In March 1895, the Montana Legislature established the Board of Game and Fish Commissioners to oversee fish, game, licensing, and hunting practices in Montana. The Board was comprised of three commissioners, appointed by the Governor, and they were empowered to appoint a State Fish and Game Warden. The Warden also served as secretary and business agent of the Board. The first Warden was chosen in 1898. The Board was abolished in 1901 and replaced by a single State Game and Fish Warden with five to eight deputies. In 1907, the State Fish Commission was established to resume the Board responsibilities and to operate a state fish hatchery and to supervise the disposition of the fish raised there. The State Game and Fish Warden served as a member of this Commission. The same legislature also created the Fish and Game Commission to regulate hunting and fishing.
In 1921, the two commissions, State Fish Commission and Fish and Game Commission, merged and were empowered to establish fish and game districts and to close or open seasons on all game animals, birds, and fish. The administrative arm of the Commission gradually came to be referred to as the Fish and Game Department, although the Department was not legislatively formalized until 1972. It was renamed the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks in 1979.
As of 2024, the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has the following Divisions:
Director’s Office, Communication and Education Division, Enforcement Division, Land
and Water, Fisheries Division, Technology Services, Parks and Outdoor Recreation
Division, Wildlife Division, and Design and Construction. The Fish and Wildlife
Commission consists of seven members appointed by the Governor and is responsible
for setting fish and wildlife regulations, approving property acquisitions, and
approving certain rules and activities of the Department. To see a current listing
of FWP Divisions and staff, please visit the
This collection contains records from various Divisions, Bureaus, and Commissions
within the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The Montana Department of
Fish, Wildlife and Parks records were integrated under one collection number to help
facilitate access and reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog.
To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup, please click on the links below in the arrangement section to be redirected to those finding aids.
This subgroup (undated) contains records from the sub-subgroup, Design and Construction Bureau, which operates within the Operations and Financial Services Division. Materials include planned landscaping of the Montana State Capitol grounds, prepared by R.C. Hugenin and Associates, architects and engineers, for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks; and two drawings by landscape architect Harman Krogman.
This subgroup (1906-1991) consists of records from the Fisheries Division and includes general correspondence, minutes, financial records, hatchery activity logs, lake and stream survey cards, reports, subject files, and clippings.
This subgroup (1948-1991) consists of records from the Parks and Outdoor Recreation Division, formerly called the Parks Division. It consists of subject files regarding various state parks, including Beartooth State Recreation Area, Giant Springs State Park, Hell Creek State Park, Makoshika State Park, Rosebud Battlefield, and others. Please note that this collection is only preliminarily processed.
This subgroup (1954-1981) consists of records from the Wildlife Division and includes general correspondence, maps, press releases, printed materials, reports, and subject files (maps and printed materials were transferred to the Library). The subject files have been separated into three groups: Fish, Wildlife, and Parks internal, organizations and government, and topical. Some topics include big game management, dams, coal mine reclamation, fire control, fisheries, game law, Indian affairs, pesticides, etc.
This subgroup (1901-1966) consists of records from the Fish and Wildlife Commission and includes financial records, including audit reports, legal documents regarding the removal of State Fish and Game Warden J. S. McFarland, reports, subject files regarding Flint Creek, fish test projects, and the Montana Search and Rescue Association. Additionally, there are miscellaneous records, including journals for state fish spawning stations and hatcheries, blueprints and architectural drawings of Lewis and Clark Caverns, (formerly Morrison Cave), case records of regulation violations, confiscation registers, license registers, and docket registers.
This collection is arranged into five subgroups, represented by the Divisions or Commissions within or related to the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Some of the Divisions contain records from the Bureaus, Programs, Offices, or Units that operate within that Division.
To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup, please click on the links below to be redirected to those finding aids.
---
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 497, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks' various Divisions
and Commissions that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated
into
Each of the links above will redirect the user to a specific subgroup
(Division/Commission) of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. There
may be some overlap or inconsistencies in terms of which records are in which
subgroup, as these collections have
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Research Center catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.