SERVICE PROJECTS 



W-5-D-17 & 18 — General Wildlife Restock- 

 ing Project 



The purpose of this project has been to trap 

 and transplant mountain goats, bighorn sheep, 

 wild turkeys and fisher. During the two-year 

 reporting period, substantial numbers of moun- 

 tain goats were trapped in both the Deep Creek 

 area west of Choteau, and from the Pioneer 

 Range west of Melrose. A release was made 

 in the Pine Creek section of the Bear Tooth 

 Range. Additional goat plants were made dur- 

 ing the period in the Hilgard Range on the 

 east side of the Madison Valley. An attempt is 

 being made to establish these animals through- 

 out a large area of Montana characterized by 

 alpine and sub-alpine habitat. The mountain 

 sheep introductions during the reporting period 

 were made in the Big Belt Range in the vi- 

 cinity of Sheep Creek and Stickney Creeks, 

 south and west of Cascade. Bighorns were also 

 placed in the holding pasture at the southwest 

 edge of the Fort Peck Game Range. It is an- 

 ticipated that increases from this group will 

 be liberated into the Missouri Breaks. 



Fisher, a fur animal, were obtained from 

 Canada in cooperation with the U. S. Forest 

 Service. These were released in the Pinkham 

 Creek area in Lincoln county and also in the 

 Swan Valley. An additional plant was made 

 in the Rock Creek area east of Missoula. In 

 addition to being a valuable fur animal, the 

 fisher is known to prey on porcupines, a forest 

 pest. 



Additional plants of wild Merriam's turkey 

 were completed during the reporting period. 

 These plants were made in Sanders county 

 near Plains, the Gates of the Mountains area 

 in Lewis and Clark county and in several 

 other portions of the state. 



W-58-D-4 & 5 — Statewide Maintenance 



Waterfowl and upland game bird habitat 

 areas have been developed on 32 reservoirs 

 in eastern Montana. The annual maintenance 

 work consisted principally of the repair of 

 fences to protect portions of these reservoirs 

 from excessive livestock use. This limited 

 fencing of the upper end provided excellent 

 nesting, feeding and resting areas for water- 

 fowl and upland game birds. In all of these 

 areas, sufficient watering space was provided 

 for livestock. 



W-81-D-3 & 4 — Maintenance of Federal Aid 

 Lands (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) 



Through this project payment in lieu of 

 taxes on all game range and waterfowl devel- 

 opment areas is made. This lieu of tax pay- 

 ment was authorized by the Montana state 

 legislature by R. C. M. 1953, Section 26-133. 

 These Department lands are assessed by the 

 county so that the payments are comparable 

 to that paid by private landholders in these 

 areas. During the two years reporting, the 

 annual payment to the counties of location 

 amounted to approximately $17,000.00 per year. 



W-83-R-2 & 3 — Wildlife Investigations Lab- 

 oratory 



One of the most important phases of the 

 work conducted at the Laboratory has been in 

 the determination of wildlife food habits. This 

 project is headquartered at the State College 

 in Bozeman and provides practical training for 

 a number of wildlife management students. In 

 addition to its obvious importance in manage- 

 ment, food habits information also aids with 

 the interpretation of other information such as 

 range surveys, hunting season manipulation, 

 sex and age ratios and winter mortality. Cer- 

 tain other information, such as age ratio in- 

 formation on the mink harvest, can be obtained 

 only through use of this facility. The Labora- 

 tory personnel also conduct research on the 

 problem of standardization of techniques to be 

 used in certain areas of game management. 



Game Bird Farms 



Ring-necked pheasant production continued 

 at both the Fort Peck and Warm Springs bird 

 farms. The Billings bird farm, which at the 

 beginning of the biennium was operated only 

 on a seasonal basis, was entirely discontinued. 

 The brooder houses were sold and removed 

 from the property and the pheasant pens were 

 completely dismantled. The remaining build- 

 ings and facilities are being used by district 

 Fish and Game Department personnel in con- 

 junction with the district headquarters build- 

 ing which was erected on the bird farm 

 property. 



Ring-necked Pheasant Production 



Fort Warm 



Billings Peck Springs Total 



1953-1959 6,109 12,162 13,132 31,403 



1959-1960 .... 12,760 11,979 24,739 



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