Montana

Alberta Conservation Association
Enhancing Habitat and Connectivity for Pronghorn and Sage-Grouse by Improving Fences (AB, MT)
Enhance sage-grouse critical habitat by assessing range condition and signing habitat conservation strategy letters with private landowners. Project will improve 40,000 acres of habitat by removing 5 miles of page wire fencing and converting it to a wildlife friendly fencing to enhance sage-grouse habitat and retrofitting 50 miles of existing fencing to facilitate easier pronghorn movement.
$150,000

American Bird Conservancy
Providing Technical Assistance for Conservation Management on Private Working Lands (MT, ND, SD, WY)
Provide technical assistance to promote healthy grassland conservation to benefit grassland birds while meeting the economic bottom line for private landowners. Project will result in improved management on 6,500 acres through improved grazing rotations and fencing and water infrastructure, and restore 350 acres by re-seeding annual cropland with native perennial grasses and forbs and 1,920 acres by removing windmills.
$345,588

Ducks Unlimited
Restoring Habitat through the Northern Grasslands Restoration Incentives Program (MT, ND, SD, WY)
Provide technical assistance through the Northern Grasslands Restoration Incentives Program to provide an additional set of conservation options for producers throughout the Northern Great Plains who provide habitat for declining grassland birds. Project will restore 2,000 acres of grassland habitat and place 16,000 acres under improved management.
$128,533

Montana Conservation Corps
Restoring and Enhancing Mesic and Wet Meadow Habitat in the Lower Missouri Watershed (MT)
Restore and enhance wet meadows and mesic areas throughout the Lower Missouri Watershed in Montana and improve habitat for sage-grouse and pronghorn. Project will restore and enhance 300 acres of habitat and build local capacity to promote a more sustainable model for improving mesic and wet meadow areas throughout the region.
$330,036

Montana Land Reliance
Conserving Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat on Fauth Ranch through a Perpetual Conservation Easement (MT)
Conserve a multi-generation ranching operation, Fauth Ranch, located in Golden Valley and Musselshell counties, Montana to benefit the greater sage-grouse and to ensure the ranch remains intact and passed on to the next generation. Project will place 8,086 acres under a perpetual conservation easement.
$300,000

Montana Trout Unlimited
Improving Arctic Grayling Overwintering Habitat in Centennial Valley (MT)
Improve overwintering habitat for adfluvial Arctic grayling in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge through the construction of an underground pipeline which will transfer and oxygenate water. Project will restore Arctic grayling populations to historic levels.
$199,500

National Wildlife Federation
Improving Big Game Connectivity by Removing Fences in Horse Prairie and Big Hole Valley (MT)
Provide capacity for a Southwest Montana fence coordinator position to identify and implement fence modification projects and build collaborative partnerships to benefit wildlife and landowners. Project will update 16 miles of fence to wildlife friendly standards and improve connectivity through 100 miles of ungulate migration corridors.
$165,981

NatureServe
Research Support for Management of Pollinator Species (multiple states)
Conduct research to identify priority areas for on-the-ground monarch management actions such as habitat restoration and enrichment as well as to inform regulatory review. Project will map these areas and highlight those that are most used by monarchs, recognizing that monarchs tend to migrate along riparian and wetland corridors.
$199,878

Pheasants Forever
Using Decision-Support Tools to Strategically Deliver Grassland Bird Conservation (MT, SD, WY)
Collaboratively implement a tract-prioritization protocol based on grassland habitat decision-support tools to identify tracts on private land in western South Dakota, eastern Montana and eastern Wyoming with the highest value to grassland nesting passerines. Project will enroll 10,000 acres in grazing systems, integrate 50 ranchers with local stewardship resources, restore 5,000 acres of grassland habitat, improve 13 miles of fencing and restore 15 acres of riparian and wetland habitat.
$421,561

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance
Improving Big Game Migration Connectivity while Maintaining Agricultural Land Stewardship (MT)
Remove or improve 68 miles of fence on public and private lands in north-central Montana to increase landscape permeability and access to critical habitat for migratory big game species including elk, mule deer and pronghorn. Project will coordinate with various state, federal and private landowner partners to enhance permeability, increase habitat availability, restore connectivity and reduce fragmentation for big game species.
$472,000

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance
Restoring Former Grazing and Cropland to Ecologically Functional Grassland (MT)
Enhance core grazing lands and restore former cropland to working, ecologically functional grassland in northeast Montana through innovative practices that restore ecological integrity, soil health, productivity and function to our grazing landscape, rural communities and family ranches. Project will restore 1,000 acres and improve management on 9,000 acres of grassland habitat.
$296,970

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Community-Led Conservation of Grassland Habitat on Private Working Lands (MT, NE, SD, WY)
Maintain grassland connectivity through community-led conservation efforts, supported by sound science from diverse knowledge sources and facilitated through habitat enhancement and restoration by qualified Private Lands Wildlife Biologists. Project will provide and deliver technical support for fish and wildlife habitat conservation, restoration and improved management on 5,000 acres of private lands.
$214,192

Smithsonian Institution
Improving MOTUS Infrastructure and Capacity to Benefit Migratory Grassland Birds (MT)
Build MOTUS infrastructure in the Northern Great Plains to increase the quality and quantity of grassland bird migratory and demographic data that can be leveraged for conservation action. Project will fill key data gaps concerning migratory bird ecology by growing the infrastructure and capacity of the MOTUS network.
$146,163

The Mule Deer Foundation
Increasing Cross-Jurisdictional Coordination in Sagebrush Habitat (multiple states)
Increase cross-jurisdictional coordination with state agencies and other partners to implement projects on big game migration corridors and in sage-grouse core habitats. Project will improve habitat through treating invasive species, conservation easements, mesic and wet meadow habitat restoration, removing or improving fencing and restoring 3,000 acres of shrubland habitat.
$395,012

The Nature Conservancy
Restoring Mesic and Wet Meadow Habitat in Sagebrush Landscapes (MT)
Restore or preserve mesic and wet meadow habitats within arid sagebrush rangelands in the High Divide of Southwest Montana. Project will improve mesic habitat either through the installation of beaver dam analogues and water-slowing structures, or through the removal of conifers threatening the resilience of mesic habitats.
$181,069

The Trust for Public Land
Permanently Conserving Big Game Migration Corridors and Improving Public Access (MT)
Link migration corridors for mule deer and elk, creating landscape continuity and stitching together landscape-scale conservation efforts protecting wildlife habitat, prime fisheries and highly productive timberland on private lands nestled within the Kootenai National Forest in Montana. Project will protect 38,000 acres of habitat under permanent conservation easement.
$400,000

Trout Unlimited
Bitterroot Native Trout Passage and Habitat Restoration (MT)
Remove passage barriers and restore habitat quality for bull trout and Western cutthroat trout in the Bitterroot Watershed of Western Montana. Project will reconnect up to 53 miles of habitat, restore 2 miles of instream habitat and improve 155 acres of riparian habitat.
$99,495

Winnett ACES
Restoring and Enhancing Grassland and Wet Meadow Habitat in the Musselshell Plains (MT)
Facilitate grassland management for the benefit of grassland wildlife and agricultural operations within the Musselshell Plains of central Montana. Project will result in 10,000 acres under improved management, 20 acres of wet meadow restoration, 10 miles of fence modifications for pronghorn and further development of the grassbank strategy.
$220,788

Winnett ACES
Improving Habitat Connectivity for Grassland and Sagebrush-Dependent Bird Species (MT)
Work with a diverse partnership of farmers and ranchers, non-governmental conservation organizations, state and federal agencies and local conservation districts to achieve bird habitat improvements and connectivity for greater sage-grouse, Baird’s sparrow, chestnut-collared longspur and thick-billed longspur. Project will restore 800 acres and improve management on 25,000 acres.
$214,611

World Wildlife Fund
Improving Grazing Management with Improved Infrastructure, Management Tools and Education (MT, SD)
Improve grassland habitat on working lands by utilizing management agreements, prescribed grazing and changes in infrastructure to facilitate management in the Missouri-Milk River and Dakota Grasslands. Project will improve management on 90,000 acres to conserve grassland habitat and improve population trends for priority grassland songbirds, greater sage-grouse and pronghorn.
$451,155