Construction resumes on Montana Wild avian walkway after delays

Families, school groups and Montana WILD visitors are getting closer to a new way to see Helena’s ambassador raptors as construction has resumed on the avian walkway after water infrastructure problems pushed the project off its original spring schedule. The walkway at Montana WILD on Helena’s west side, next to Spring Meadow Lake State Park, is designed to let people watch the center’s 13 ambassador raptors from the west side without joining a special program, while the east side keeps more room for rehabilitation work.

Crews are grading the walkway area, laying decomposed granite and installing benches. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks says the birds are expected to be moved in by the end of summer, interpretive signs and other features should follow by early fall, and a public opening is planned for late summer or early fall. The project went out for bids in early 2025, with a pre-bid meeting on Jan. 21 and a bid opening on Feb. 4, and bid totals ranged from $688,000 to $889,500. The project has been listed at about $860,000.

The walkway fills in a gap in access at a site that already draws visitors daily. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks says people can currently watch ambassador raptors from about noon to 1 p.m. as volunteers walk them around the grounds. Montana WILD is open free to visitors Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 2668 Broadwater Ave., and the new path should make the birds easier to see without waiting for the daily walk.

Montana WILD’s broader mission reaches far beyond the walkway. The Montana WILD Wildlife Center rehabilitates 150 to 200 animals a year, and Fish, Wildlife & Parks says its live bird education programs make more than 25,000 public contacts annually. That includes a veteran program that has served more than 1,000 veterans recovering from PTSD and substance abuse issues, tying the site to a public health need as much as a wildlife one.

The funding story is also a long one. Fish, Wildlife & Parks says Montana’s Outdoor Legacy Foundation is its primary nonprofit partner and the vehicle for donations, while Foundation for Animals has been part of the wildlife center partnership since the 1990s. The 1995 Legislature authorized the public-private partnership that created the wildlife rehabilitation facility, and by 2002 the main facility and three large wildlife enclosures were complete. The new walkway now extends that investment into a more visible public space, with the delayed opening poised to add another access point for Helena residents later this summer or early fall.