NAWCA awards $1 million grant for local wetland restoration

SWAN VALLEY – Swan Valley Connections (SVC) received a $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant to fund a wetland restoration project on the Swan River National Wildlife Refuge in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). NAWCA is the federal grant program dedicated to funding the conservation of wetland habitats for migratory birds. This was the only project funded in Montana by the NAWCA this grant period.

The goal of the project is to restore the natural water flows of wetlands that were ditched and drained in the homesteading era. The restoration area covers 600 acres of the 1,979-acre refuge near the village of Swan Lake. The restoration will benefit native plants, waterfowl and a host of other wildlife that call the refuge home. Healthy wetlands also help with water quality improvement by filtering out fine sediment that can be harmful for native fish spawning habitat, serving as flood and carbon storage and purifying polluted waters.

Before becoming a wildlife refuge, the land along the inlet of Swan Lake was homesteaded as hay fields, pastures and a muskrat fur farm. Homestead-era landowners created ditches to drain the wetlands, which negatively impacted habitat for mallards, pintails, geese and other wildlife.

Crews will work this summer to restore more natural water flow, following a plan drafted by River Design Group of Whitefish. SVC will oversee the work, along with the USFWS and River Design Group. Depending on conditions, work is to begin this summer and be completed by late fall.

"This NAWCA grant has provided critical funding for the Swan Refuge wetland restoration project that otherwise didn't exist," said Luke Lamar, SVC conservation director, in an email. "The overall project will continue to build upon the conservation legacy within the Swan and Blackfoot Valley's and provide towards the local economy."

In addition to the Swan River Refuge, the grant will be used to conserve and restore 3,279 acres on public and private lands in the Swan and Blackfoot valleys.

Approximately 25% of the funds will help to purchase a conservation easement on private property within the Blackfoot watershed and will go to the Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited for a stream restoration project in the Blackfoot.

In the USFWS press release, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced that $78 million in grants has been approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, which will provide the USFWS and its partners the ability to help conserve or restore nearly 500,000 acres of wetland and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, shorebirds and other birds across North America, including Canada and Mexico.

The grants will be matched by nearly $125 million in partner funds. Partners include private landowners, states, local governments, conservation organizations, sportsmen's groups, Tribes, land trusts and corporations. There is a one-to-one minimum match requirement for all NAWCA grants, with the most competitive proposals bringing as high as a two-to-one match. USFWS Western Montana Refuges Project Leader Ben Gilles said the USFWS used the donated value of a conservation easement from the private landowner valued at more than $1 million to match the NAWCA grant. 

Another consideration for the NAWCA grant was working with partners.

"It was a great opportunity for us to work with Swan Valley Connections through the application process and the implementation process," Gilles said.

The USFWS is accepting public comments on the draft Environmental Assessment through May 14. The draft Environmental Assessment is available at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/swan_river/. To comment contact Project Leader Ben Gilles at 406-217-2287 or bentonlake@fws.gov.

A list of the approved NAWCA projects is available at https://www.fws.gov/birds/news/210421press-release.php. A virtual tour of the Refuge and overview of the project can be viewed at https://www.swanvalleyconnections.org/presentations.