Kootenai Wildlife Refuge

Ecosystem

Located within Bonners Ferry, Idaho and 30 miles south of Canada, the Selkirk Mountains on the west, and the Kootenai River along the Deep Creek in the east with state lands on its south, the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge consists of diverse wetlands and hardwood conifer forests. Its main purpose is to provide migration habitat for thousand Ms of waterfowl, which more than 300 species of vertebrates, including bald eagles, use the Refuge for migration and breeding.

Water Supply

The Refuge's main water supply comes from Myrtle Creek, where the Kootenai River and Deep Creek provides many ponds food for waterfowl during the fall. The primary goal is to provide resting and feeding for migrating waterfowl. In the spring, one can see mallards, northern pintails, American widgeons, and tundra swans. Canada geese can be seen around August and September, with white mallards in November. Some species that come in the spring are mallards, cinnamon and blue-winged teal, common golden eyes, redheads, wood ducks, and Canada geese.

Vegetation

The 800 acres of wetlands provide aquatic vegetation, invertebrates, and fish as the main food source for wildlife for species like marsh birds, waterfowl, raptors, muskrats, beaver, and moose. 200 acres of grain and other crops are planted on the Refuge to provide food source for wildlife. In January, the farm fields ate drained so they are dry enough for planting. Any crops left provide a food source for hungry waterfowl for long migration in the fall. Deer, elk, and other wildlife also use these crops to survive during the long, cold winters.

Smaller Animals

Mice and other rodents that feed on the grain become predatory food for wildlife and birds. The grain also feeds hawks, eagles, owls, and coyotes. Tall dense grasslands among the wetlands provide a nesting ground for ground-nesting birds. Large populations of mice in these grasslands become a rich source if food for hawks, eagles, owls, and coyotes. The Refuge is home to several species of animals like songbirds, raccoons, weasels, bushy-tailed wood rats, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, moose, black bear, Cooper's hawk, ruffed grouse, and pileated woodpecker. Cottonwood trees provide s perching site for raptors and other birds. The Refuge uses several combinations if chemical, mechanical and biological control agents to control noxious weeds to protect native and indigenous plants and animals.

Reference

Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge. Bonners Ferry, Idaho. http://www.fws.gov/refuge/kootenai/.

http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?ID=14580.

Reference

Kootenai Wildlife