It’s been 50 years since President Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act. This four-part series looks at how the landmark environmental legislation has influenced Northwest Montana’s ecosystems and habitats, and how it continues to be used as a tool to protect species on the brink.

Part One: Northwest Montana's rare species have a vital role in ecosystems

The northern bog lemming is a small, rust colored rodent with a short tail and a hairy snout. Active year-round, day and night, the animal is often found in the wet meadows and bogs of Northwest Montana. As its wetland habitat continues to degrade, the lemming could face a threat to its existence. 

The suckley cuckoo bumble bee, fluffy in appearance, is also native to western Montana. A social parasite, the bees rely on other colonies to collect sufficient pollen. They stick to western meadows at a wide range of elevations, yet their numbers are declining due to loss of habitat, pesticides and competition from other bees.

The suckley cuckoo and bog lemming are among the 86 designated species of concern that can be found in Flathead County, along with the northern alligator lizard, black swift, mayfly, trumpeter swan and the northern leopard frog. These listed animals are experiencing declining population trends, threatened habitats or poor distribution.

Kept by the Montana Natural Heritage Program, alongside Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the species of concern list aims to provide a basis for proactive conservation – to prevent a species from becoming threatened, or worse, endangered. ....

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Part Two: Protecting Montana's prehistoric sturgeon a 'long game'

Ecologists describe the sturgeon as a living dinosaur.

The large fish, armored with bony plates, traveled throughout North American waterways for millions of years — their fossil record going back to the time of the tyrannosaurus rex.