As the new director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (they tell me I’m the 27th since the department was established in 1901), I’d like to introduce myself to the readers of Montana Outdoors.
I grew up on a ranch west of Choteau along the Rocky Mountain Front. After college, I returned to the area and ran a livestock operation with my husband, raising three kids along the way. After serving three terms as a Montana legislator, I worked for the Montana Department of Agriculture, eventually becoming deputy director and then director. Governor Greg Gianforte recently asked me to lead FWP, an agency we both consider essential in a state defined by its abundant fish and wildlife resources and renowned outdoor recreational opportunities.
I recognize that my background in ranching, legislation, and administration is not a typical resumé for this position. I don’t even have a biology degree. But here’s what I do bring to the job.
First of all, I don’t need science credentials. FWP already has some of the top fisheries and wildlife scientists in North America, like elk research biologist Dr. Kelly Proffitt in Bozeman, who recently became our Region 3 supervisor, and Beaverhead River biologist Matt Jaeger in Dillon. My job as director is to help these and other department employees get the resources and support they need to continue excelling at their science, management, and customer service jobs. I’m also responsible for FWP’s financial sustainability, operational efficiency, strategic management, and future preparedness. If I don’t fully understand all the nuances of biological carrying capacity, instream flow, or habitat fragmentation, I’ll ask one of the department’s many capable and qualified employees.
Two, the Montana Legislature has a major influence on all state agencies, FWP in particular. Legislators approve or reject requests for license fee increases needed to help the agency keep pace with inflation and do things like hire more bear specialists to reduce conflicts between people and grizzlies, replace aging infrastructure at state parks, and acquire new fishing access sites or wildlife management areas. My experience at the capitol will help this department work cooperatively with legislators so they have the information they need to make prudent decisions regarding our budget and staffing and the laws directing our resource management.
Three, as more people move to Montana to recreate and buy land, public access is a bigger issue than ever. Not only access to private land, but access through private property to the roughly 2 million acres of state and federal holdings that are landlocked or otherwise inaccessible.
Governor Gianforte told me that one of the main reasons he wanted me here is to build on my credibility with the ag community to find new and better ways for people to reach currently off-limits public lands and develop new incentives to help open the gates of more private holdings. What’s more, with 70 percent of wildlife habitat east of the Divide on private land, FWP needs even stronger partnerships with farmers, ranchers, and other property owners to meet its stewardship responsibilities.
In addition, as a livestock operator myself, I understand the apprehension and frustration of those in our business regarding grizzly bears and wolves. I’ll use that insight to help FWP do an even better job of reducing livestock depredation while maintaining healthy populations that are socially acceptable in size and range.
Maybe more than anything, I bring to this position a record of forming relationships and reaching mutually agreeable solutions. I believe in treating people with respect, even if we disagree, and I recognize that all Montanans prize hard work, honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, and justice.
By building more partnerships based on these core values, especially with ag producers, FWP will be able to extend its reach and find new and more effective ways of providing stewardship for Montana’s fisheries, wildlife, and state parks.

~Christy Clark