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the rise on Highway 93 where the 

 white-capped swells of the Mission 

 Mountains first appear without one 

 heart-stopping moment when the mind 

 double-checks the data? Are they real? 

 For an instant, water, sky, and cloud 

 mysteriously combine into an illusion 

 of mountains. But it is no illusion, they 

 are as real as Montana is. 



At their feet, spreading across the 

 valley floor like an antique quilt, are 

 hundreds of glittering ponds, seeps, and 

 potholes scoured round by glaciers that 

 crept through 12.000 years ago to make 

 this place one of the state's premier 

 wetlands. The centerpiece is the 

 Ninepipe Wildlife Management Area, 



Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge, 

 and Ninepipe Reservoir. Together they 

 are home to the best waterfowl nesting 

 habitat in Montana west of the Conti- 

 nental Divide. 



Sightseeing, bird habitat, and future 

 hunting opportunities — while very 

 tempting — aren't on the agenda this 

 trip. I'm spending the day at Ninepipe 

 WMA to learn more about Montana 

 Fish. Wildlife & Parks' long-term 

 commitment to controlling noxious 

 weeds on its lands. Ninepipe WMA is a 

 living history of the agency's noxious 

 weed work — including some of its most 

 visible failures and a 17-year record of 

 recovery and success. 



Recently, with the hiring of Adam 



Brooks as its first statewide noxious 

 weed coordinator. FWP reaffirmed and 

 expanded its commitment to controlling 

 noxious weeds. The first statewide 

 weed coordinator hired by a Montana 

 land management agency, he will bring 

 support and consistency to an already 

 thriving network of land managers, like 

 John Grant who manages the Ninepipe 

 WMA. 



Brooks met Grant while researching 

 the scope of FWP's noxious weed 

 control and touring FWP lands across 

 the state. According to Brooks, FWP's 

 land managers, many with wildlife 

 biology and natural resource back- 

 grounds, have established solid 

 programs suited to the lands they 



6 SEPTEMBERyOCTOBER 2000 MONTANA OUTDOORS 



