SPECIAL SERVICES 



Statistical Section 



The Fish and Game Department's continuing 

 policy of economical operation and high qual- 

 ity service demands that their operations be 

 based on facts. The Statistical Section is the 

 key element in furnishing many facts to ad- 

 ministrators and managers. 



A professional wildlife statistician is em- 

 ployed to obtain data and analyze trends for 

 the department personnel. At his fingertips are 

 science's most advanced computers. These ma- 

 chines produce in hours the information that 

 was unobtainable a decade ago. The skilled 

 resource manager can work with the statisti- 

 cian and analyze the trends that become ap- 

 parent. From this come the recommendations 

 for administration. 



An example of this is the shift of the Pacific 

 Flyway to central Montana. Extensive projects 

 were set up to analyze the banding data from 

 1926 to the present. These facts showed trends 

 that helped convince waterfowl managers that 

 the flyway line should be where it is rather 

 than the Montana-Idaho border, where it was 

 in I960 when the analysis of the data began. 

 The data, carefuly collected, was studied, re- 

 analyzed and restudied to make sure that the 

 the recommendations were sound. 



A similar service is provided to the Fish Di- 

 vision. Special projects needing extensive or 

 complex analysis are submitted to the statis- 

 tical section. There the fisheries personnel and 

 statistician work as a team. Currently being 

 developed is a system to measure the fishing 

 pressure on lakes and streams. This will aid 

 in water resource development reports to agen- 

 cies requesting information on recreational use. 

 In this case the computer plays a big role 



since over 10,000 bodies of water have been 

 cataloged and available for reference. Corre- 

 lated information on the number of fish planted 

 in the past 10 years is available from the files 

 stored for computer use. 



A different service supplied by the statistical 

 section is the preparation of reports on recrea- 

 tion demand. The report submitted to the Bu- 

 reau of Outdoor Recreation required that it 

 meet certain standards in statistical detail. 

 These reports were prepared on a county basis, 

 molded into a planning region and submitted 

 in the Montana Outdoor Recreation Plan. They 

 are essential to the planning of the activities 

 that are needed in a given area. In addition 

 the Statistical Section helps plan for the future 

 by designing studies that will keep the Mon- 

 tana plan completely qualified for Federal 

 Land and Water Conservation Funds. 



Better facts mean better management deci- 

 sions. These sometimes are presented by re- 

 source managers to the administration, or from 

 information-education personnel to the sports- 

 men. A part of the team working in the back- 

 ground is the statistical section. 



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