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Upper Missouri River Basin

The Upper Missouri River Basin extends from its vast headwaters in the mountains of Montana and Wyoming, across those two states, the Dakotas, and Nebraska, to the confluence of the Missouri and Platte Rivers near Omaha. The Upper Missouri River Basin is above Lake Sakakawea. The upper and lower basins are separated by numerous dams and reservoirs from Fort Peck in Montana to Gavins Point in Yankton, South Dakota. The Upper Missouri Basin riverine areas above the reservoirs have natural habitat features (Gonazalez et al. 2023).

Map of the HUC 6 watershed sub-basins in the Upper Missouri River basin that were used in this analysis. Click on the polygons to obtain information about listed species by taxa in each HUC 6 watershed (as of 23 January 2024). Or click here to open the map online.

The following is a summary of the listed species and critical habitats found in the Upper Missouri River Basin. Click on the blocks below to obtain more detailed information about the listed species and critical habitats in each HUC 6 (as of 23 January 2025).

The following table is a summary of listed species and critical habitats by taxa in the Upper Missouri River basin.

Birds

Yellow-billed cuckoo
  1. Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) (T) (CH

  2. Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa) (T) (proposed CH)

  3. Whooping Crane (Grus americana) (E) 

  4. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) (T) 

Flowering Plants

Ute Ladies'-tresses

Ute Ladies'-Tresses, B. Hotze/USFWS
https://www.fws.gov/banner/ute-ladies-tresses

 

  1.  Blowout Penstemon (Penstemon haydenii) (E) 

  2. Desert Yellowhead (Yermo xanthocephalus) (T) 

  3.  Leedy's Roseroot (Rhodiola integrifolia ssp. leedyi) (T) 

  4.  Prairie Bushclover (Lespedeza leptostachya) (T) 

  5. Ute Ladies'tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) (T) 

  6. Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) (T) 

Conifers and Cyads

Whitebark pine

Photo credit: Jen Hooke, NPS​​​​

  1. Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) (T)

Fishes

Pallid Sturgeon

Photo credit: B. Gratwicke

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  1. Bonytail (Gila elegans) (E) 

  2. Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) (T) 

  3. Colorado Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) (E) 

  4. Humpback Chub (Gila cypha) (T) 

  5. Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) (E)

  6. Razorback Sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) (E) 

  7. Topeka Shiner (Notropis topeka) (E) (CH)

Clams

Clams
  1. Higgins Eye (pearlymussel) (Lampsilis higginsii) (E) (ECOS)

  2. Scaleshell Mussel (Leptodea leptodon) (E)

Mammals

Canada lynx

​​

  1. Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) (EXPN and E)

  2. Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) (T) (CH)

  3. Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) (EXPN) 

  4. Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) (T) (proposed CH - but never finalized - no overlap with any project locations)

  5. North American Wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) (T)

  6. Northern Long-eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) (E)

Insects

Monarch butterfly

Photo credit: Thomas Dunkerton Neal-Smith NWR, Thomas Dunkerton/USFWS 

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  1. American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) (T)

  2. Dakota Skipper (Hesperia dacotae) (T) (CH)

  3. Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) (C) 

  4. Poweshiek Skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek) (CH only)

  5. Western Glacier Stonefly (Zapada glacier) (T)

  6. Western Regal Fritillary (Argynnis idalia occidentalis) (Proposed T)

Lead USFWS Offices in the Upper Missouri River Basin

Illinois & Iowa Ecological Services Field Office

1511 47th Ave
Moline,  IL 61265-7022

(309) 757-5800

rockisland@fws.gov

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Montana Ecological Services Field Office

585 Shephard Way, Suite 1

Helena, MT 59601-6287

(406) 449-5225

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Nebraska Ecological Services Field Office

9325 South Alda Road, Suite B​

Wood River, NE 68883-9565

(308) 382-6468

nebraskaes@fws.gov​

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North Dakota Ecological Services Field Office

3425 Miriam Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58501-7926

(701) 355-8500

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South Dakota Ecological Services Field Office

420 South Garfield Avenue Suite 400
Pierre, SD 57501-5408
(605) 224-8693

 

Wyoming Ecological Services Field Office

334 Parsley Boulevard

Cheyenne, WY 82007-4178

(307) 772-2374

WyomingES@fws.gov​

© 2024 Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

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