•In 1996. FWP maintained offices
m the 10 largest communiues In
Montana for the first time in
the agency's history The Butte and
Havre Area Resource offices opened
their doors in 1996 to provide
enhanced customer service and
accessibility to the public in south-
western and north-central Montana

•The Ruby River Task Force made
significant progress to create public
fishing access on the Lower Ruby
Riser By the end of 1996. negotia-
tions were underway with over
a dozen landowners to obtain public
access through either easement,
lease or fee title purchase.

. . .providing increased

opportunities

• FWP'S Shooting Range Development
Program provided $78,000 in cost-
share grants to fund activities
and improvements at the Billings
Rod and Gun Club. Bozeman Rifle
Club. Colstnp Sportsman Range, the
Roundup Gun Club, Glendive Trap
Club. Wluttccar Rifle Range and
Great Falls Trap Club

•FAT conducted its third annual
"Becoming an Outdoors-Woman"
workshop in August 1996. The work-
shop provided 100 women from
seven different states with the
opportunity to try their hands at a
vanety of outdoor activities

H.B. 195= GREATER

hunting access

Over 100 biologists, game wardens
and FWP conservation specialists
joined together in implementing a
dramatic expansion of hunting access
on private land The Block
Management Program grew from 325
areas in 1995 to over 8" 5 areas
encompassing over " million acres
of land in 1996

This unprecedented growth was due
to incentives for landowners that
were made possible by the passage of
House Bill 195 by the 1995 Montana

Legislature In 1993, Governor
Marc Racicot created the Private
Land/Public Wildlife Advisory Council
in an attempt to solve problems
associated with wildlife and recreation
in Montana The 1995 Legislature
look tlic recommendations of the
Council and passed H B. 195, which
ratified a five-year program aimed
at reducing controversies associated
with wildlife, hunting and private
land ownership

H B 195 provides a maximum of
$8,000 per year for landowners who
provide public hunting on their
properties to offset the potential
impacts associated with hunting
Revenues generated by the sale of
vanable-pnced hunting licenses
set aside for the nonresident elk and
deer hunting clients of licensed
outfitters are providing the additional
funding needed to suppon these
programs Thanks goes to the
Private Land /Public Wildlife
Advisory Council.

where the money comes from

budgeted, fiscal year Y A O 7

REVENUES iyy /

FWP IS FUNDED PRIMARILY BY USER FEES
LESS THAN 1% OF FWP'S TOTAL BUDGET COMES FROM THE STATE GENERAL FUND

HUNTING AND
FISHING LICENSES

This includes all license sales
revenue, interest earnings and other
miscellaneous revenue.

Non-resident sales aceowii for nearly
Hirds of PX'P s total license revenue

63.5%

$30,131,760

FEDERAL REVENUES

FWP receives federal monies to: aid in fish & wildlife restoration
efforts; for parks development and maintenance; for boating
safety, education, regulation; and other programs

In FY 97 nearly 904> of FAT's federal assistance, or
approximately $10 million, was apportioned to Montana for fish
and wildlife restoration through the Piitman-Robcrxson (P R.)
and W'allop-Breaux (WB ) programs. P R. monies are denved
from an excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition, pistols
and revolvers and certain archery equipment. W B. monies are
derived from an excise tax on fishing equipment and electric
trolling motors, a portion of the federal fuels tax and import
duties on fishing tackle and pleasure boats

The balance of the federal monies comes from vinous
jjfe federal sources and is used for other purposes,

including parks projects

21.5%

$10,204,733

OTHER STATE
REVENUES

Other state revenue sources
include fees for state park
use, a portion of the state's
lodging facilities use tax; a
small percentage of the state
fuel tax; interest earnings
from coal severance tax
receipts; and other miscella-
neous revenue sources

14.1 %

$6,707,260

GENERAL

FUND

State ax dollars.

0.8%

$397,32 4

TOTAL REVENUES $4", 4-41,0"

%

where the money goes.

budgeted, fiscal year Y A A 7 *

EXPENDITLRESlJJ /

FWP SPENDS ITS MONEY TWO WAYS:

OPERATIONS for day-tcxlay management of fish, wildlife & park resources.
CAPITAL for major repair & maintenance of FWP properties, for renovation
& construction of facilities and to protect and enhance cniical habitats.

parks:

operaiing_

capital

total

% of total

_$S 427.069
_ $2, 951, 500
$8,378,569
17.7

The parks division is responsible for develop-
ment, maintenance and operation of all state
parks and affiliated sites with an objective
of providing diverse recreational opportuni-
ties while preserving important historical
cultural resources within Montana.

operating $ 6.749,769

wildlife: capital $ 3,514,860

total $10,264,629

% of total 21.6

The wildlife division is responsible for man-
aging all species of big game, upland game
birds, waterfowl, furbearers, non-game birds
and endangered wildlife in the state

operaung $6,022,994

fisheries: apjul $3,630,000

total $9,652,994

% of total 20.3

The fisheries division is responsible for the
management and perpetuation of Montana's
fish and other aquatic resources.

FWP TOTAL operating $3_T.059,95~

capital $10,381,120

operating $1,879,607

education: *of,oul 40

The conservation education division acts as a
clearinghouse for disseminating information
on FWP activities and news items to the
media and conducts a variety of educational
and recreation safety programs.

The enforcement division is responsible for enforcing all the
fish and game laws of Montana, FWP rules and Commission
regulations Division personnel also enforce state boating and-
snowmobile rules and state park regulations as well as private
property laws & regulations as they deal with hunting and fishing.

!'M 3S5S

$3,893,628

8.2

The field services division is responsible for FAT's lands
program, construction projects & lamlowner-sports person’s
relations program.

management
6 finance:

operating_

capital

total

of toral

_$' 160,879
$ 284 -60
$-.445,639
157

The Helena-based director's office staff makes major policy
and administrative decisions. Regional supervisors handle
on-the-ground implementation of policies and programs.
The administration and finance division is responsible for
accounting, purchasing, personnel, data processing and
administration of FAT's licensing functions.

total $-47,441,0“'

s

639.9

F2ar

1996

I

4//

K year tested
to achieve our
namtaining the
i way of life
. jvui also confirme d
that maintaining this wav
of life will only be achieved
through interdependence,
not independence. Faced
with diminished public
access to the resources
we manage, whirling
disease, declining mule
deer populations, loss of
habitat and conflicts
between user groups, it
became perfectly dear -
we could hardly meet
these challenges alone.

An array of partnerships
with Montana citizens
moved us forward.

The Private Lind/Public
Wildlife Council provided a
pathway to nearly tripling
the number of landowners
in FW'P's Block Manage-
ment hunting access
program in a single year

The Whirling Disease
Task Force provided lead-
ership in developing an
action plan that attracted
national research dollars
and a new research facility
to Montana to combat this
threat. The Rubv River
Task Force dev eloped a
first-of-a-kind fishing access
plan for that southwestern
Montana waterway.

Citizen groups likewise
addressed statewide and

local issues from Kalispcll
to Glasgow, from elk to
snowmobiles. Further,
Montana's citizen Fish,
Wildlife & Parks
Commission, in recogni-
tion of its exemplary
service to all Montanans,
was presented the
'Commission Of The Year"
award by the Western
Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies for the
first time in the 100-year
history of the Commission

The citizens compnsmg
these groups are not
simply this agency *

customers, they are our
partners in fish, wildlife
and paries. They are part of
* the Montana commumc.

, They embody the
I Montana w ay of life we
are so desperately try ing
1 to maintain

They give us hope.

Patrick J. Graham

Director

Montana Fish W ildlife <- Park.'

inn DoruvwTs couen*

vs* 9 7 2001

MQMTM4A ATATt UBHAfly

ANNUAL REPORT

• The TIP-MONT program continues
lo be a very successful aid 10 law
enforcement efforts. In 1996, nearly
400 reports were received and 134
citations issued, including five for
felony violations 0\er 30 years of
combined suspensions of hunting and
fishing privileges were levied, as well
as over $38,000 in fines and restitu-
tion The TIP-MONT number is now

reaching a
world-wide
audience
with us
inclusion in
the pages of
FNVP's new
Internet
site

•In September,
FWP was award-
ed $93', 000 in
federal grants
from the US
Migratory Bird
Conservation
Commission for
wetlands
conservation and
other waterfowl
habitat improve-
ments in north-
eastern and
north-central Montana. Protects will
entail restoring and enhancing more
than 20,000 acres of critical wetlands
and grassland uplands critical for
waterfowl and other migratory birds
as nesting habitat. Ducks Unlimited
will be contributing more than
$600,000 to the protects.

•Continuing studies of pallid sturgeon
since 1989 provide an esumated adult
population of only 250 in the lower
Missouri and Yellowstone Rivets in
Montana No evidence of juvenile or
young pallid sturgeon have been
found FWP will attempt to artificially
spawn pallids in the spring of 1997, if
successful, young pallids may be rein-
troduced in the Mlssoun River above
and below Ft. Peck Reservoir

• In 1996, over $525,000 was spent
on improvements to upland game
bird habitat in Montana through the
Upland Game Bird Habitat Enhance-
ment Program. Since die inception of
the program in 1989. FWT lias entered
into over 660 program contracts
with agricultural operators and odier
land managers.

•In coordination witli the Montana
Department of Livestock, FWP m 1996
appointed a game farm negotiated
rulemaking committee and contracted
with the Montana Consensus Council
to facilitate the rulemaking process
for game farms authorized by the
1995 Legislature Rulemaking will be
concluded in 1997

• In 1995, the latest year (or which
complete stocking recoals have been
compiled, 37.8 million fish were
stocked in support of FWT's fisheries
management activities Of these,

30 1 million were in support of warm
water fisheries and 7.6 million were
cold water species, most of which
were stocked in lakes and reservoirs

In striving to reach our goals

we are...

with a focus

•Conservation easements continue to be FWT’s
principle tool for protecting valuable wildlife
habitats through the Habitat Montana program
In 1996 alone, conservation easements were used
to protect wildlife habitat on 2"’.',60 acres of
land, including 19,061 on the Sieben and O'Connell
ranches north of Helena, ‘,106 acres on the Keogh
property at Whitehall and 1,58-j acres on
the WH Ranch near Anaconda.

•In February, FWT officially became
a member of the Interstate Wildlife
Violator Compact, |oimng Arizona,
Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming
Under the compact, residents of
member states that are convicted of
serious violations of fish and wildlife
laws in their own or other member
states may have their hunting, fishing
or trapping pnvileges suspended in all
member states.

•Montana’s Future Fisheries (fish
habitat) Improvement Program was
expanded in 1996. Forty-eight
restoration projects were approved
for funding Program cost was approx-
imately $8,30.000 in 1996 and generated
over $1.8 million in matching funds
Projects will enhance spawning and
rearing habitats, improve riparian
vegetation and bank cover, reduce
loss of fish into irrigation diversions,
enhance stream (lows and restore fish
passage Projects were approved for
all regions of the state, aiding cold
and warm water fish species

• FWP, in cooperation with the
Bonneville Power Administration,
hired two additional game wardens to
increase enforcement and education
activities to reduce poaching and
unintentional harvest of bull trout
in Montana

•Bull trout status reviews are now
complete for 12 drainage basins in
western Montana. Local bull trout
watershed groups were formed in the
Blackfoot River and Rock Creek areas.

• FWP organized the Governor's
Westslope Cutthroat Trout Workshop
in September 1996. Tins event
provided a focal point for cooperative
efforts by FWP. federal land manage-
ment agencies, local landowners and
others to take actions to benefit west-
slope cutthroat trout Tile most
ambitious proposal announced to
date involves restonng westslope cut-
throat to tributanes of the upper
Madison River

• FWT, in concert with a citizen's
advisory group, prepared a draft plan
dunng 1996 to guide management of
Montana's warmwaier fisher)' (wall-
eye. bass, catfish, etc ) over the next
decade The plan aggressively pur-
sues improvement of warm water fish-
ing in Montana through stocking, reg-
ulations. habitat improvement and
educational efforts

MULE DEER:
concerns prompted
special measures

FWP surveys in 1995 indicated that
significant portions of the hunting
disincis in soudiwestem Montana
and some in the area of the Missouri
River Breaks did not meet mule deer
management objectives because of
low numbers of bucks and prompt-
ed a review of hunting regulations.

At the same time, the overall popu-
lation of mule deer was declining in
several areas of the state

Mule deer populations, like those of
all wildlife, fluctuate-sometirnes
quite noticeably The latest decline
in overall mule deer numbers in
some areas of Montana was the
result of the extremely dry summers
of 199-J and 1996 and a couple
of harsh winters that reduced fawn
survival and made deer more
vulnerable to predators To address
the overall decline in mule deer
populations, the FWP Commission
reduced antlertess mule deer licenses
for 1996 by approximately 30,000

Equipped with public comments
garnered through a senes of mule
deer summits" conducted across
the state last summer, FWP commis-
sioners have since taken a number
of steps for 1997 in their continuing
effons to responsibly address the
present mule deer situation In
finalizing deer seasons for 199', the
commission included a regulation
requinng hunters to designate (vali-
date) areas in which they will hunt
in southwestern Montana to restrict
hunter movement in the state
.Also, special mule deer permit-only
buck hunting areas will restnet
hunters to those areas where their
permits are valid In addition,
$50,000 has been redirected to sur-
veys of deer populations, expanded
research will allow us to better
manage mountain lions in relation
to deer populations and other
measures are being considered to
belter address public concerns and
improve the management of mule
deer populations

WHIRLING DISEASE:

updatel996

During 1996, major waterways that
tested free of whirling disease
included the Yellowstone Bighorn,
Stillwater, Boulder (of the Yellowstone),
Gallatin, East Gallatin, Big Hole, upper
Missouri (headwaters to Canyon Ferry
Reservoir), Teton, Bitterroot,

Flathead, Kootenai and Marias rivers,
Big Spnng Creek, and the Madison
River above Quake Like Montana's
nine state, three federal and 10 pnvate
fish hatchenes remained "clean."

In 1996, isolated pockets of infection
surrounded by "clean" waters were
discovered in Cottonwood Creek
(Blackfoot Drainage), in the East Fork
Rock Creek (Rock Creek Drainage
near Missoula) and in the Missoun
River below Holier Dam and one of
its pnme spawning inbut.mes, Little
Pncklv Pear Creek How whirling
disease is spreading from water to
water is a question that future testing
could help to resolve

Laboratory and field testing of various
salmomd species and strains have
found that cutthroat trout (both
westslope and Yellowstone) and all
strains of rainbow trout tested
are very suscepuble to this disease
Other native salmomds, such as bull
trout and .Arctic grayling, have received
very limited testing, but earlv indica-
tions of resistance are promising

Dunng 19%, an Action Plan that
addresses research, management and
communications pnonties was
developed by the Montana Whirling
Disease Task Force This acuon plan
subsequendv attracted the federal and
pnvate funds necessary to construct a
new research facility in Montana and
the dolhirs to support the aggressive
research needed to combat this threat
to the state's worid-renowned fishenes

• A record number of volunteer
hours were contnbuted to
Montana's State Park System in
1996. Over 800 volunteers donated
35,460 hours of service to Montana
State Parks at a value of almost
$205,000 to the agency this year

• FWP's Parks Division acquired
1,232 acres adjacent to Ulm Pishkun
State Park The new parcel will be
home to a planned educational and
interpretive center for what may
be the world's largest histoncal
buffalo jump

•A ribbon-cutting ceremony was
conducted at Big .Arm State
Park in September to celebrate 3
$500,000 park rehabilitation project
Improvements included road
paving, installation of showers,
construcuon of boat launching
facilities and development of a
swimming area.

• FWP remodeled the visitor center
at Lewis & Clark Caverns with new
displays and a state-of-the-an model
of die cave Educational offerings at
die caverns were expanded, result-
ing in 3 17% increase in school
group tours in 1996.

...IV

our

State

parks

sound

• 'Rinnack Days" at Bannack State-
Park received national attention
through its award as one of the top
50 special events in the five-state

Old West
Trail Country

• In 19%, two state park cultural
projects were selected for funding
through Travel Montana's TUP
(Tourism Infrastructure Investment
Program). Pictograph Gives State
Park received funding to conduct

research to reduce mineral deposits
obscuring the pictography
At Chief Plenty Coups State Park,
the interior of the chiefs home will
be stabilized to allow tours by
the public.

...stressing the
importance

p$)Ec

education

• In cooperation with federal land
management agencies and a num
tier of citizen wildlife and agricul-
tural organizations FWP produced
a 28-mmutc video documentary
cnutled Landscape' that tako a
new look at the issue of grazing on
Montana's public lands and the
shared values all Montanans risk
losing if vve don't focus our
attentions on working together
for the future

•In 15%, FWT produced a video
and an accompanying brochure on
oinservation casements and the
advantages of these valuable land
protection tools to private property
owners county governments & FWT

• FWP in conjunction with a
pnvate vendor, instituted a 1-900
information hotline on a pilot
basis m 1996 to provide compre-
hensive and detailed information
to callers on a wide vanetv of
recreational topics, including
hunting, fishing and opportunities
at state parks

•950 volunteer Hunter Education
instructors taught and scmfu.il
6, -RH) students in 19% Instructors
also hel|>ed develop a new Montana-
specific student manual
■T5 volunteer Bow hunter Educ.iunn
instructors taught and certified
2,082 students

• Dunng 19%. new safety educa-
uon classroom and ndtng courses
were implemented for FWT s
Snowmobile Education Prcgnni

A total of 53 volunteer 5m iwmobik
Education mstniaors aught 26'
students dunng the 1995- 1996 reason

AQUATIC

EDUCATION:

advances

Montana vouths and their
families will now have even m< «rc
opportunities to leam how
to c.ut a line arid partake of
the state > renowned fishery
resources thanks to an expansion
of FWT s aquatic education
program in 1996

The five program clement'
comprising the new educational
program, called Farnilv Fishing
Adventures, arc
ill the establishment of a cadre
of trained volunteer angler
education instructors,

equipment lending program
across the state.

1 3l creation of a “free-fishing dav“
for participants of FWT-a|ipmvcd
angler education courses winch
will be introduced to the 199“
Legislature.

1 1 1 establishment of an angler
education program for Montana
schools based on a highly
successful national educational
campaign, and

( 5) creation or development of
existing accessible fishing areas
for vouths and their families

Three schools ui Montana be&in
pilot tesung die nauonal Hooked
on Fishing- Not on Drugs
program and dirt* communities
are testing a fishing tackle lamer
program Over 1,000 vouths
attended angler educiuon courees
taught bv volunteer angler
education instructors