Benton Lake Wetland Management District (WMD) was established in 1975 in the heart of Montana's Big Sky country. The District covers 25,000 square miles, includes 10 counties, and is the largest WMD in the country. The mission of this WMD is to protect wetlands and surrounding grasslands for the benefit of waterfowl and other wildlife. Since 1975, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has either purchased or received as donations 22 wetland areas within the Benton Lake WMD. These acquired lands, called Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA), total more than 16,000 acres. These WPAs are important waterfowl nesting and feeding areas, varying in size from 80 to 3,700 acres. Although the District's main mission is conservation of habitat for waterfowl, WPAs offer surprising wildlife diversity. On the Blackfoot WPA, sandhill cranes nest, bald eagles roost, beavers thrive, and elk winter. Mountain lions, grizzly bears, and perhaps gray wolves wander through Jarina WPA, and numerous raptors nest in the rock outcrops of Kingsbury Lake WPA.

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