Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge is a
National Wildlife Refuge and unit of the
National Bison Range Complex, located in
Lake County, Montana
Lake County is a county located in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,134. Its county seat is Polson.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total a ...
.
It was established in 1921, and is within the
Flathead Indian Reservation
The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes – also known as the
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The ...
(known as the Tribal Trust Lands of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) south of
Ronan, Montana
Ronan ( Salish: ocqʔetkʷ) is a city in Lake County, Montana, United States. It lies on the Flathead Indian Reservation, approximately 12 miles south of Flathead Lake in the northwestern part of the state. The population was 1,955 at the 2020 ...
, United States.
Description
Most of the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge is a
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
so the exposed land area is only in a narrow band around the reservoir. Ninepipe is managed by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
, an agency under the
U.S. Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...
.
Ninepipe is a prime nesting habitat for numerous bird species such as the
grebe
Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably ...
,
Canada goose,
bittern
Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern ...
,
great blue heron and various species of
duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
s. Nesting platforms for
osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
s at one end of the lake provide added habitat for this predatory species. Mammals include
muskrat,
badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...
and
porcupine live within the refuge, and
grizzly bears have been known to venture out of the
Mission Range mountains onto the refuge.
[
The refuge is located right off of ]U.S. Highway 93
U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south United States highway, numbered highway in the western United States. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 60 in Arizona, US 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona. The northern terminus is at the ...
. The refuge is not permanently staffed and has no improvements. It is managed as an easement and the federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
jurisdiction pertains solely to species and habitat protection. As a part of the National Bison Range Complex, this refuge is managed from the headquarters of the National Bison Range
The Bison Range (BR) is a nature reserve on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana established for the conservation of American bison. Formerly called the National Bison Range, the size of the bison herd at the BR is 350 adult bison ...
.[
]
See also
*
*
References
External links
Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge
{{authority control
National Bison Range Complex
National Wildlife Refuges in Montana
Protected areas of Lake County, Montana