Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is a remote refuge located in the high altitude of the Centennial Valley, in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of Montana. Adjacent to Gallatin National Forest and near Yellowstone National Park, the refuge is an integral part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Red Rock Lakes is best known for being the primary location for the efforts saving the trumpeter swan from extinction, which by 1932 had fewer than 200 known specimens in the United States and Canada. By the year 2002, an estimated 3,000 trumpeters were wintering on the refuge, many having migrated south from their summer range in Canada. The trumpeters are now so plentiful that efforts are being undertaken to help them reestablish historical migratory routes to areas further south in the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin region. The elegant trumpeter swan is North America's largest waterfowl, with a wingspans of 8 feet and they can weigh up to 30 pounds. ()