P.O. Box 100
37 Nine Mile Road
Sunburst, MT 59482
Phone: (406) 937-8800
Fax: (406) 937-8891
History and Area of Responsibility
The Sweetgrass Border Patrol station was established in 1924. In 1926, it became the Sector Headquarters until the headquarters was moved to Shelby, MT, in 1930. In April 2002, the Sweetgrass substation became a stand-alone station. In July 2009, the Sweetgrass Station relocated to a new state-of-the-art facility in the town of Sunburst, which is about seven miles south of the Sweetgrass Port of Entry.
The Sweetgrass Station covers approximately 1,300 square miles within the Havre Sector. Its northern boundary extends 59.5 miles along the International Boundary. The station's area of operations is mostly rough prairie land. The Sweetgrass Hills break up the land formation to the east. Several deep ravines and rim rock ledges, forming natural traffic lanes, break up the remainder of the area. The majority of the patrol activity is devoted to these key roads and lanes.
From a strategic standpoint the Sweetgrass, MT station is ideally located. It is on Interstate 15 approximately midway between Great Falls, MT and Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. The POE at Sweetgrass is the only twenty-four hour port in western Montana east of the Continental Divide. Three of the largest cities in western Canada; Lethbridge, Calgary, and Edmonton, with a combined population on nearly 1,250,000; are situated in the area immediately to the north. The yearly volume of traffic through the POE at Sweetgrass averages over 980,000 persons.