Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge is a

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

of the United States located in central

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge is one of several satellite refuges in the region that are part of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Satellite refuges are established by

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...

and are unstaffed.About the Refuge.
Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge. United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Hailstone was initially established as an easement refuge in 1942 to provide a rest stop and breeding ground for migratory waterfowl. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the land in 1980. The refuge is located next to Hailstone Lake, a natural basin that was enhanced to 300 acres in the 1930s under the

Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. An

earthen dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

was erected on this natural wetland that increased its size and turned it into a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

.Wildlife and Habitat.
Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge. United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the years heavy metals and salts accumulated in the reservoir and surrounding soil due to natural evaporation. In 2011 the dam was removed to restore flow to the contaminated waterway.

Greasewood Greasewood is a common name shared by several plants: * ''Adenostoma fasciculatum'' is a plant with white flowers that is native to Oregon, Nevada, California, and northern Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the ...

s grow in the saline soils. Soils with lower salinity host native grasses. Wildlife on the refuge includes waterfowl,

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

prairie dog Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. Within the genus are five species: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, p ...

horned lizard Horned lizards (''Phrynosoma''), also known as horny toads or horntoads, are a genus of North American lizards and the type genus of the family Phrynosomatidae. The common names refer directly to their horns or to their flattened, rounded bodies, ...

s, and snakes. Recreational activities on the refuge include hunting of big game and birds and wildlife observation. Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge is managed by refuge staff in

Lewistown, Montana Lewistown is a city in and the county seat of Fergus County, Montana, United States. The population was 5,952 at the 2020 census. Lewistown is located in the geographic center of the state, southeast of Great Falls and northwest of Billings. Fir ...

References

External links

*
Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge.
Montana Office of Tourism.
Hailstone Basin, Montana.
Topographic Map, USGS National Wildlife Refuges in Montana Easement refuges Protected areas of Stillwater County, Montana {{StillwaterCountyMT-geo-stub