MDF Projects

THE PLAN: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ Plan for the Beckman Wildlife Management Area

By Tracy Watt, August 2007

This is the second story on the Beckman WMA. The first article, The Man, The Land, The Plan, appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of MDF magazine.

Ten years ago, LeRoy Beckman’s Last Will and Testament established a Trust Fund to purchase winter-summer range lands primarily for deer, to be used for public hunting and recreation. Through a $20,000 contribution in 2002, the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) was able to play a role in what is becoming a premier wildlife management area in central Montana. The final monies in the Trust (over three million dollars) were expended earlier this year, and all of the land acquired has been gifted to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) for care and management. Tom Stivers, Area Wildlife Biologist for MFWP, said, “Beckman was very shrewd in that he stipulated none of his money should go to the management or operations of the land acquisitions.”

Stivers now oversees the Beckman Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and went on to say, “The man set a real example for what other people could do – have land managed for the public and for deer.”

In keeping with Beckman’s wishes, the primary goal for the WMA is to improve the condition of all vegetative plant communities in order to increase carrying capacities for mule deer and white-tailed deer. This should help reduce deer use of adjacent landowners’ crops and pasture lands, as well. The MFWP plan will maximize land base productivity while minimizing maintenance and management requirements. A second and equally important goal is to provide public access to the property for hunting and other recreational pursuits.

The Beckman property will be enhanced by using various treatments to reduce the occurrence of noxious weeds, to renovate or establish hay/farm land, to establish stands of woody vegetation, and to stimulate rangeland vegetation. In the future, fire may be prescribed to manipulate plant communities if necessary, such as to modify plant successional stages to increase the occurrence of desired shrub species. It is also MFWP’s plan to plant more sagebrush and refurbish a couple of ox bows on the property.

The Beckman WMA already has an irrigation system consisting of gated pipe, wheel line and hand line fields. There are currently five food plots planted with winter wheat (25 acres), plus three irrigated alfalfa hay fields (100 acres).

MFWP is coordinating with neighboring landowners to develop a land management plan that includes cooperative grazing systems, land trades, conservation easements and additional land purchases. At the same time, MFWP is promoting its block management and hunting access programs with landowners affected by the acquisition of the Beckman WMA.

A large privately-owned ranch immediately south of the Beckman WMA comprises an important portion of the overall habitat complex used by much of the wildlife that inhabits the WMA. Since that ranch and the property that is now the Beckman WMA have had a history of relatively high (cattle) stocking rates, some of the native plant communities are not as productive as they could be. Therefore, a coordinated grazing system was designed to enhance wildlife habitat on both properties for public benefit.

After livestock fences and water improvements are completed, a rest-rotation grazing system on 4,921 acres of the Beckman WMA and 2,695 acres of the adjacent ranch will be implemented. The grazing system will employ a reduced stocking rate, with only half of the total acres being grazed each year.

A grazing lease will be executed specifying a certain rate/value per Animal Unit Month (AUM) when ranch cattle are grazed on the Beckman WMA. The number of AUM’s grazed per year will vary depending on the year in the grazing sequence. Yearly lease payment from the ranch to the MFWP will be in services rendered based on meeting habitat management practices and stipulations.

It is anticipated that the ranch will be responsible for routine maintenance of fences and water systems. The ranch will provide materials and labor to construct a pipeline on their property that will provide livestock water to several upland pastures. They will also provide materials and labor to construct fencing to separate pastures.

The ranch will allow free public hunting on their property while the grazing system is in effect. Sportsmen may hunt the ranch in the exact same way as they hunt the Beckman WMA – they must park their vehicles, then hunt and pack their game out on foot.

MFWP will be responsible for major construction of new fencing and new water systems, as well as provide materials required for maintaining fences and water systems on MFWP-owned lands included within the grazing system.

The crux of the Habitat Grazing System Plan is detailed in an Environmental Assessment produced by MFWP in April 2006. In it, pastures on the ranch and the WMA are mapped out, and seasons are specified for movement of cattle to and from various areas. Wildlife habitat will be enhanced by resting, deferring and rotating cattle grazing on certain key pastures at precise times. Grazed pastures will be stocked at levels that will significantly improve the condition of upland and riparian plant communities.

Conflicts between hunters and cattle (and cattle management) will be minimal. During the summer months, when the public utilizes the river and river bottom, cattle will be in the uplands. In the fall, archery hunters will either be on the river bottom or in the conifer timber and woody draws in the uplands. Cattle will not be in a major portion of these areas at that time. Most upland bird hunting will occur on the river bottom or in the grasslands in the uplands. Cattle will not be in these pertinent areas during the major portion of the bird season. During the five-week rifle season, cattle will not be on the river bottom or in the conifer timber in the uplands where most rifle hunting will occur.

As this rest-rotation system is implemented, MFWP will closely monitor change and condition of riparian vegetation along the river, browse plant species in the upland draws, and grasses and forbs in the upland grasslands. It is expected that manipulating vegetative plant communities on the Beckman WMA will result in improved year-round wildlife habitat for a variety of game and non-game wildlife species, particularly mule deer and white-tailed deer, Merriam’s turkeys, pheasants and sharp-tailed grouse.

The population objective is to have at least 120 mule deer and 60 white-tailed deer on the WMA during early fall. Hunting for deer and upland birds is expected to reach 400 hunter days a year. The number of nonhunting recreation days is predicted at 250 annually. By improving the habitat through rest-rotation grazing and other management prescriptions, wildlife use of the property should increase by at least 20 percent.

Today, the Beckman WMA is an excellent model for habitat restoration and conservation. MFWP’s Tom Stivers said, “We are implementing a habitat management plan that we expect will improve both parcels of land, virtually expanding the influence of the Beckman WMA from 6,500 to about 10,000 acres.”

He concluded, “LeRoy Beckman had a noble vision that MFWP is building upon.”

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For more information on the Beckman WMA, visit http://fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_1116176.aspx.

A Special Thank You to Tom Stivers, MFWP Area Wildlife Biologist, for his time and dedication and to Graham Taylor, MFWP Regional Wildlife Manager, for asking Tom to share the Beckman WMA story.

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