Saskatchewan, CANADA
Contact:
Canadian Wildlife Service
PO Box 280, Simpson, Saskachewan, CANADA 5OG
4MO
Tel:
306 836-2022
Fax:
306 836-2010
W Saskatchewan, Canada (within local communities of Simpson and Watrous)
Geographic Coordinates: 51º 20'
N, 105º 15'
Area
of Site: Approximately 15,600 hectares
Land
Description:
Mixed
grassland habitat including potholes, springs, fen bogs and saline wetland
complexes. The site also contains
shallow marshy bays and inlets separated by numerous points and islands, all
surrounding a large freshwater lake which reaches depths to 30m. This site is recognized as a Migratory Bird
Sanctuary, a Ramsar site, and also a
National Historic Site.
The
lake provides critical fish spawning and nursery habitat and is considered to
support the most productive fish population in Saskatchewan.
Land Use:
Primarily wildlife habitat, hunting, fishing, hiking, sightseeing, recreation, along with haying and grazing used as habitat management tools.
Protection:
Law enforcement, special
regulations that apply to the NWA Canadian Wildlife Activity Wildlife Area
regulations, and Migratory Bird Sanctuary - Migratory Bird Convention Activity
Sanctuary Regulations are reinforced at the site.
Current Threats:
Historically, land use
practices have altered habitats at this site.
Potential threats of agricultural chemicals moving into the site's
ecosystem from adjacent lands and invasions of non-native plant species have
become a major threat to native plant communities.
Major Causes of
Disturbance:
Biology: What Shorebird Species Use This Site?
This
site is an important stopover for many species of migratory birds. The most spectacular time of year is the
fall when up to 50,000 Sandhill Cranes, 450,000 geese, and several hundred
thousand ducks may be observed. This is
one of the prairie province’s most important waterfowl staging areas and is a
crucial refuelling stop for waterfowl on their way from the Arctic to the
southern United States. Over 280
species of birds have been recorded here and over 100 of these species have
been documented to breed in the area.
Species
observed at the site:
________________________________________________________________________________________
American
Avocet
Baird's
Sandpiper
Black-bellied
Plover
Black-necked
Stilt
Buff-breasted
Sandpiper
Common
Snipe
Dunlin
Greater
Yellowlegs
Hudsonian
Godwit
Killdeer
Least
Sandpiper
Lesser
Golden Plover
Lesser
Yellowlegs
Long-billed
Curlew
Long-billed
Dowitcher
Marbled
Godwit
Pectoral
Sandpiper
Piping
Plover
Red Knot
Red Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Upland Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Whimbrel
White-rumped Sandpiper
Willet
Wilson's Phalarope
________________________________________________________________________________________
Last Mountain Lake is also important to numerous
wildlife species including white-tailed deer, badger, coyote, fox, and three
species of ground squirrel. Also, a
number of rare and endangered species that use the area at some point during
the year include the Peregrine Falcon, Burrowing Owl, Ferruginous Hawk, and the
Whooping Crane.
During dry years, the site provides a variety of
secure wetlands suitable for shorebird staging and thus becomes a drought
refuge for migrant and local breeding shorebirds as well as other waterfowl.
Recent Management &
Research Activities:
Management priorities include the conservation of
native upland and wetland habitats for migratory birds and other wildlife, and
the protection of staging and breeding habitats associated with the lake. Finally, special consideration is given to
those species which are deemed rare, threatened or endangered.
Wildlife surveys at the site include: springtime
surveys for Sharp-tailed Grouse, summer surveys of waterfowl numbers and
nesting success, her petite monitoring, colonial bird surveys, and winter
surveys of white-tailed deer. Support
for biological research programs is promoted.
Information Relating to WHSRN
The site is entirely federal Crown uplands and
wetlands. The lake proper is provincial
Crown land.
§
Nature
Saskatchewan, Box 4348, Regina SK, S4P 3W6.
306 780-9273
§
Ducks
Unlimited, Box 4465, 1606 4th
Ave., Regina, SK, S4P 3W5. 306 569-0424
§
Saskatchewan
Wildlife Federation, Box 788, Moose Jaw, SK 306
692-8812
Simpson, Watrous, Imperial, Nokomis, Govan.
Contact:
Land of the Living Sky, Box 1468, Humboldt, Sask., Sok2A0
Local
Activities:
§
Eastern
Last Mountain Bird Observatory - Bird banding takes place
in May, Aug. & Sept.
Ceremony
Celebrating Last Mountain Lake’s Inclusion in WHSRN
celebration pending
Bibliography
Caldwell, J.R., P.S. Taylor, E.A. Driver, L.J.
Shandruk, 1987. Plants of the Last
Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan. Blue Jay 45(4) 234-245.
Dale, B., 1987.
The birds of Last Mountain Lake and Stalwart National Wildlife Areas,
Saskatchewan. Blue Jay 45(4) 246-260.
Dickson, H.L. and A.R. Smith, 1988. Canadian Prairie Shorebird program: an
update. Wader Study Group Bull.,
52:23-27.
Foster, j., 1978. Working for wildlife: the
Beginning of Preservation in Canada.
Univ. Tor. Press, Toronto.
Gillespie, D.I., H. Boyd, P. Logan, 1991. Wetlands for the World: Canada's Ramsar
Sites. Canadian Wildlife Service,
Ottawa.
Smith,
Alan R. 1996. Atlas of Saskatchewan
Birds. Environment Canada/ Nature
Saskatchewan. Special Publications #22, Saskatchewan Natural History Society,
Regina, SK.