MONTOUR, Idaho — Off Highway 55 lies the Montour Wildlife Management Area, where wildlife roam freely and historic orchards feed animals and humans alike.

Idaho Fish and Game and the Bureau of Reclamation jointly manage the area, working to increase the upland bird population.

“We're trying to supplement, almost making a super habitat,” Wildlife Biologist Steven Dempsey said. “We're trying to make it almost better than natural out here to increase recruitment and try to grow more birds.”

Wildlife biologists plant crops to feed animals as well as provide shelter, Dempsey said. A crop that is beneficial to one species is often beneficial to another.

“We’re trying to provide food in the spring for babies of all different kinds of species and then shelter throughout the fall and in the win

See Full Page