Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks

The Montana Territorial Legislature enacted the first fish or wildlife law (it limited fishing methods to rods and lines) in 1854. The first game bird hunting laws were passed in 1869, and hunting seasons for antelope, buffalo, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, moose, mountain goats, and rabbits set in 1872. Fur trapping and bird hunting seasons followed in 1876. Fish and game districts were created and eight deputy game wardens authorized for each district. In 1921, the state legislature reorganized the Commission: A board of five Commissioners was established, with the power to create fish and game districts, open and close hunting seasons, and more. The first three preservation areas to be set aside were at Snow Creek (along the Missouri River in northern Garfield County), Pryor Mountain (now the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range), and the Gallatin River (in Gallatin County). The law created an excise tax on ammunition, archery equipment, handguns, and hunting firearms, and apportioned the revenue among state wildlife agencies on a matching funds basis (with the provision that each state ban the diversion of hunting and fishing license revenue to other uses). Montana used these funds to purchase its first wildlife management area in 1938 (as of 2005 it had 84). The state used these funds to hire its first wildlife biologist in 1940. allowing the Montana Fish and Game Commission to hire fisheries biologists, establish its first fisheries management projects, and initiate the first studies of problems affecting fisheries (such as logging and dams). On July 1, 1973, the state adopted model legislation known as the Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act (Montana Code Ann. 87-5-101-132), which required the state Fish and Game Commission to identify and protect threatened and endangered wildlife, conduct research on non-game and endangered species, and acquire and manage habitat for their use. ==Structure==

Commission The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission is a quasi-judicial body which is authorized to engage in rulemaking for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, approves the purchase of land for use by the department, and approves certain activities of the department. There are five members of the commission, all of whom must be citizens of the state and each one of whom represents one of the department's five geographical regions (Northcentral, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest). The department has four managerial offices: Human Resources, Lands/Outreach, Legal, and deputy director. Each administration region is led by a Regional Administrator, who reports to the director. The Parks division has three bureaus: Business Operations, Capital and Recreation, and Field Operations. The Finance division has four bureaus, which includes the Licensing bureau. Each division head is nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Montana Senate. ==Budget, personnel, and operations==

Budget and personnel The State of Montana has a biannual budget cycle, with state agencies on a two-year budget cycle. The state's constitution requires a balanced budget. In 2009, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks had annual revenues of $87,080,733. The state legislature appropriated $1,895,500 (2.2 percent of all revenues), with other state revenues (largely from dedicated taxes and fees) amounting to $10,563,367 (12.1 percent of all revenues). The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks had total expenditures of $87,080,733 in 2009, of which $13,040,700 were capital expenditures and $74,040,033 were operational expenditures. When expenditures are broken down by divisional costs rather than capital vs. operating budget, the Fish and Wildlife Division spent $57,880,940 (66.5 percent of all expenditures), the Parks Division spent $15,104,493 (17.3 of all expenditures), and the Management and Finance Division spent $14,095,300 (or 16.2 percent of all expenditures) in 2009. The department had 693 full-time equivalent employees in May 2009, of which 197 were seasonal or temporary. These include 74 field game wardens, six uniformed investigators, and three covert investigators in addition to a number of game sergeants and game captains. In April 2010, Governor Brian Schweitzer asked state agencies for a 4 percent across-the-board reduction in personnel. However, the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks was exempt from the personnel reductions since most of its revenues came from hunting and fishing licenses. Operations The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks launched a new Web page for the state parks system in April 2008 to help promote tourism. In November 2008, Schweitzer dismissed the long-time head of the MFWP and replaced him with Maurier. Maurier reassigned the department's Deputy Director, Chris Smith, to work on special projects and hired Art Noonan (a state legislator from Butte with no college degree and no hunting or fishing experience) as the new deputy director. Under Governor Schweitzer's instructions, Maurier significantly consolidated the department's divisions. Prior to 2009, the department had separate divisions for communication and education, enforcement, fisheries, and wildlife. It had no strategic planning unit; rather, each division had its own strategic planning staff. The restructuring created the single Fish and Wildlife Division with five administrative bureaus (Communication and Education, Enforcement, Fisheries, Strategic Planning and Data Services, and Wildlife) as well as consolidated Finance and Parks divisions. Instead of reporting to a number of divisions, the regional administrators now reported to the head of the Fish and Wildlife Division. The salary for the administrator of Fish and Wildlife was increased to $82,524 a year. David Risley, administrator of the wildlife management and research division of the Division of Wildlife in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, was hired to lead the Fish and Wildlife Division. Chas Van Genderen was promoted from Assistant Parks Administrator to Administrator in April 2009. ==See also==