U.S. U.S.Fish Fish & Wildlife & Wildlife Service Service Mountain-Prairie Region 6 Overview of the Service’s Mountain-Prairie Region

Widgeon Pond at Red Rocks Lake National Wildlife Refuge / USFWS

The Mountain-Prairie Region consists of federal agencies such as the Department Regional Demographics 8 states in the heart of the American of Defense. Energy development, ■ Land area: 737,884 square miles west including Colorado, Kansas, agricultural trends and urbanization all (468,573,000 acres) Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, exert influences on the Region’s ■ Population: 15,403,172 (Roughly 2.5 to South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The landscapes. 1 urban to rural ratio) region is defined by three distinct ■ Members of Congress: 37 landscapes. In the east lie the central Resource Facts and Figures ■ Federally Recognized Indian Tribes: 40 and northern Great Plains, primarily the ■ Approximately 5,751,358 acres ■ Public land: 137,024,000 acres (federal vast mixed- and short-grass prairies. To protected by the National Wildlife and state) the west rise the Rocky Mountains and Refuge System (NWRS), including ■ Wildlife-dependent recreation: the intermountain areas beyond the both fee title and easement lands. This 7,275,000 people* (hunting, fishing, and Continental Divide, including parts of includes 124 national wildlife refuges, wildlife watching) the sprawling Colorado Plateau and the 18 coordination areas, and numerous * USDA Economic Research Service Great Basin. The northeastern part of waterfowl production areas in 120 **FY 2011 National Survey of Fishing, the Region contains millions of shallow counties through Fiscal Year 2012. Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated wetlands known as the “prairie ■ 2,576,476 visitors to NWRS lands in Recreation potholes,” which produce a large portion Fiscal Year 2012. of the continent’s waterfowl. ■ 12 units of the National Fish Key Habitats and Ecosystems Hatchery System, including D.C. The Mountain-Prairie Region contains Some of the nation’s greatest rivers rise Booth, a National Historic Fish some of the last large, intact and in the Region including the Missouri, Hatchery in Spearfish, SD; two ecologically functional landscapes in the Colorado, and Platte rivers. The fish and fisheries offices (one in Grand Junction, lower 48 states. As part of the Service’s wildlife that make their home on the CO and one in Vernal, UT) that ongoing efforts to work cooperatively Region’s prairies and in its mountains implement the recovery of endangered with local communities to conserve these are among the nation’s most iconic fish in the Colorado River; a National functional ecosystems, the Service has species: grizzly bear, gray wolf, the Fish Technology Center and National created large landscape-scale American bison, and cutthroat trout. Fish Health Center, both located in Conservation Areas (CA). These CA’s People, too, live here and are an active Bozeman, MT; and seven Fish & include the Sangre de Cristo Mountains presence on the land. The Region Wildlife Conservation Offices. includes 40 Indian Tribes, many of whom ■ Approximately 33 million fish stocked manage large land holdings, as do other by National Fish Hatcheries in 2010 which resulted in a total economic output of over $401,000,000 and supported over 3,700 private sector jobs. ■ 82 species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act; 18 species that are candidates for listing under the Act. ■ 1,080 employees. Grizzly bear cub / USFWS Female bison and calf / USFWS

Region 6 Mountain-Prairie Region where progress can be made on conservation of multiple species while working across programs with our partners. The region also hosts two Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) serving as a forum for our science based partnerships including Federal, state, tribal, local government and nongovernmental partners. These LCCs include the Great Northern LCC and Bull trout / USFWS Southern Rockies LCC. The LCCs are aligned in geographically similar areas of Colorado and New Mexico (an grassland resources for waterfowl and and they are true cooperatives formed important corridor for animal movement other birds. This is especially evident in and directed by a large base of natural in the Southern Rockies and home to the Dakotas where we have redirected resource managers and nongovernment imperiled Rio Grande cutthroat trout); substantial resources to keep up with organizations. The LCCs work daily the Flint Hills of Kansas (the largest the immense interest of willing with conservation partners to connect block of intact tallgrass prairie landowners. The Region has also the region’s six shared LCCs with other remaining in North America); the implemented a successful program to landscape-level programs and Dakota Grasslands (which provides enhance genetic conservation for conservation delivery initiatives. crucial stopover and breeding habitat for American bison on National Wildlife over 130 species of grassland birds and Refuge lands and pioneered innovative Connect with the Mountain-Prairie waterfowl); and the northern Rocky methods to target land acquisition for Region Mountains of Montana (that are still waterfowl conservation. Current and Regional website address: www.fws.gov/ home to all of the plants and animals that future challenges include: (1) addressing mountain-prairie/ were noted during the Lewis and Clark the impacts of intensive energy Website: www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/ expedition). The Region is also actively development, from oil and gas to wind, Twitter: http://twitter.com/ working with a diverse array of partners on habitat and trust species; and (2) USFWSMtnPrairie to recover and conserve fish and wildlife managing water for imperiled aquatic Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/ and habitat in the headwaters regions of species such as pallid sturgeon and USFWSMountainPrairie several major river systems: the Platte/ native Colorado River fishes in the face Flickr: www.flickrcom/photos/ Yellowstone/Missouri; the Green/ of increasing water demand from usfwsmtnprairie/ Colorado; Rio Grande; and the Snake/ urbanizing areas and a changing climate. News Releases: www.fws.gov/mountain- Columbia. To meet these challenges, the Region is prairie/pressrel/ employing a strategic, landscape-level Regional Budget approach to identify and prioritize conse- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 6 In Fiscal Year 2012, the Region’s budget rvation actions to restore and maintain PO Box 25486, Denver Federal Center was $365,060,676. (This figure represents sustainable populations of trust species. Denver, Colorado 80225 all available sources: appropriated, http://www.fws.gov permanent, partnerships, and includes Science Supporting Conservation funding for our grant programs). The The Region continues to implement Marla Trollan Region disbursed a total of $124,492,331 strategic habitat conservation to achieve Assistant Regional Director in grants to states, tribes, and other sustainable wildlife populations on Office of External Affairs partners during Fiscal Year 2012. western landscapes. The Service has 134 Union Blvd, Suite 400 recently introduced a new adaptive Lakewood, CO 80228 Conservation Successes and management method known as the 303 / 236 7905 Challenges surrogate species approach. Selecting [email protected] The Mountain-Prairie Region, together surrogate species will lead to projects Mountain-Prairie.fws.gov/ea with our partners, has achieved significant conservation successes in For State relay service recent years, including the biological TTY / Voice: 711 recovery of the grizzly bear in the October 2012 Yellowstone ecosystem and the Northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolf. We have partnered with hundreds of landowners in maintaining working farms and ranches while conserving essential wetland and Eared grebe in the Platte River / USFWS

Region 6 Mountain-Prairie Region