state area is conducted under guidelines set forth in the Rocky Mountain Population Management Plan, recently revised. For additional information on trumpeter swan management, see the Rocky Mountain Trumpeter Swan Range Expansion Program in the Trumpeter Swan Webpage and the Office of Migratory Bird Management Webpage.

Fisheries Management
on Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Although many people think of Red Rock Lakes NWR as a swan refuge, we also manage for a variety of other creatures, including fish. There are 13 species of fish occurring on the Refuge. Game fish include arctic grayling, cutthroat trout, brook trout, and mountain whitefish. Other fish found on the Refuge include mottled sculpin and mountain sucker.

Native cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, and arctic grayling can be found in Upper Red Rock Lake and Red Rock Creek. Suckers are also native and can be found in most of the Refuge waters. Mottled sculpin are often seen by people walking along Odell and Red Rock Creeks. Rainbow trout and brook trout were introduced to the valley as early as 1889 and can be found in Red Rock Creek.

Habitat

There are two basic habitat types important to fish on the Refuge. These are riverine and lacustrine. Riverine systems are creeks and rivers. Lacustrine systems are lakes and deep ponds. Some fish are restricted to creeks, like mottled sculpin. Others leave the lakes only to spawn, like arctic grayling.

All of the fish found on the Refuge are cold water fish. They require cold water to exist. This is because cold water holds more oxygen. When waters warm too much the fish suffocate. Low water levels, lack of shoreline vegetation and slow water can all lead to lakes, creeks, and rivers becoming warmer.

Erosion is also an important factor which affects fish. Although erosion is a natural process, it can be sped up by land uses or unusual weather. Sediments in the water can cover spawning gravels, smother eggs, and fill in lakes. Upper Red Rock Lake was at one time at least eighteen feet deep. Gradually it has been filling up with sediment, and now it is probably no more than ten feet deep at its deepest point. This may limit winter habitat available to fish. Causes of erosion include mining, excessive livestock grazing near streams, and heavy rains.

Management

Historically there has been little active management of fish on Refuge lands other than game fish stocking. Currently, the Refuge conducts population and habitat surveys and uses fencing to protect streamside vegetation from grazing. Other management is not active, but consists more of maintaining natural stream flows.

Past research on fisheries has been conducted in cooperation with Montana State University and the Bozeman Fish Technology Center. In recent years, the Refuge has been working on a project with the Montana Fish & Wildlife Management Assistance Office (FWMAO) in Bozeman, MT, to enhance the Refuge's arctic grayling and cutthroat trout fisheries. Extensive tagging and genetics studies on cutthroat trout and arctic grayling are planned. Tagging will be done to determine where fish spawn, how far they travel and what areas they use most. Also planned are aquatic and riparian habitat improvement efforts for the principle tributaries of Upper and Lower Red Rock Lakes (Red Rock Creek and Odell Creek, respectively). Cutthroat trout and arctic grayling, which currently inhabit these systems, are dependant upon Red Rock and Odell Creeks for spawning habitat and possibly rearing habitat for juveniles. However, considerable deterioration of these drainages has occurred over the last 30-40 years due to various activities including overgrazing of riparian vegetation by livestock and dewatering of the creeks.

The purpose of this project is to ensure the survival of the grayling and cutthroat populations by implementing stream habitat improvements to enhance, protect, and preserve these aquatic habitats. Specifically, management goals are to:

1. preserve existing (remnant) arctic grayling population;
2. determine the genetic strains of arctic grayling and cutthroat trout in the upper Centennial Valley;
3. conduct fish population assessments in Red Rock and Odell Creeks and Upper and Lower Red Rock Lakes;
4. place fish traps on Red Rock and Odell Creeks to evaluate the adult population and fry recruitment of the arctic grayling;
5. minimize possible impediments to spawning runs and spawning;
6. maintain minimum stream flow requirements for Odell and Red Rock Creeks;
7. maintain fish screens on all water diversions in order to prevent fish from entering and becoming stranded in diversion ditches, and monitor diversion activity so that no water is diverted when fry are small enough to pass through screens;
8. reduce sedimentation in Red Rock and Odell Creeks;
9. monitor riparian and aquatic habitat so that degradation or improvements can be observed and appropriate actions can be implemented in a timely manner;
10. identify essential spawning and over-winter habitat in both the Upper and Lower Lakes and Odell and Red Rock Creeks; and
11. evaluate Refuge ponds for their potential to serve as arctic grayling rearing and/or production areas.

Endangered Species

Big Hole grayling have been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. These fish are fluvial, meaning they spend their entire life in rivers and streams. The grayling at Red Rock Lakes NWR are thought to be adfluvial. This means that they spend most of their life in lakes or ponds and go into streams only to spawn. While Red Rock Lakes grayling are not candidates for listing, tagging studies will help confirm this.

Beaver and Fish

Beaver are also native to Centennial Valley. Pools created by beaver dams are very important winter habitat for fish in this area as well as providing habitat for birds and mammals. In years of low water, dams may interfere with fish movements. In order to maximize the benefits and eliminate detrimental effects, we manage our beaver dams, although our techniques are still evolving. Dams which interfere with fish movements even in years of normal water flow are removed in the spring. Dams which interfere only in very low water years are notched in those years to allow fish to move through.

History

Historically the waters of the Centennial Valley were thick with arctic grayling, cutthroat trout, and other fish. Now their numbers are fairly low, due mostly to historical land uses. Red Rock Lakes NWR is trying to restore our native fish to their past glory. In the meantime, please help us by practicing catch and release fishing on our native cutthroat trout and arctic grayling. Feel free to keep your limit of rainbow and brook trout.

Whirling Disease

Recently, some of the trout within the Centennial Valley, particularly Red Rock Creek, have been threatened by whirling disease. The Refuge is working with state and national agencies to help prevent and control this problem. For more information, visit the Whirling Disease Information section of the Fishing Information Webpage and consult the websites listed below.

Websites Related to Fisheries Management

Whirling Disease Task Force, http://whirling-disease.org/

Bald Eagle

As many as 20 bald eagles use the Refuge during spring and fall migrations. In 1970, Refuge staff first documented a pair of eagles but successful nesting was not confirmed until 1978. Since 1995, a bald eagle pair has produced eaglets from the same nest each year. Refuge personnel monitor the nest and nest area throughout the year to document existence of adult and immature eagles.

In summer 1998, a new pair of bald eagles was observed flying in the vicinity of Idlewild Trail.  Refuge staff monitored the area and in early summer 1999, discovered the eagle's nest.  This pair successfully fledged two young in 1999.

Peregrine Falcon

Between 1981 and 1988, The Peregrine Fund released approximately 45 captive-produced young from three Centennial Valley hack tower sites. After 1988, The Peregrine Fund stopped hacking peregrines in the Valley because released and possibly wild pairs were beginning to nest within the area.

Peregrine falcons are now regularly observed between March and September.  A few birds are occasionally seen in October and November.  In 1999, all three Valley hack towers were occupied by returning peregrine falcons and two of them successfully fledged young.  For the first time ever, the Refuge hack tower peregrine pair had a productive nest, fledging one young.  Also in 1999, a new falcon pair established a nest in one of the normally productive Valley towers.  The fact that it was the pair's first season there is the reason why the nest did not produce young this year.   However, the third Valley hack tower pair fledged four young, compared to last year's three.  Total Valley hack tower production of five peregrine fledglings for 1999 was almost equal to the six fledged in 1998.  Successful production of peregrine fledglings for 1999 was confirmed in one of the two cliff sites in the Valley, fledging two young.

During the summer of 1999, at least 44 young from 27 active peregrine eyries were produced in Montana for an average of 1.59 young/eyrie; seven (6.1%) of them came from nest sites in the Centennial Valley.

Whooping Crane

The Gray's Lake foster-reared whooping crane that summers at Red Rock Lakes NWR returned in 1999. Based upon the habitat use pattern and other behaviors, this was most likely the same crane that spent the last few summers at Red Rock Lakes NWR. In 1990, this crane was identified as an adult male, A06, and in 1998 is now 17 years old, the oldest male in the Gray's Lake NWR flock (whoopers that were foster-reared by sandhill cranes).

During 1998 and 1999, the whooping crane spent the entire summer directly north of Refuge headquarters in the grasslands and willows bordering Odell Creek. In 1999, he was last seen in his usual foraging grounds in the company of two sandhill cranes on September 10, when Refuge staff set up a spotting scope for a visiting Massachusetts Audubon Society tour group.  In 1998, his fall departure from the Centennial Valley came on September 13, when he was observed circling to gain altitude with a flock of sandhill cranes.  During an aerial crane survey in the Teton Basijn on September 15, 1998, he was sighted with the three Gray's Lake foster-reared whooping cranes that summer there.

All was quiet on the "whooping crane front" until the the last week of September 1998, when a total of three unconfirmed whooping crane sightings were reported in Beaverhead County. Two sightings came from the north and south of Dillon, Montana, and the third was from just east of Lima Reservoir. In the absence of confirmed sightings, three possible explanations emerged. Since there are only four known whoopers in the Centennial Valley-Teton Basin area, it is thought that the Dillon sightings were either a whooping-sandhill crane hybrid or white-morph sandhill cranes, both known to use the area. The Lima Reservoir sighting could have been a crane hybrid or morph, or the Red Rock Lakes whooping crane returned from the Teton Basin (a later flight over the Teton Basin revealed only the three Teton Basin whoopers without the RRL crane).

Grizzly Bear and Gray Wolf

The Refuge lies outside the Yellowstone Recovery Zone for grizzly bears; but the Refuge and adjacent areas may be used by a small number of bears seasonally. Wolves are being reintroduced into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as part of the recovery plan. As recovery of grizzly bears and wolves progresses in Yellowstone and the central Idaho wilderness complex, the Centennial Valley and management practices therein will become increasingly important. The Centennial area will serve as a linkage zone between the two ecosystems.

Category 2 Species

The Refuge also provides habitat for several Category 2 species. These species include: North American wolverine, trumpeter swan, ferruginous hawk, mountain plover, white-faced ibis, Montana Arctic grayling, and spotted frog. (The Fish and Wildlife Service discontinued the Category 2 Species list in 1996.) The Service also identifies and lists proposed, candidate, and nonessential experimental species.

In addition to the Fish and Wildlife Service, other federal agencies, the state of Montana, and the Audubon Society each maintain lists of wildlife species of concern, some of which occur on or near the Refuge. The Bureau of Land Management lists Special Status Species, the National Forest Service documents Sensitive Species, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks lists Threatened and Endangered Species, and the Audubon Society maintains national and Montana State WatchLists. These species may represent a significant contribution to the local economy, recreation or aesthetics (e.g., big game), serve as an indicator species for specific habitat conditions (e.g., sagebrush dependent), be of national significance (waterfowl, neotropical migratory birds), or have a legal aspect to their management (Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive). The Gravelly Landscape Analysis Documentation, a recent publication intended to describe and better understand the role of public lands in southwest Montana, contains information about the occurrence of such species in the region.

Injured and Sick Wildlife

Throughout the year, Refuge staff respond to reports of injured and sick wildlife and routinely note and investigate any unusual wildlife behavior. During banding, trumpeter swan health is monitored carefully. Blood is drawn from any swan appearing unfit and samples are sent out for analysis. Injured swans, as well as raptors and other birds in reasonable condition, are transported to Big Sky Wildcare in Bozeman, Montana, for treatment and rehabilitation. In the rare case that a trumpeter is found dead, the Refuge sends the swan to the National Wildlife Health Research Center (in Madison, Wisconsin) for necropsy to determine the cause of death.

The Refuge and vicinity are patrolled by both Refuge staff and other law enforcement personnel. Their presence helps to provide a safe outdoor experience for visitors. Although the campgrounds and visitor areas are considered safe, visitors should always use precautions (removing keys and locking unattended vehicles). Fishing and hunting regulations are also enforced by State game wardens who patrol the area regularly.

The Refuge does not permit commercial outfitting or guiding. However, outfitters can apply for a Special Use Permit to cross the Refuge with their clients to get to adjacent BLM lands where they can legally operate.

Prescribed Burns

Occasionally, the Red Rock Lakes NWR conducts prescribed burns to selected sections of Refuge lands. In years past, before the arrival of ranches and fences in the Centennial Valley, wildfires lit by lightning strikes raged uncontrolled across the Valley grasslands. Over the centuries, the fire-tamed Valley landscape alternated from vast expanses of uninterrupted grassland to grasslands interspersed with small forested areas and back again to solid grassland. In recent times, active suppression of wildfires has caused forests of aspen, firs, and spruce to gain a foothold in some grassland areas. Periodic prescribed burns help to limit the spread of these trees and allow the native grasses to rejuvenate and regain the areas lost to forests. The last prescribed burn conducted on the Refuge was in 1996.

The primary resource objectives of controlled burning from a management point of view are to (1) reduce hazardous fuels; (2) improve composition and vigor of dense nesting cover for waterfowl; and (3) improve nesting cover for other ground nesting birds (e.g., sparrows). Additionally, controlled burning helps to remove accumulated litter, minimize the effects of a catastrophic natural fire, and stimulate native grass production.

Noxious Weeds

The Refuge coordinates with state and county agencies to help control the spread of noxious weeds in the Centennial Valley.  Please visit the Noxious Weed Webpage for more information.