The area was also recognized for its value to other wildlife, including the greater sandhill crane. Grays Lake lies in a relatively remote and sparsley populated high altitude mountain valley, and is a marsh composed principally of hardstem bulrush and cattail.
Winters are usually long, and water in the basin marsh is primarily accumulated from snowmelt.
Management efforts at Grays Lake are focused on measures to benefit cranes and waterfowl. These practices are timed to create good feeding and loafing sites for cranes and geese. To supplement the natural foods available to wildlife, the refuge grows grain crops. This encourages cranes and geese to stay on refuge lands where they are safest and provides extra nutrients to prepare them for migration. These food plots also help in keeping the abundant sandhill cranes and geese from feeding on nearby farmers' crops where they may not be welcome.