ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



Dozens of contributors submitted the thousands of recent records to make this 

 update possible. We are most grateful to those contributors who provided recent 

 sightings (see p. 108). Centrum data are from the Third Edition. The U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service's Breeding Bird Survey and the databases of the Montana Natural 

 Heritage Program provided additional sources of information. 



A steering committee was responsible for the overall production and fundraising for 

 this Fourth Edition. Members include Janet Ellis, David Center, George Holton, Cedron 

 Jones, Deborah Richie, and Dan Sullivan, all of Helena. Dwight Bergeron was 

 employed to compile data and assist in production. Special thanks to Dwight, Cedron, 

 and Dan for their long and dedicated efforts in data entry, troubleshooting, and keeping 

 things moving. 



A verification committee was established to review rare bird sightings and provide 

 advice and comment on a number of issues in the production of this edition. The 

 verification committee is comprised of Chuck Carlson (Chair, Ft. Peck), Helen Carlson 

 (Billings), Dan Casey (Kalispell), Dr. Bob Eng (Bozeman), Bebe FitzGerald (Billings), 

 Harriet Marble (Chester), Terry McEneaney (Gardiner), Fritz Prellwitz (Malta), and Dr. 

 Phil Wright (Missoula). We thank them for their continuing efforts and dedication to a 

 better understanding of Montana birds. 



Jim Senkler ably provided us with the design and programming of the database. We 

 thank the Natural Resource Information System and the Montana State Library for staff 

 time and computers. Don Skaar and Dennis Flath provided access to many post-Third 

 Edition records and commented on the draft. Dan Sullivan obtained and compiled the 

 data from the Breeding Bird Surveys. Margaret Beer provided technical support and 

 tolerance for Dwight and Cedron to be on her computers and in her space for much 

 of the past 6 months. Several individuals provided helpful suggestions and advice in 

 planning and review of the project including Kristi DuBois, Shannon Heath, Sue 

 Jackson, Cary Lund, and Don Stoecker. We thank them all. 



Financial support for the project came with the cooperation of the following individuals 

 and organizations: Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (Dennis Flath & 

 Deborah Richie), USDI Bureau of Land Management (Bob Haburchak), USDA Forest 

 Service (Alan Christensen and Bill Ruediger), Stillwater Mining (Bruce Gilbert), Western 

 Energy Co. (Bruce Waage), WESTECH (Dean Culwell and Pat Farmer), Last Chance 

 Audubon (Helena), Yellowstone Valley Audubon (Billings), Bitterroot Audubon 

 (Hamilton), Five Valleys Audubon (Missoula), William and Lee Ballard, the Montana 

 Audubon Council, and Michael T. Schwitters. 



