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Equipment plays an important role in the ad- 

 ministration of the wildlife resources of the state. 

 This has become very apparent with the recent 

 drastic curtailment of manpower which has thrown 

 an increasingly heavy load upon each member 

 of the remaining personnel. The following short 

 summary does not deal with equipment such as 

 trucks and hatchery facilities, which have been 

 built up through the years, but rather with more 

 recent purchases which have been found helpful 

 in carrying out the work of the department. 



Ten head of saddle and pack stock have been 

 secured to facilitate the inspection of the back 

 country game ranges. The personnel of the de- 

 partment and the Commission members rode a 

 total distance of 21,213 miles from July 1, 1941 to 

 October 15, 1942, on such work. This did not in- 

 clude the saddle horse trips made by the Deputy 

 Game Wardens in carrying out their routine 

 duties. 



Two motor boats and two canoes were pur- 

 chased and put into use to aid in patrolling the 

 lakes and rivers of the state and in carrying 

 out the various phases of the fisheries work. 



Six Eliason motor snow toboggans were se- 

 cured during the winter of 1941-42. Two are being 

 used on the North Fork of the Flathead fur man- 

 agement area, and the others on the various big 

 game ranges of the state. This machine, with a 

 top speed of 27 miles an hour, enables the field 

 crews to cover much ground in a short period 

 oi time. The toboggan has a seating capacity for 

 three persons. Trips which would require five 

 days on snowshoes may now be traveled in halt 

 a day. Many of the roads in the mountainous por- 

 tions of the state that have previously been inac- 



cessible during the winter months may now be 

 quite readily traveled for necessary investigative 

 work. 



The fish and game departments of several of 

 the neighboring Western states have found im- 

 portant uses for airplanes in carrying out the 

 work entrusted to them. Counting of big game, 

 particularly elk and antelope, from the air has 

 proved to be far more satisfactory in many areas 

 than similar work by ground crews. Herding ante- 

 lope into traps, for transplanting purposes, by air- 

 plane has become an established practice in 

 three states. Law enforcement patrols by air, par- 

 ticularly during the winter months, have proved 

 to be decidedly effective. The distribution of salt 

 on the more remote winter game ranges, as car- 

 ried out in Montana last spring on the Sun River 

 and Flathead units, has advantages over distribu- 

 tion by pack string. 



Planting of fish by plane is still in the experi- 

 mental stages, but even now shows very definite 

 promise, particularly in the planting of the more 

 inaccessible mountain lakes. Also, the placement 

 of fertilizer in barren lakes at high elevations in 

 order to build up their carrying capacity for 

 fish is another important activity that may be 

 carried on to advantage by plane. An addi- 

 tional important project here in Montana made 

 possible by the use of an airplane would be the 

 taking of spawn from Big Salmon Lake in the 

 South Fork of the Flathead. This lake presents 

 one of the most potentially ideal spawn taking 

 waters for Native and Dolly Varden trout that 

 may be found anywhere in the West. All of the 

 spawn necessary for the entire state hatchery pro- 

 gram for these two species of trout could be se- 

 cured from this lake. At the present time the spawn 

 is taken from a number of small scattered stations. 

 As Big Salmon Lake is accessible only by many 

 miles of pack trail, the transporting of eggs from 

 this lake to the nearest road by any means other 

 than airplane would be impractical. 



It is hoped that after the war, when no doubt 

 the use of the state's recreational resources will 

 increase far beyond any volume yet attaii 

 airplane will find its place among the various 

 types of equipment used by the depaili: 



>»h>k'k'uu l*iiH beou a decided uli 

 y wintor invostlffiitivo work. 



