Montana Historical Society
Archives
RS 198_RS 497
Montana. Department of Fish,
Wildlife, and Parks. Wildlife Division
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Wildlife
Division records
1954-1981
1 linear ft
This collection is a subgroup
(Division) of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks records, RS 497.
Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of
Fish, Wildlife, and Parks records. These records (1954-1981) of the Wildlife
Division consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, clippings, and miscellany extracted
from weeded subject files of the Division. Subjects include wildlife habitat, federal-state
coordination, and other matters.
28:8-7
English
On March 14, 1895, the Montana Legislature created the first state agency dealing with
fish and game, the Board of Game and Fish Commissioners. It consisted of three members and
was empowered to appoint a state game warden who would also serve as the Board's secretary
and business agent. In 1901, the Board was abolished and replaced by a single state game and
fish warden with five to eight deputies. In 1907, the Fish Commission was established 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 were 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.
The drought and depression conditions of the 1930s forced new approaches to the management
of natural resources. In 1937, the U.S. Congress passed the Pittman-Robertson Act which
provided money for states to acquire the biological information needed to establish and
maintain wildlife management programs. In 1941, Montana's Legislature passed enabling
legislation to bring the state under the Pittman-Robertson Act. What became the Game
Management Division was established to administer this program. Funded by a combination of
federal funds and hunter and fisherman user fees, the Commission was required to spend the
money solely on game management and wildlife habitat enhancement, not on general operations,
education, or parks. The work of the Division was divided into the general areas of surveys
and inventories, land acquisition, and research. In 1977, the Game Management Division was
renamed the Wildlife Division and in 1979 the agency was renamed the Department of Fish,
Wildlife, and Parks.
This collection consists of items separated by the Division from their numbered subject
file. The collection constitutes a fragmentary record in that only portions of each file
were transferred. The subject files (1954-1981) have been arranged into three groups:
internal administrative files of the agency; files dealing with organizations and government
agencies; and subjects. In addition to the subject file, there is a small file of general
correspondence (1962-1980), a file of news releases, (1970, 1980-1981), several reports
(1970-1980), and miscellany (including a list of fish and game commissioners and writings by
Jim Posewitz).
The collections is arranged by series.
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical
Society. 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 this collection, RS 497. Rather than reprocessing over 17 linear feet
of FWP materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those
collections/finding aids and provide access to them via links in the master finding aid.
This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over the
collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding aids
at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if this
subgroup pertains to your research needs.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers.
Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information is available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society
Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places
should search under these terms.
Conservation of natural resources--Montana
Fishing--Montana
Hunting--Montana
Lumber Trade--Montana
Pesticides--Montana
Weeds--Control--Montana
Wildlife conservation--Montana
Montana
Fisheries and
Wildlife
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
General Correspondence
1 / 1
Miscellaneous (correspondents include Frank T. Cowen,
Gov. John A. Love, John T. Maddux Jr., Joseph Egan, Fletcher Newby, Wynn Freeman,
Alvin Pierce, Clifford Trainer, Jim Pissot, Ray Crivello, Franz L. Deininger)
1962-1980
Maps
1 / 2
List of maps transferred to Library Map Collection
undated
Press Releases
1 / 3
Miscellaneous (re environmental study of Blackfoot
River, license fees, seasons, salmon and steelhead in Columbia River Basin, National
Wildlife Week, hunt rosters, endrin, pheasants, road closures, air surveilance of
poachers, harvest surveys)
1970, 1980-1981
Printed Material
1 / 4
List of printed materials transferred to Library
undated
Reports
1 / 5
"Economic importance of hunting and fishing in
Montana" by Richard J. McConnen
1970
1 / 6
Environmental impact statements (re Beartooth State
Recreation Area, big game season, railroad rights-of-way as habitat, migratory
species)
1971-1979
1 / 7
Game Management Division activity reports
1971-1977
1 / 8
Game Management Division Research Section report
1972
1 / 9
Game Management Division, "A Discussion of some
programs, plans, philosophies and situations that may be helpful to personnel of other
divisions in answering Questions on game management," by Wynn G. Freeman
1975
1 / 10
"Mountain goat management study plan, Cabinet
Mountains, Montana," by Gayle Joslin
1979
1 / 11
"A survey of hunter attitudes on forest road access,"
by Bill Thomas
1980
1 / 12
Wildlife Division activity report
1977
Subject Files (Fish, Wildlife & Parks internal)
1 / 13
Administration (includes organizational structure,
policies, planning, etc.)
1963-1978
1 / 14
License Division
1968, 1973-1979
1 / 15
Montana Outdoors (re articles, expense of operations,
etc.)
1975-1981
1 / 16
Office memoranda (re elk habitat, logging, employees,
environmental impact statements, etc.)
1964-1978
1 / 17
Parks Division
1968-1969
Subject Files (organizations & government)
1 / 18
Blackfeet Reservation hunting permits
1962
1 / 19
Crow Reservation
1961, 1967
1 / 20
Gallatin Canyon Planning Committee; Gallatin
Sportsmen's Association
1971-1972
1 / 21
Glacier National Park (re coho salmon)
1969
1 / 22
Idaho Legislative Auditor questionnaire (re big game
management)
1972
1 / 23
International Association of Game, Fish, and
Conservation Commissioners
1971, 1975
1 / 24
Montana Bow Hunters Association
1973
1 / 25
Montana Department of Highways (re game bird habitat
on right-of-way to Boulder-Butte interstate)
1961-1975
1 / 26
Montana Department of Natural Resources and
Conservation
1979
1 / 27
Montana Governor's Office
1970
1 / 28
Montana Rural Areas Development Committee
1968
1 / 29
Montana State Land Committee
1967, 1970
1 / 30
Montana Water Resources Board
1968
1 / 31
Montana Wilderness Association
1969
1 / 32
Montana Wildlife Federation
1967-1970, 1976
1 / 33
Montana Woodland Council
1973
1 / 34
National Wildlife Federation, "Endangered species
listed by state"
undated
1 / 35
Outdoor Life (re mule deer population)
1971
1 / 36
Public Land Law Review Commission
1967
1 / 37
Stouffer Productions (Marty Stouffer)
1975
1 / 38
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Fort Peck Inter-Agency
Council
1964, 1972
1 / 39
U.S. Bureau of Land Management Advisory Board
(includes material on sagebrush spraying project)
1960-1968
1 / 40
U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Pryor Mountain
Wildlife Refuge (re wild horse herd)
1966-1968
1 / 41
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (re Tiber Dam-Marias /
Milk River diversion)
1971
1 / 42
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (re Yellowstone River
report on proposed Allenspur Dam)
1961
1 / 43
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation Service
1967-1968
1 / 44
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Advisory
Committee
1975
1 / 45
U.S. Farm Home Administration-financed grazing
associations
1967
1 / 46
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service symposium
1970
1 / 47
U.S. Forest Service (re cooperation)
1968-1969
1 / 48
U.S. Forest Service (re Lolo National Forest)
1971
1 / 49
U.S. Forest Service (re timber harvest, clear
cutting, road closures, wildlife habitat, etc.)
1970-1972, 1976
1 / 50
U.S. Soil Conservation Service (re sagebrush
spraying, etc.)
1962-1972
1 / 51
University of Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research
Units (McIntire-Stennis Forestry Research Program)
1962-1973
1 / 52
Western Association of State Game and Fish
Commissioners
1970-1973
1 / 53
Wildlife Management Institute (re falconry)
1970
Subject Files (topics)
1 / 54
Big game management
1976
1 / 55
Canyon Ferry Dam
1960-1967
1 / 56
Coal mine reclamation
1967-1968
1 / 57
Federal-state relations
1967-1973
1 / 58
Fire control
1963-1965
1 / 59
Fisheries: Yellowstone River
1979
1 / 60
Forest grouse habitat studies
1968, 1974
1 / 61
Game laws
1977
1 / 62
Indian affairs
1976-1977
1 / 63-64
Pesticides, weed control, predator control, etc.
(includes endrin, compound 1080)
1954-1971
1 / 65
Sagebrush control (spraying)
1964-1972
1 / 66
Upper Missouri River Basin
1954, 1966
1 / 67
Weather modification (includes cloud seeding)
1968
1 / 68
"Index to Montana wildlife literature" (by region of
state and type of wildlife)
1950-1976
1 / 69
List of Fish and Game commissioners
1948-1977
1 / 70
Jim Posewitz writings (re wildlife management)
1976-1977