Focus Areas
Focus areas are places in the intermountain grassland ecosystem that have been identified by scientists as specific areas that are in the greatest need of conservation. The following information describes each area, the fish and wildlife species associated with it, the concerns these areas face and things that can be done to help- "strategies."
Big Hole River
Originally named the Wisdom River by Meriwether Lewis, the Big Hole River and its tributaries start along the border of Montana and Idaho. Surrounded by hay meadows, the upper Big Hole separates the Bitterroot Range on the west from the Pioneer Mountains to the east. The middle section of the river runs through a length of gorge and then glides out through hay meadows, where it teams up with the Beaverhead River to create the Jefferson. It is one of the few places in the lower 48 where fluvial Arctic Grayling still persist.
Bitterroot River
This river originates in the Anaconda-Pintlar Wilderness and the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana. As the main tributaries flow together near Conner, Montana, it continues north along Highway 93 for 85 miles where it empties into the Clark Fork River near Missoula. To the west, is the glacial Bitterroot Range, and to the east rises the smoother and drier Sapphire Mountains. The river is characterized by constantly shifting stream channels among extensive cottonwood and ponderosa pine bottomland. Adjacent to the Bitterroot River is “Travelers’ Rest” which marks the location of a centuries-old Native American campsite that Lewis and Clark’s used in 1805 and 1806.
Bitterroot/Frenchtown Valley
The Bitterroot/Frenchtown Valley is dominated by the jagged peaks of the Bitterroot Range to the west and the lower Sapphire Mountains to the east. The valleys are arid, flat or gently rolling landscapes. While these valleys support many habitats, from grassland and riparian to forests and sagebrush, most of the area is now in agricultural production. In the valley bottoms, the cottonwood riparian habitats are productive wildlife habitats and are home to a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. These valleys are also some of the most quickly growing areas in the state, with residential development booming.
Blackfoot River
The Blackfoot River begins at the junction of Beartrap and Anaconda Creeks near the Continental Divide and flows west 132 miles to its mouth at Bonner, Montana. Near its headwaters, the Blackfoot River drops through glaciated highalpine meadows and runs between steep, forested slopes. For the last 52 miles, the Blackfoot levels out and moves through open ranch and timbered areas until it meets the Clark Fork River near Bonner. A free-flowing river, the Blackfoot is affected by soon-to-be-removed Milltown Dam, which has blocked fish passage on the Clark Fork River since 1907.
Central Montana Broad Valleys
These central valleys include the areas from Three Forks, where the Missouri River begins, north through the Helena Valley and White Sulphur Springs, generally east of the Belt Mountains. The valleys are situated among the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where precipitation is reduced by the rain shadow effect. Low and moderate cover grasslands dominate the valley floors and the dry environment highlights the importance of the riparian areas along the Missouri, Smith and other rivers and streams. Higher elevations capture enough precipitation to support fir, spruce and pine forests.
Deer Lodge Valley
One of several broad, intermountain valleys located in southwestern Montana, the north-flowing Clark Fork River bisects the Deer Lodge Valley along an eastwest axis. Cattle ranching and hay production are the chief agricultural activities. Native bunchgrass occurs on the valley foothills, which provide important elk and deer winter range and support other diverse nongame wildlife.
Flathead River Valley
The glaciated Flathead Valley of northwestern Montana lies among majestic mountain ranges and cradles the Flathead River. The valley supports diverse wetland and aquatic communities including glacial lakes, ponds, spring creeks, riparian swamps, cottonwood forests, oxbow lakes, and Flathead Lake, the nation’s largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. The northern and southern reaches of the valley still support intact palouse prairie habitats interspersed with wetlands and forest. The rich resources of the valley floor—the riparian/wetlands, grasslands, and foothills—are primarily in private ownership, and are under extreme development pressure.
Jefferson River
Lewis and Clark named this river after President Thomas Jefferson because it carried the greatest volume of water at that time compared to the nearby Madison and Gallatin rivers. The Jefferson River begins where the Big Hole and Beaverhead intersect and flows north through cattle country, limestone cliffs, and into the cottonwood bottoms near Three Forks, where it meets the Madison and Gallatin rivers to form the Missouri River. It is now one of the Montana rivers most heavily impacted by irrigation and drought.
Little Belt Foothills
The Little Belt Foothills cover the Judith Basin, a large grassland rimmed by the Little Belt, Highwood, Moccasin and Big Snowy mountains. The Judith River, tributary to the Missouri River, is the basin’s main drainage. Large, flat benches give soaring views of the high Little Belt foothills. Long, sprawling terraces dominate the lower elevations. While about 30 percent of the benches and terraces in the Judith Basin are farmed, the remaining land consists of bunchgrass and sagebrush grasslands.
Northern Tobacco Root Mountains & Foothills
The rugged peaks of the Tobacco Root Mountains overlook this area with their abundant high mountain lakes providing excellent fishing opportunities. These mountains have seen extensive historical mining activity resulting in numerous roads. The foothills provide important elk and mule deer winter range and are dominated by sagebrush/grassland that has seen conversion from spraying and burning of sagebrush. There are productive cottonwood riparian habitats supporting an abundance of wildlife species along the Jefferson River. This valley bottom is home to extensive agricultural production of cattle and alfalfa with little or no grain production.
Rocky Mountain Front Foothills
The Rocky Mountain Front from Alberta, Canada, south through Montana, marks the easternmost edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness where thrustfaulted mountains give way to rolling foothills and great plains grasslands. This variable landscape still offers glimpses of grizzly bears moving from highmountain fir and spruce forests to native prairie grasslands dotted with pothole marshes where migrating birds stage season after season. With the exception of bison, all of the native mammals that inhabited this land when Lewis and Clark passed through still survive here.
South Elkhorn Mountains
The South Elkhorn Mountains are a diverse landscape with vegetation and topography more typical of Central Montana than the intermountain western portion of Montana. Sagebrush grasslands and broken and rough terrain are found through much of this area although much of the southern portion has been converted to dry-land grain and Conservation Reserve Program grasslands. In the northern portion of this area, as the Elkhorn Mountains are approached, the common geologic formations are limestone ridges and outcrops. These ridges provide the environment for abundant stands of mountain mahogany and other xeric shrub types.
Southwest Montana Intermountain Basins & Valleys
The area consists of valleys located between mountain ranges, and typically follows major stream courses. Many small tributary mountain streams flow down the hillsides of these valleys and support wetlands and rivers such as the Red Rock, Madison, Jefferson and Big Hole rivers, and Red Rock Lakes. The vegetation is a mix of sagebrush grassland on the valley floor and riparian species like sedges and willows are common in the wet valley bottoms. Coniferous forest and aspen stands in the wetter microsites dominate the higher elevations. These intermountain basins and valleys are under the imminent threat of habitat fragmentation from residential development.
Upper Yellowstone River & Tributaries
The Yellowstone River originates in Wyoming and flows through Yellowstone National Park before entering Montana. The river continues in a northeasterly direction from Livingston and joins the Shields River that originates in the Crazy Mountains. The Yellowstone River then flows through eastern Montana until in eventually meets up with the Missouri River just across the North Dakota border. The river has survived as one of the last large, freeflowing rivers in the continental United States. Lack of impoundments allows spring peak flows and fall & winter low flows to influence a unique and dynamic community through cottonwoodwillow bottomlands and low cover grasslands.
Upper Yellowstone Valley
The Upper Yellowstone River Valley south of Livingston is better known to many as Paradise Valley. Bracketed by the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on the east and the Gallatin Range on the west, the valley’s grassland habitats are bisected by the Yellowstone River and its riparian areas and cottonwood stands. Cradled within the Gallatin and Absaroka ranges are low-elevation meadows, limited juniper stands mixed with grasslands and sagebrush. Higher up are forests of aspen, pine, spruce, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine.
