Muddy Flats

Roads, railroads and an intricate network of irrigation and drainage ditches ‘upstream’ of the property have changed the site to such a degree that it is no longer connected to Big Muddy and was little more than a degraded, unproductive field for occasional livestock grazing.  Despite this, the property is often too wet to farm or graze in the spring and early summer, which made this an ideal location for floodplain habitat restoration.

Many of the healthy wetlands in the neighboring Wildlife Refuge are shallow depressions that can hold rain and snowmelt for long periods of time, and are often surrounded by tall prairie grasses that wildilife and birds used for nesting, hiding and food.  Montana Freshwater Partners recognized the potential to restore similar habitat types at the Muddy Flats project site by re-establishing a network of shallow wetland depressions and native prairie upland grasses.  Construction was completed in the fall of 2024 and involved creating shallow excavated depressions throughout the property.  A native wetland mix was seeded in the wetland areas and a native upland prairie grass mix was seeded in the upland areas. 

Over the next five years, Montana Freshwater Partners will monitor this site to track wetland expansion and how well the native vegetation returns to the site.