Unlike most states, Montana has never had complete digital maps of our wetland resource. Additionally, the National Wetland Inventory maps we have are over 20 years old and riparian areas were not mapped at all. In an arid state like Montana, these are key habitats for many plants and animals but we don’t even know where they are located. With support from Montana’s Wetland Council and other partners, we have established a program to map wetlands and riparian areas to USFWS national standards. We supplement the USFWS classification with a crosswalk to our National Vegetation Classification System types and also apply hydrogeomorphic modifiers so that landscape wetland functions can be easily evaluated.

Mapping and a wetland change analysis has been completed in the Bitterroot Valley. Mapping is also underway in the Flathead Valley and several other areas. A list of these areas and more information about wetland mapping in Montana is available here. Additional funding will be pursued so that we can map as much of Montana wetlands and riparian areas as possible. As maps become available they will be posted at this site.

Example of Montana wetland and riparian mapping...