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w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
of conservation projects from building
nesting boxes for wood ducks to plant-
ing a mixture of grasses and flowering
plants to attract honey bees and other
important pollinators.
The newest conservation project in-
volves a partnership with the Bitterroot
Conservation District that led to the
purchase of a no-till drill. The machine
protects soil health by planting seeds
without tearing up the land. They use
it on the refuge and allow local farm-
ers access to it. "It gives us an ability to
work with new landowners in the val-
ley," says Dan. "We check out the drill,
we bring them out to the refuge to
show how we've used it, and talk about
conservation plantings and wildlife
plantings to share this on-the-ground
experience that we've had. It's making
sure that people who live in the valley,
or are moving here, understand this
conservation ethos that we're trying
to embed."
Father and son Bob and Levi Gin-
gerich lease farmland located on
the refuge with Levi also acting as
Teller's lands manager. The fam-
ily shares in Teller's conservation
values and follows wildlife-friend-
ly farming practices like waiting to
cut alfalfa until mid-June to protect
ground-nesting birds.
Wetlands and the waters that fill
them are a vital part of the refuge.
Gird, Spring, and Willow creeks are
constantly being manipulated to
improve habitat. Through this prac-
tice, fields of invasive cheatgrass
have been replaced with willows
and other plantings valuable to for-
aging wildlife and waterfowl.
