Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge

Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. . Just as the Green River was important to emigrant as a source of life-giving water and wildlife, it is important to us today a century and half later for the same reasons. , Siskadee Agie is a Crow Indian term meaning "River of the Prairie Hen." Along with sage grouse (so called prairie hens), Native Americans hunted deer, pronghorn, bison, waterfowl, eagles, and other wildlife. Explorers and mountain men trapped beaver in the Seedskadee area; and the hundreds of thousands of pioneers who crossed the Green River hunted game here. , Construction of the Fontanelle Dam about 20 miles upstream changed the natural flooding cycle of the Green River, affecting the fish and wildlife habitat along the river. The dam created prime trout habitat; yet it endangered the natural marshlands bordering the river that relied on spring flooding. These marshlands are critical nesting habitat for many species of waterfowl. , Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge was established by Congress in 1965 to help offset the loss of marshlands habitat resulting from construction of both the Fontanelle Dam and the Flaming Gorge Dam which is about 100 miles downstream in Utah. , Since 1965, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge managers have used methods such as prescribed burning, flood irrigating, native grass planting, and fencing to enhance this valuable wildlife habitat and restore the lands to a condition similar to that in the days of the Oregon Trail.