The Powder/Carter Sage-steppe IBA in the southeastern corner of Montana covers high-quality sagebrush shrub-steppe and prairie grasslands that support a significant population of Greater Sage-Grouse. The area is typified by rolling sagebrush prairies, interspersed with flat-topped grassy buttes, alkali flats, and stream corridors. Sparsely populated and with a declining human population, the region is primarily cattle and sheep ranching country, with a small amount of dryland agriculture and bentonite mining.

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This region of southeastern Montana contains significant habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse and at least 10% of the state population of sage-grouse.

The primary threats to native shrub-steppe habitat in the IBA is the fragmentation and loss of sagebrush to farming and rangeland management, including plowing, and sagebrush eradication through burning and spraying. There is some existing bentonite mining in the region on the edge of the sagebrush areas. Secondary threats include the future potential for energy development and current leases for energy exploration, including coal-bed methane and uranium. West Nile virus is also a concern for population viability of sage-grouse in the area.