Public invited to Trumpeter Swan Release in Ovando Sept. 5

After a two year hiatus, the Blackfoot Challenge will again host their annual Trumpeter Swan Release Thursday, Sept. 5, at the Rolling Stone Ranch in Ovando.

This annual event offers the public a rare opportunity to take an up-close look at Trumpeter Swans and learn about their biology, habitat, and recovery in the Blackfoot watershed. This year, attendees will also be able to purchase raffle tickets for the opportunity to release a swan themselves the morning-of. Releases were not held in 2017 due to the Rice Ridge Wildfire, nor in 2018 due to the shortage in availability of Trumpeter Swan yearlings at the rearing facility in Jackson, Wyoming.

Since 2004, the Blackfoot Challenge and a host of partners including private landowners, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Blackfoot watershed schools, have been working cooperatively to restore native Trumpeter Swans to wetlands in the Blackfoot watershed. Biologists consider the population will be self-sustainable once seven pairs of Trumpeter Swans successfully fledge cygnets, or baby swans, for two consecutive years. With nine successful nests in the watershed this spring, the restoration program is nearing its goal.

This year's Trumpeter Swan Release will feature Louie Bouma of Lincoln and Greg Neudecker with the US Fish & Wildlife Service sharing the story of the Restoration Program. Attendees will learn about Trumpeter Swan biology, the restoration process, and the status of Trumpeter Swans in the Blackfoot watershed. A total of five swans will be banded and released.

The Blackfoot Challenge provides funding for nearly 200 elementary students from around the Blackfoot watershed to attend and participate in the release and learning stations. The public is encouraged to participate in the learning stations following the release, which will feature topics such as invasive wetland plans, invasive mussels and mussel-sniffing dogs, aquatic invertebrates, wetland soils, birdwatching and identification, and nature journaling. These learning stations are hosted by Blackfoot Challenge staff and volunteers, as well as Clark Fork Watershed Education Network, Montana Audubon and Montana Black Dog Services.

The release will begin at 9 a.m. at Jones Lake west of Ovando. Participants are encouraged to carpool, bring their camera and arrive early. Jones Lake is located on Rolling Stone Ranch just northwest of Ovando. The entrance is located on Highway 200 approximately half a mile west of Ovando; road signs will be placed along the highway.

The Release will conclude around 10:30 am, with the education learning stations beginning thereafter.