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In 1941 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) implemented a science-based fish and wildlife restoration program, resulting in healthy populations of more than 80 species that are hunted and fished.
Identifying Species at Risk
In 2005 MFWP completed the Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy which is the foundation for the Montana Wildlife Action Plan. The Strategy identified 12 species in Montana listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act and another 556 fish and wildlife species receiving scant attention and funding to keep them from declining or even evaluate how their populations are doing. Montana scientists, hunters, anglers, landowners and businesses worked together for two years to develop these conservation strategies to keep species from becoming endangered.
Species of Greatest Conservation Need
Of the 556 species, the Montana Wildlife Action Plan has identified 60 species of conservation need, including the 12 threatened or endangered species:
- 17 Fish--including Yellowstone cutthroat trout and endnagered pallid sturgeon
- 15 Mammals--including lynx, hoary marmot and spotted bat
- 19 Birds--including burrowing owl and long-billed curlew
- 5 Reptiles--milk snake, smooth green snake, snapping turtle, spiny softshell turtle and western hognose snake
- 3 Amphibians--boreal toad, Coeur d'Alene salamander and northern spotted frog
- 1 Invertebrate--western pearlshell mussel
The plan identifies the on-the-ground habitat and management projects needed to assist the 60 species of greatest need and it also benefits the other species in Montana, including those that are hunted and fished.
State Wildlife Grants
State Wildlife Grants are annual federal appropriations since 2001 to state, tribal and territorial wildlife agencies that augment funding from hunting and fishing licences and other federal aid to help implement the states' Wildlife Action Plans. The State Wildlife Grant Program has become the nation's most cost-effective core program to help keep wildlife from becoming endangered. Since 2001, Montana has received more than $6.4 million in State Wildlife Grants.
For specific information about the wildlife projects in Montana that have been funded by the grants, go to Montana State Wildlife Grants Contracts.
Montana State Wildlife Grants: Fact Sheet
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