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THE CENTENNIAL SANDHILLS PRESERVE In southwestern Montana, on the northeastern side of the vast Centennial Valley, is a unique ecological system of dynamic sandhills. The 1,400-acre preserve, part of a larger community of sandhills, supports four rare plant species and several uncommon plant communities (see list below). Why Conserve the Sandhills?The Centennial Sandhills thrive on disturbance. In most places, fire and erosion are considered destructive forces. Here they’re a source of renewal and resilience. Before European settlement, regular fire cleared out large older plants, allowing wind to scour the ground, moving soil and sculpting a shifting landscape that sustained a diversity of plants and animals. Migrating herds of bison also helped keep bunchgrasses and shrubs from taking over. But, when the bison and natural fire all but disappeared, the system teetered out of balance. Woody sagebrush crowded out patches of rare plants, and the animals that lived with them. The Conservancy purchased the sandhills as part of the larger 11,500-acre Staudenmeyer Ranch acquisition. We are in the process of transferring most of the land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for expanding the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. We will keep the sandhills portion because of their unique character and need for specialized management to maintain the conditions necessary for the rare plants that occur there. How We Work in the SandhillsConservancy stewardship staff are inventorying the plant communities and developing a preserve management plan that is ecologically beneficial, financially viable, and helpful to advancing conservation elsewhere in the valley. Staff are stuying how prescribed burns combined with grazing affect the plants and sand formations. The Conservancy has worked with landowners in the greater Centennial Valley since 1998. We've helped establish a county-wide weed program and worked with landowners on a variety of stewardship projects. Conservation easements held by the Conservancy, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other groups now protect almost 40,000 acres -- more than a third of the private land in the valley. Keeping this area free of housing development is important for maintaining the ranching character of the valley and its unique wildlife habitat. County officials say that if housing development were to occur in this huge remote area with gravel roads and limited winter access, the cost of providing services would be extremely high. LocationSouthwestern Montana: Beaverhead County in the remote Centennial Valley. This preserve lies north of the Red Rock River and the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. This area is within 50 miles of -- and one mountain pass away from -- the western border of Yellowstone National Park. Plants
Animals
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