• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

Comertown Prairie Protected

Comertown Prairie
Comertown Prairie in full bloom
© Harold Malde

In the far northeastern corner of Montana, there is a rolling landscape of native prairie and “pothole” lakes that were formed 10,000 years ago by the great continental glaciers. This landscape known as the Comertown Prairie represents the largest unplowed stretch of pothole prairie ecosystem left in Montana.

Thanks to some far-sighted landowners, a significant piece of this prairie will be forever off-limits to the plow or subdivision. Victor and Marlys Vogt of Plentywood signed a conservation easement with the Conservancy that covers 800 acres of this prairie habitat.

This property is adjacent to the 1,100-acre Comertown Prairie Pothole Preserve owned by the Conservancy and the 300-acre Lonetree Lake conservation easement.

The Vogts didn’t want this prairie to ever be plowed up. “So much of the good prairie ground is being taken out. This property is unique, it’s native prairie, and we wanted to preserve it,” said Marlys.

The Vogts, who have farmed and ranched in the area for several decades, first began working with the Conservancy back in 1988. A year later, their nephews Aldon and Dennis Joyes donated a conservation easement on their 320-acre Lonetree Lake property to the Conservancy. Some time later, the Joyes and the Vogts together purchased the 1100-acre Comertown property and then sold it to the Conservancy.

Conserving this patch of prairie is important because it represents a unique grassland and wetland assemblage in the region, said Brian Martin, the Conservancy's Montana director of science who negotiated the agreement. In addition to providing habitat for numerous species of waterfowl and shorebirds, it also provides critical breeding habitat for numerous endemic grassland birds, which are experiencing sharper and more consistent declines than any other bird assemblages in North America. One reason for that decline is destruction and fragmentation of habitat. 

Most notable of the grassland birds on the property are Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit, chestnut-collared longspur, ferruginous hawk and short-eared owl. The property is also home to the Nelson’s sharp-tailed sparrow, which occurs only in Montana in the Comertown area.