Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge
The Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Montana on the Missouri River. The refuge surrounds Fort Peck Reservoir and is 915,814 acres (3,706.17 km2) in size. It is the second-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the lower 48 states of the United States, and the largest in Montana. Created in 1936, it was originally called the Fort Peck Game Range. It was renamed in 1963 after Montana artist Charles M. Russell, a famous painter of the American West. In 1976, the "range" was made a "refuge".
The topography of the Russell Wildlife Refuge is highly varied.
The largest population of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) outside the Rocky Mountains lives within the CMRNWR.
The Fort Peck Dam is the highest of six major dams along the Missouri River, located in northeast Montana in the United States, near Glasgow, and adjacent to the community of Fort Peck. At 21,026 feet (6,409 m) in length and over 250 feet (76 m) in height, it is the largest hydraulically filled dam in the United States, and creates Fort Peck Lake, the fifth largest artificial lake in the U.S., more than 130 miles (210 km) long, 200 feet (61 m) deep, and it has a 1,520-mile (2,450 km) shoreline which is longer than the state of California's coastline. It lies within the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. The dam and the 134-mile-long (216 km) lake are owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and exist for the purposes of hydroelectric power generation, flood control, and water quality management.
Aerial view of Fort Peck Dam, looking west. Fort Peck, Montana. 1986
Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River. View is upriver to the southeast.
Fort Peck Dam spillway construction. Gate piers No. 3-9 completed. Pouring No. 10. Fort Peck, Montana
An aerial view of the main Fort Peck Dam structure looking westward with Milk Coulee Bay in the foreground. Just out of view to right would be the intake for the spillway. June 29, 1938. Courtesy, estate of Robert A. Midthun.