Onlookers cheered as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Christy Clark cut through a scarlet ribbon Saturday morning, officially opening Reed’s Slough Wildlife Viewing Area to the public.

From the parking lot on the corner of North Somers and Manning roads, there wasn’t much to see. Freshly plowed earth rippled all the way to the horizon, saturating the view with dull brown tones, but a short walk down a gravel path offered a much more colorful outlook. 

At the end of the path, a wildlife viewing area overlooked Reed’s Slough, a favored locale for songbirds and waterfowl. Yellow-headed blackbirds, robins and tree swallows painted the air with primary colors as mallards and buffleheads skirted the waters below, iridescent feathers glinting in the late morning sunlight. 

“There’s so many species of birds down there, and we just love it,” said Terri Danford. 

Terri’s husband, Bob Danford, inherited the eastern half of Reed’s Slough from his father, along with a four-generation legacy of farming in the Flathead Valley. The slough offered little in the way of agricultural potential, but the couple’s house offered the perfect vantage point to spy visiting wildlife. 

About 130 different bird species have been observed at Reed’s Slough. The wetland’s location on the Pacific Flyway makes it a popular stopover for migratory waterfowl and songbirds are also known to flock to the area. A snow goose sporting a band with a Russian serial number was once observed enjoying the marsh. 

In 2021, the Danfords decided to put 155 acres, including the eastern portion of Reed’s Slough, into a conservation easement. Bob said the conservation easement “just made sense” as the couple approached retirement.  

Their children weren’t interested in continuing the farm and the western part of Reed’s Slough had been protected by a conservation easement since 1996. The addition of the Danfords’ property ensured the important habitat provided by Reed’s Slough remained protected from future development, even if the property changes hands. 

Terri proposed going a step further with the project by constructing an area where visitors could safely view Reed’s Slough. There was nowhere to pull over or park on the narrow country road that crossed the slough, and Terri said she often saw drivers stop in the middle of the road to watch the wildlife.  

“We just wanted a little bit of a safer place for people to view birds,” she said. 

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and local nonprofits Flathead Land Trust, the Flathead River to Lake Initiative, Flathead Audubon and Flathead Wildlife contributed funding and support to install a gravel path and parking area on the Danfords’ property. Interpretive signs will be added in the coming months, educating visitors on the importance of wetlands and the species that inhabit Reed’s Slough. 

Along with public visitors, the site will soon open to school field trips facilitated by Flathead Audubon. 

“This is going to be a new place where we get to bring kids, unload a bus and go look at some waterfowl and some songbirds,” said Jess Garby, the organization's education coordinator. 

After the speeches concluded on Saturday, Garby lingered at the wildlife viewing area, watching birds flit through the high marsh grasses. Over the course of an hour, she counted nearly 100 birds from 18 different species — a small sampling of the diversity now protected in Reed’s Slough. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at [email protected] or 758-4433.