Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge - Charlo, Montana
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 47° 27.033 W 114° 08.305
11T E 715710 N 5259204
To locate the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge: from Hwy. 93 turn west on Hwy. 212. Continue 3 km to the entrance. Turn on the dirt road, go through the gate and continue to the parking area, 900 meters.
Waymark Code: WMTZVT
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 01/29/2017
Views: 0
We were there in early March and the landscape had not awakened to spring. Whether permanent residents or temporary residents, stopping overnight on their way north, we couldn't say, but there were quite a number of winged inhabitants to be seen on the reservoir the day we visited.
The passport stamps for Ninepipe can be gotten at the Ninepipe museum, 3.4 kilometres east of the dam which impounds Ninepipe Reservoir. The museum and Ninepipe lodge are on the east side of Highway 93 near the southeastern tip of the reservoir.
The Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge is home to an abundant array of waterfowl: mallards, northern shovelers, gadwalls, redheads and ruddy ducks. Non-breeding white pelicans spend the summer feeding and loafing. There is an active rookery of great–blue herons and another of double–crested cormorants.
Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge is superimposed on a reservoir that contains about 1,672 acres of water at full pool level. The Refuge consists of 390 acres of upland habitat in a narrow band around the reservoir.
Grasslands surrounding the refuge include 3,420 acres of Montana State Wildlife Management Areas, approximately 3,000 acres of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal lands, 3,160 acres of Federal Waterfowl Production Areas and 6,400 acres of Fish and Wildlife Service conservation easements which preserve wildlife habitat by preventing housing development and wetland drainage.