one interest group or one individual will dis- 

 please others. Some groups and some individ- 

 uals are dedicated to being disgruntled v/ith 

 agency programs no matter what. Still other 

 persons make their stands, pro or con, ill-in- 

 formed even though information is readily 

 available. Conflict is an inescapable occupa- 

 tion of any wildlife agency. 



I and E, or public relations, is no magic 

 wand, but it is an agency's front line of con- 

 tact on a mass scale. In order to be effective, 

 however, it must be backed by each individual 

 within the agency. It has been correctly stated 

 that public relations is everyone's job. 



News Services 



News releases are issued from the Helena 

 office to all the wire services, daily and weekly 

 newspapers, and radio and television stations 

 within the state. They are also sent to fish and 

 game personnel, to legislators, and to a num- 

 ber of sports v/riters out-of-state. The releases 

 are issued most weeks and mailed on Fridays. 

 This seems to be the best date to accommo- 

 date most newspapers, though some would 

 prefer other release dates. News releases are 

 not issued every week, because fresh news- 

 worthy material is not always available. If 

 special situations arise, special releases ore 

 prepared for wire services or to cover local 

 areas. During the summer months, a weekly 

 roundup of fishing conditions is included with 

 the news report. In addition to Helena office 

 coverage, district information officers provide 

 news and feature services within their respec- 

 tive districts. Assistance is also given to editors 

 in preparing special features. 



In general, the departments' relationships 

 with the news media are excellent. From time 

 to time we get criticism from laymen in regard 

 to the news release format. Most of the critics 

 fee! that the news releases should be printed 

 on both sides of a page and be single spaced 

 in order to conserve paper and postage. News 

 releases are, however, prepared for the con- 

 venience of news media. This requires easy 

 to read print, and printing on one side only. 

 It would be desirable to save on postage and 

 print, but not at the expense of news usage. 



Stereotype mats covering bird seasons and 

 other special regulations are prepared for news- 

 paper use on occasion. These are popular, but 

 the expense of preparing them precludes their 

 use excepting in cases where maps are re- 

 quired to explain seasons, etc. 



Film Center 



The I and E Division's Film Center has sev- 

 eral major responsibilities, among which are: 

 researching, writing and producing movies in 



color and black and white which illustrate 

 resource management; radio programs, TV and 

 radio spots such as hunter and water safety; 

 TV and radio news releases on film and tape 

 about special items such as special hunting 

 seasons; making special slides and prints, color 

 and black and white for field use, publications, 

 reports and studies; storing, shipping and re- 

 ceiving department loan-library films; consul- 

 tation services for outside producers making 

 programs about resources and outdoor rec- 

 reation. 



The distribution of all films and tapes pro- 

 duced at the Film Center are to all radio and 

 TV stations in Montana and adjacent where 

 coverage extends into Montana. After TV show- 

 ings, films are placed in the department's loan- 

 library for clubs and groups. Where a subject 

 is strictly of local interest, programs are dis- 

 tributed in that area only. 



The Film Center also provides upon request, 

 films, stills and tapes to District Information 

 Officers to assist them in producing their own 

 local live TV and radio programs. 



In the last year and a half the Film Center 

 has produced 50 films, spots and releases on 

 film audio tape and video tape amounting to 

 three hundred separate items. 



Major films produced have been: Missouri 

 River Recreational Waterway; Deer Facts of 

 Life; Setting the Seasons; The Land and You; 

 Montana Wild Trout Waters; Upland Game 

 Birds--The Sage Grouse; After the Shot; Pesti- 

 cides and Telemetry; The Paddlefish; Yellow- 

 stone River Recreational Waterway; Montana 

 Outdoors (a 13 program TV series, some of 

 which use all or parts of the foregoing films). 

 Spots include hunter and wafer safety series, 

 conservation week, special permit deadline re- 

 minders, special elk season releases, etc. It 

 has been calculated that in advertising trade 

 parlance, department materials produced by 

 the Film Center received upwards of 30 million 

 impressions in the last 18 months in Montana. 



The Film Center is staffed and maintained 

 to provide information for educational purposes 

 to the public by TV and radio in order that 

 that the public has access to the most up-to- 

 date facts about the basics of wildlife and hab- 

 itat management. Television and radio are 

 economical ways to reach the majority of the 

 general public with the frequency necessary to 

 keep them informed on department programs. 



Direct Mail 



Thousands of inquiries come in to the Fish 

 and Game Department each year, requesting 

 information on all phases of outdoor recreation 

 and management. The larger port of these re- 

 quests are filled by using prepared materials 

 such as parks brochures and hunting and fish- 



