Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to ...

located in the northeastern region of the U.S. state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. The refuge is part of the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge Complex which also includes the Northeast Montana Wetland Management District (WMD) and

Lamesteer National Wildlife Refuge Lamesteer National Wildlife Refuge is an National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota t ...

. Medicine Lake is from the

Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakod ...

description of the lake, "Bda wauka" (medicine water). The refuge was established in 1935 to protect habitat for various wildlife and especially migratory birds. The refuge 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 of the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 1980, the Medicine Lake Site was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.

Fauna

283 distinct bird species have been documented and of these 125 are known to nest on the refuge. The fifth largest colony of

American white pelican The American white pelican (''Pelecanus erythrorhynchos'') is a large Aquatic animal, aquatic soaring bird from the order (biology), order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central Amer ...

s, representing 4,000 breeding pairs, has been recorded. In 2003, a

whooping crane The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is the tallest North American bird, named for its whooping sound. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...

was photographed on the refuge and is the first documented sighting of this endangered species ever in the state of Montana. There are only an estimated 300 whooping cranes believed to be in existence. There is one

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

and two

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of '' critical depen ...

of birds known to inhabit the refuge at least seasonally. Mammals such as the

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a musc ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the ...

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

and

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

can be found here as well.

Wilderness

Medicine Lake Wilderness The Medicine Lake Wilderness is located in eastern Montana, in the United States. Preserved to ensure migratory birds have a haven during the spring and fall migrations, the wilderness is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is withi ...

is a wilderness area within the refuge that was established in 1976 to provide a higher level of protection to the most remote sections of the refuge.

References

External links

Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge
{{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in Montana Protected areas of Roosevelt County, Montana Protected areas of Sheridan County, Montana National Natural Landmarks in Montana