Farming planned for habitat improvement at wildlife area

In an effort to control weeds and improve soil health in the area, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will lease a portion of the Ray Kuhns Wildlife Management Area for a habitat improvement project.

FWP will lease 50 acres of the wildlife management area between Kalispell and Whitefish for one year, using the land for wheat production. This action is part of FWP’s ongoing efforts to improve and evaluate the agricultural suitability of areas previously farmed under a life-tenancy bequest, where the land was donated to FWP but other farmers can still use it.

Franz Ingelfinger, Wildlife Biologist for FWP, said the goal is to see if the land can be brought into a production state.

“We have some properties that have a land use history that includes some things like agriculture. They need to be managed to either bump it in a direction or in the case of Ray Kuhns, we’re actually using agriculture to help us achieve our management goals,” he said.

The proposed area was spring tilled and summer fallowed and prepared for planting, according to a prepared release from FWP.

Under the lease agreement, the lessee will plant winter wheat, control weeds, amend crops as needed and retain the harvest for their own personal use and sale. The project is a no-cost action for FWP that is meant to demonstrate the agricultural suitability of a historically challenging piece of farm land, which FWP hopes will attract interested growers for future multi-year leases that would benefit wildlife and the long-term management of the property.

Ingelfinger said the area of the Ray Kuhns management area that is being focused on was most recently abandoned. He says it was likely tilled around 2014 or 2015, but then never planted.

“The soils there are very challenging — they’re wet, they’re clay, they’re hard pan,” he said.

Ingelfinger said while he’s not sure if the land will be agriculturally viable or not, the project is a way to see what can be done.

“Once we get agriculture in the ground, it’ll help us improve the soils and address that weed concern. Then we can decide what we do and how we do it,” he said. “The benefit to FWP is that they’re moving us along in that direction to demonstrate that there is something there to lease.”

The project was released for public comment in August, but did not receive any input.

Wildlife management areas are lands managed by FWP with wildlife and wildlife habitat conservation at the forefront, protecting habitats that might otherwise disappear.

Along with the Ray Kuhns project, FWP is conducting a second project at the Therriault Creek Restoration Project site near Eureka to improve ecological function and fisheries habitat.

For more information, visit fwp.mt.gov/news/publicNotices/decisionNotices.