American Prairie Reserve & Prairie Stream Restoration

Introduction to American Prairie Foundation American Prairie Foundation (APF) is spearheading a historic effort to reignite America’s passion for large-scale conservation by assembling the largest wildlife reserve of any kind in the lower 48 states. APF’s lands, called American Prairie Reserve (APR), are located on Montana’s Great Plains, just north of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and the Missouri River. Scientists have identified this place as an ideal location for the construction of a thriving prairie reserve capable of hosting an astonishing array of wildlife in an ecologically diverse environment. APF currently holds 123,346 acres of deeded and leased land.

APF has three goals informing all activities on the Reserve: 1. Conservation: APF seeks to accumulate and manage enough private land that, when combined with existing public land, will create a fully functioning prairie-based wildlife reserve. When complete, the Reserve will consist of more than three million acres of private and public land (using the existing 1.1 million acre Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge as the public land anchor). With less than 1% of the world’s grasslands protected, the pristine condition of the land and abundance of indigenous species in the Northern Great Plains make the American Prairie Reserve region an ideal location for a conservation project of this scale. APF currently manages a conservation bison herd of approximately 140 animals—the first conservation bison herd in this part of Montana in more than 120 years. Collaborative research projects are also underway to assess existing populations of endemic species including pronghorn, prairie dogs, swift fox, long- billed curlews, and cougars.

2. Public Access: APF believes that public access should not only coexist with, but complement, our conservation efforts. With a public campground and a plan for multi-use trails on the Reserve, APF invites public visitation and recreational use. Hunters also make use of APF land through a cooperative state program that opens private lands for public hunting.

3. Community Enrichment: APF seeks to make a positive economic and cultural contribution to the region surrounding the Reserve. To date, through its operations, APF has directly contributed $19.4 million to the economy of Phillips County, Montana, and surrounding areas. As part of this goal, APF has also established the Community Involvement Fund, which supports the local community with financial assistance to initiatives in the areas of education, conservation, and historical and cultural preservation.

Riparian Systems on American Prairie Reserve Overview APF recognizes that healthy prairie streams offer critical habitat for Northern Great Plains wildlife and fish. Multi-story riparian corridors of perennial grasses, shrubs and trees not only provide food and shelter in a harsh landscape, but also mitigate erosion and help maintain deep pools and cool water temperatures essential for aquatic life. Over the past century, however, much of this habitat and its associated biodiversity have been lost. Stream channels have widened, water temperatures have risen and streambeds have become so deeply incised that waters rarely meet their floodplain. Moreover, the hydrologic processes of the prairie have been altered by livestock reservoirs, dams, diversion dams and spreader dikes.

Restoration Progress To Date APF, working with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and stream specialists, has initiated several restoration projects on American Prairie Reserve. We have provided the basis for re-vegetation efforts by inventorying and characterizing riparian habitats, conducting vegetation restoration trials to understand how to manage restoration efforts on a larger scale and documenting the ecological importance of beaver in prairie streams. We have also surveyed fish populations on the three major creeks on the Reserve to provide a baseline for future restoration.

In April of 2007, APF, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Oxbow Inc. and Hoitsma Ecological restored a half-mile segment of Box Elder Creek that had been farmed as an alfalfa field at least 70 years prior. Funded by a grant from Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Future Fisheries Fund, the restoration project involved using a tractor to dig a new channel. The new channel reconnects Box Elder’s 27-square mile watershed to Telegraph Creek, allowing fish to repopulate the watershed as hydrologic conditions allow. A Montana Conservation Corps crew supported the project by installing 1,500 plants, including 10 species of native riparian trees and shrubs in three different plots along the new channel.

The planting included some species that had been tried during restoration trials—yellow willow, plains cottonwood, rose and chokecherry—as well as some that had not yet been tried— buffaloberry, hawthorn, currant, green ash, sand cherry and snowberry.

Finally, in the summer of 2007, WWF restored natural flows on all three major creeks of American Prairie Reserve by opening up in-stream dams. By modifying these structures, WWF not only restored flows to the three creeks, but also removed major fish barriers, allowed for natural transportation of sediment, re-established natural processes of erosion and deposition and increased the number of sites for riparian vegetation. Monitoring conducted by WWF in 2008 documented fish in areas where they had not been in 2006 and had likely not existed for 60 years. WWF continues to monitor changes to in-stream habitat, riparian conditions and flow volume as a result of the flow restoration efforts.

Continuing Restoration Efforts WWF will continue monitoring dam removal results on adjacent channels and riparian areas over the next several years. APF is also monitoring stream hydrology and measuring stream flows and precipitation events to improve our understanding of local water systems and inform future management decisions. The record-setting amounts of precipitation in northeastern Montana in the spring of 2011, in particular, revealed how specific infrastructure changes could be beneficial.

On streams with spreader dikes designed to direct flood flows to irrigate fields, for example, spring floods were diverted from their flood plains onto fields. Water submerged portions of fields on American Prairie Reserve for weeks, which resulted in widespread vegetation die-offs. Recognizing that major flood events have great value to riparian health when streams are functioning healthily and reaching their floodplains, APF Reserve staff have identified the removal of certain spreader dikes as a top restoration priority.

Additional related projects include a current study monitoring bison impacts on riparian areas and evaluating opportunities for native fish restoration.