Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area at is an

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

wildlife management area A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife. New Zealand There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand: * Horsham Downs Wildlife Man ...

in Camas County south of the community of Hill City. The WMA is at the base of the Bennett Hills on the

Camas Prairie The name camas prairie refers to several different geographical areas in the western United States which were named for the native perennial camassia or camas. The culturally and scientitifcally significant of these areas lie within Idaho and Monta ...

south of the

Soldier Mountains The Soldier Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Idaho, spanning northern Camas and eastern Elmore counties. The highest point in the range is Smoky Dome at , and the range is bounded on the west and north by the South Fork Boi ...

and

Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Forest is a National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was originally ...

. The

Idaho Department of Fish and Game The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is the Idaho state department which is responsible for preserving and managing Idaho's wildlife, including mammals, fish, birds, plants, and invertebrates. History The Idaho Department of Fish and Ga ...

acquired the land in 1987 with the help of

Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American nonprofit organization 501(c) dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013. ...

and

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

to provide quality wetland and upland habitat for migratory and resident wildlife. The flat tableland on the prairie creates a large floodplain for Camas Creek, flooding the Camas Prairie to a depth of less than during spring runoff, but it is often dry by mid-July. The shallow water provides habitat for emergent vegetation predominantly ''

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...

'' and ''

Juncus ''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfic ...

'' species. Camas lilies bloom beginning in late May, and the area attracts many birds, including

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

mallards The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...

, gadwalls, American wigeons,

northern pintails The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ra ...

northern shovelers The northern shoveler (; ''Spatula clypeata''), known simply in Britain as the shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and across most of North America, wintering in southern Euro ...

lesser scaup The lesser scaup (''Aythya affinis'') is a small North American diving duck that migrates south as far as Central America in winter. It is colloquially known as the little bluebill or broadbill because of its distinctive blue bill. The origin of ...

, canvasbacks,

redhead Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

s, ruddy ducks, and blue-winged, green-winged, and cinnamon teals. Gray partridge and

sage grouse Sage-grouse are grouse belonging to the bird genus ''Centrocercus.'' The genus includes two species: the Gunnison grouse (''Centrocercus minimus'') and the greater sage-grouse (''Centrocercus urophasianus''). These birds are distributed throug ...

are found in upland areas, and there are a variety of other birds species found at the WMA. File:Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh.JPG, alt=The marsh in June 2011 File:Sunrise on the Camas Prairie.jpg, alt=Camas lilies blooming in the marsh at sunrise Camas Lilly blooming in a field of wild flowers.jpg, alt=A close up photo of a camas lily in the marsh

References

{{Protected areas of Idaho Protected areas established in 1987 Protected areas of Camas County, Idaho Wildlife management areas of Idaho 1987 establishments in Idaho