Wetland conservation project nears funding mark

The Flathead Land Trust has nearly reached its fundraising goal for a wetland conservation project northwest of Kalispell.

Less than $4,000 of the $1.4 million needed to complete the West Valley Wetland conservation project remains unfunded after a $45,000 donation helped close the gap last week.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust added $40,000 of the new donation to their previous contribution of $45,000, and Montana’s Outdoor Legacy foundation contributed an additional $5,000 to their $500 donation made earlier this year.

The West Valley Wetland conservation project will set aside almost 400 acres of farm land and 45 acres of “pothole wetland” to be protected and preserved for the use of more than 150 species of birds. The easement lies north of Kalispell near the Stillwater River, and is bordered to the west by West Valley Drive and to the east by West Springcreek Road.

Among those birds are thousands of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds, including hundreds of sandhill cranes that migrate through the area each year.

As many as 400 cranes flock to the wetlands, the only known staging area in the Flathead Valley, to rest and refuel for the remainder of their fall migration — a trek that can reach as far north as the Arctic and as far south as Mexico.

Each lanky, gray bird stands at 5 feet tall with a 6-foot wingspan and sports a red mask that covers its forehead and eyes. Sandhill cranes are one of the few bird species known to mate for life in pairs that raise their young together.

During the day, the birds disperse to nearby fields to clean up grain and other left-overs from recent harvests before returning to congregate at night at the water’s edge.

The birds visit the same areas year after year, and the need to protect their staging ground was first brought to the Falthead Land Trust’s attention a few years ago after Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Montana Bird Conservation Partnership conducted a study of birds migrating through the area and discovered a pattern.

“Having a place like this so close to Kalispell that the public can easily access, where school children can go to learn about a wide variety of species and all of us can enjoy, is a rare treasure,” Jane Ratzlaff, Executive Director for Montana’s Outdoor Legacy Foundation and Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust Manager, said in a press release.

A bird-viewing area will be installed about 2 miles outside of Kalispell for the students, teachers and other members of the public to watch the birds and for educational use, according to land protection specialist, Laura Katzman.

In addition, Katzman said the conservation project will protect family farming in West Valley by keeping farmland intact and allowing for future agricultural production.

This means that, though the land will remain private property available for sale by the owners, any future owners will be required to follow the conservation easement and preserve the nature of the land.

Two large federal grants from the Natural Resource Conservation Service and North American Wetland Conservation Act will provide the brunt of the funding needed to complete the conservation project.

The landowners who will be impacted by the project are donating more than a third of the project’s value, leaving the Flathead Land Trust with approximately $150,000 in non-federal funds to raise.

Over the last 18 months, Flathead Audubon, the AGL Foundation, Montana Ducks Unlimited, Flathead Pheasants Forever, the International Crane Foundation and more than 60 individuals donated to the project.

For more information on the West Valley Wetlands project or to make a donation, visit http://www.flatheadlandtrust.org or call 406-752-8293.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.