INAUGURAL INDUCTION

2014 Table of Contents

Introduction 4 Doris Milner 13 Granville Stuart 6 Cecil Garland 14 Theodore Roosevelt 7 Gerry Jennings 15 Charles M. Russell 8 Ron Marcoux 16 Lee Metcalf 9 Chris Marchion 17 Don Aldrich 10 Acknowledgments 18 Bud Moore 11 Sponsors 20

Thurman Trosper 12

2 Table of Contents

Photo by Jesse Varnado 3 Introduction

4 Introduction

e crossed the Rocky Mountain divide on the tenth day of October, 1857 … Instead of the gray sagebrush covered plains “Wof Snake River, we saw smooth rounded grass that waved in the wind like a field of grain. A beautiful little clear stream ran northwest on its way to join the Missouri River. … Soon as we came to the divide … bands of antelope … were in sight all of the time … We also discovered as we moved … down the valley to Beaverhead that there was plenty of game, consisting of blacktailed deer, big horn or mountain sheep, and also many bands of elk.”

This description of Montana comes from one National Monument stretching eastward. Where of the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame’s inaugural the Rockies “front” the plains, precious tracts inductees, Granville Stuart. It was his first of wild country are destined to remain forever impression when he was just 23 years old. wild, home to the great bear and a pyramid of Theodore Roosevelt, another of our companion species. inaugural inductees, was born a year later. Their Water gathers in these places. It seeps, trails crossed about 30 years after Stuart’s meanders, rushes and at times thunders to three arrival. They met in Miles City at a Montana oceans. These streams, creeks and rivers are Stockgrowers meeting and their primary topic clean, cold and laden with wild fish. was conservation, specifically “the Texas fever Today, a century and a half after the Montana and the overstocking of the range.” Territory was born, we gather to recognize that One biographer noted Roosevelt “was a great these precious outdoor amenities came to our admirer of Granville Stuart, and was always on time carried by individuals who cared, showed up, his side of every question.” and stood up on their behalf. They are amenities These two events show us that a conservation that, in the words of Roosevelt, “add to the beauty ethic rode into Montana seven years before our of living and therefore to the joy of life.” birth as a territory; and also arrived on a steam The dozen people we recognize tonight are engine-drawn rail car a few years before we but a small sample of the legions of worthy and became a state. In the three decades that separate deserving Montanans. But the diversity of this those events we had taken a wildlife resource inaugural class is also worth acknowledging. that once “exceeded anything the eye of man had From artists to agency personnel, from politicians ever looked upon” and turned it into the wildlife to grassroots activists, from pioneers to present- “bone-yard” of a continent. day leaders, the stories of these twelve inductees However, the seed of Montana’s conservation speak to an ever-evolving conservation ethic that ethic was planted, took firm root, and as the is uniquely Montanan. generations passed that ethic produced an Enjoy their stories and join us as we gather outdoor masterpiece. to celebrate the achievements of those who Two of America’s great national parks sit as contributed through time and those now holding bookends, with the Northern Rockies sprawling the line while expanding the outdoor horizons of out between them and the Missouri River Breaks America’s Last Best Place. Photo by Jesse Varnado 5 Along with his brother, James, Granville took action seeking legisla- tion to protect fish in the First Ter- Granville Stuart ritorial Legislature in 1864. More comprehensive game pro- tection was won in 1872, providing 1834 – 1918 ranville Stuart entered Mon- some closed season protection for a Gtana in 1857 over what would be number of species including “moun- known later as Monida Pass. tain buffalo, moose, elk, black-tailed He immediately took note of the deer, white-tailed deer, mountain condition of the land and the abun- sheep, white Rocky Mountain goat, dance of wildlife, writing, “Instead of antelope or hare.” the gray sagebrush covered plains of All through Montana’s territorial Snake River, we saw smooth rounded years, the Stuarts led legislative ef- hills … covered with yellow bunch forts to curb the commercial carnage grass that waved in the wind like a of fish and wildlife. field of grain.” Thus legislative efforts to con- Stuart further noted “there was serve fish and wildlife in Montana plenty of game, consisting of black began in territorial years, as early as tailed deer, big horn or mountain 12 years before Custer died on the sheep, and also many bands of elk.” hills above the Little Big Horn River. Settling first on the Clark Fork One year after that famous battle, River, he celebrated the 4th of July in 1877, Granville formed the Helena in 1863 “by having a fine dinner with Rifle Club, Montana’s first rod and trout as the principal dish.” gun club to promote the sporting Later, he said, “The Deer Lodge code—thus, citizen conservation Valley is famous for two things, one is advocacy was born in Montana. that mountain trout are more plenty One historian noted, “Granville in it than any other place of the same Stuart persistently strove to improve extent in the world.” wildlife protective measures and In 1880, Granville rode into the his bills formed the platform for the Judith Basin looking for a ranching evolution of wildlife laws in the terri- opportunity. tory … Granville was … a dreamer and As he later wrote, “Thousands of philosopher, a lover of all creation.” buffalo darkened the rolling plains. There were deer, antelope, elk, wolves, and coyotes on every hill and in every ravine and thicket.” However, that sense of bounty “If the legislature does not didn’t last long. In just three years, enact some laws in regard to Granville saw wildlife populations plummet. “In the fall of 1883,” he game and fish there will not later noted, “there was not one buf- be in a few years so much as falo remaining on the range and the a minnow or deer left alive in antelope elk, and deer were indeed scarce.” all the territory.” In the course of these experienc- – Granville Stuart es, Granville wrote, “If the legislature does not enact some laws in regard to game and fish there will not be in a few years so much as a minnow or deer left alive in all the territory.” 6 national parks, federal bird preserves, national game preserves and over 150 million acres of forest reserves. Theodore Roosevelt In Montana, it included what would become national forests from the Custer in the Southeast to the Koote- 1858 – 1919 n September 7, 1883, Theodore nai in the Northwest plus the Bison ORoosevelt set foot on the North- Range at Moiese. While in the White ern Plains for the first time. He was House, he also called seven confer- in his mid-twenties, a New York ences to address conservation in State legislator who had come west America. He was quite clear about his to hunt buffalo. The recent com- commitment, saying, “Our aim is to mercial slaughter of the buffalo left preserve our natural resources for the those plains littered with the rotting public as a whole, for the average man carcasses of the greatest wildlife and the average woman who make up resource ever known. Thirteen days the body of the American people.” later, Theodore crossed into Montana When Theodore sought to regain Territory, found a lone bull buffalo on the presidency in 1912 to protect Little Cannonball Creek and shot it. his reforms, his campaign manager Theodore returned to the Great was Montana’s U.S. Senator Joe Plains in 1884, invested in cattle Dixon, who later served as Montana’s and hunted throughout the west, governor. When that lone buffalo fell including frequent trips into Mon- in 1883, its sacrifice led to a conser- tana ranging from tributaries of the vation renaissance that changed Little Missouri River in Southeastern the face of a young nation. How that Montana to the Cabinet Mountains of impact is felt was best described by the Northwest. During that time, he Theodore himself: “The things ac- wrote, “A ranchman who … had made complished that have been enumerat- a journey of a thousand miles across ed above were of immediate conse- Northern Montana, along the Milk quence to the economic well-being of River, told me … he was never out of our people. In addition certain things sight of a dead buffalo, and never in were done of which the economic sight of a live one.” bearing was remote, but which bore Theodore’s experiences and directly upon our welfare, because observations during this period led to they add to the beauty of living and a conservation epiphany. The winter therefore to the joy of life.” of 1886 put an end to his livestock ambition, but the conservation ethic born of his time in the West, much of it in Montana, led to the founding of a citizen conservation organization in “Our aim is to preserve our 1887 dedicated to the introduction of natural resources for the the sporting code and restoration of public as a whole, for the big game. High on their list of things to do was a reform agenda that in- average man and the average cluded giving presidents authority to woman who make up the set aside land that could be held in the public trust. body of the American people.” When he became president, – Theodore Roosevelt Theodore set aside 230 million acres for conservation that included wildlife refuges, national monuments, 7 about what he wanted us to remem- ber. In the introduction to Good Medicine, Will Rogers wrote, “He Charles M. Russell loved nature—everything he painted God had made. He didn’t monkey away much time with the things that 1864 – 1926 harlie Russell was born on March Man had made. He would rather paint C19, 1864 in St. Louis, Missouri. a naked Indian than a fully clothed Seventy days later, the Montana Ter- white man.” ritory was created. Sixteen years later, Even the poets recognized Char- Charlie met the land in its last stages lie’s genius lay in his ability to capture of wildness. fleeting moments that were capable Montana’s fledgling conservation of inspiring others to continue the movement was struggling when, in struggle to restore the natural world. March 1880, the 16-year-old artistic In “The Gift,” musician/poet Ian genius stepped off the stage in Hel- Tyson wrote: ena. Charlie soon found his way to the Judith Basin where he was taken in God made Montana for the wild man, by hunter, trapper and life-long friend for the Piegan and Sioux and Crow Jake Hoover. But He saved His greatest gift for Consistent with the themes of his Charlie, later artistic works, the young man’s Said, “Get her all down before she goes – You’ve gotta get her all down, attention was not captivated by what ‘cause she’s bound to go. Montana was becoming, but what it had been. We are all familiar with the old One day, working as an open- cliché that a picture is worth a thou- range cowboy for 40 dollars a month, sand words and what Charlie M. Rus- Charlie ran into fellow cowboy Teddy sell’s genius captured for us speaks Blue Abbott. As they conversed, clearly across the ages. Teddy Blue remarked, “God, I wish I’d It has now been a century since been a Sioux Indian a hundred years Charlie painted his masterpiece, the ago.” Charlie replied, “Ted, there’s iconic buffalo crossing the Missouri a pair of us. They’ve been living in River titled “When the Land Be- heaven for a thousand years, and we longed to God.” took it away from ‘em for forty dollars Today, the Montana wildlife a month.” conservation ethic has brought us to At one point Charlie commented the cusp of restoring wild bison to that “civilization is nature’s worst the Montana landscape. We are on enemy. All wild things vanish when the brink of getting that done in part she comes …” because Charlie’s artistic genius will Charlie’s art is a treasure and we not let us forget—not ever. are endowed with images of what he loved about this land we proclaim the “Last Best Place.” When his widow Nancy dedicated the book Good “Civilization is nature’s worst Medicine, she began with a quote of Charlie’s: “The West is dead! You enemy. All wild things vanish may lose a sweetheart, but you won’t when she comes.” forget her.” – Charles M. Russell We didn’t forget because Char- lie’s genius was expressed in sketch and on canvas and there is no doubt 8 Recreation Act; the Water Quality Act of 1965; the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968; the Clean Water Act of Lee Metcalf 1972; the Missouri River Breaks study bill; and the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977. 1911 – 1978 enator Lee W. Metcalf was one of Over the years, Lee would be Sthe most instrumental U.S. con- called the “Patron Saint of Wilder- gressmen for the creation and pas- ness,” a champion of conservation sage of the Wilderness Act of 1964. and one of the first modern environ- Born in 1911 in Stevensville, mentalists. Montana to a well-known Ravalli In a November 20, 1965, dur- County family, he attended the Uni- ing a Walsh lecture series at Carroll versity of Montana in 1928 before College in Helena, Lee noted the vital transferring to Stanford where he need for conserving Montana’s natu- earned a bachelor’s degree in history ral resources: “We cannot any longer and economics. In 1936, he returned enjoy the luxury of controversy be- to the University of Montana and tween the hunters and the fishermen obtained a law degree. over the use of our land; we cannot He was a lawyer, state represen- permit fragile lands to be overgrazed; tative from Ravalli County (1937), we cannot have our last remaining Montana assistant attorney general power sites underdeveloped; we can- (1937-1941), World War II veteran not let our air and water continue to (1942-1946), Montana Supreme be polluted, or else we need not fear Court associate justice (1947-1952), the atomic bomb as in T. S. Eliot’s The U.S. Representative (1953-1960) and Hollow Men—‘Not with a bang, but a U.S. Senator (1961-1978). whimper.’” Lee worked from 1953 to 1964 for The Lee Metcalf Wilderness in the passage of a national wilderness Madison and Gallatin Counties, Mon- preservation system act. On June 13, tana, was created and named in the 1956, he introduced one of the first senator’s honor by the U.S. Congress national wilderness bills in the U.S. following his death. House of Representatives, H.R. 11751. His political legacy is clear today. In 1964, Montana had 1.5 million acres of Wilderness and wild areas included in the Wilderness Act, with Lee Metcalf’s legacy about 400,000 more acres pending is clear today. Among various studies. Following the act’s many other pieces of key passage, he declared the 1960s the “Decade of Conservation.” conservation legislation, he But Lee’s work didn’t stop there. introduced one of the first At the time of his death in 1978, Mon- tana had a total of 3,155,796 acres of national Wilderness bills in Wilderness areas. In 2014, Montana 1956. As of 2014, Montana has 3,443,407 acres of Wilderness has almost 3.5 million areas. He sponsored, co-sponsored, or acres of Wilderness areas. wrote the following conservation leg- islation: the Clean Air Act of 1963; the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1964; the Water Resources 9 As executive secretary, he spear- headed the first-ever publication of legislators’ voting records on conser- Don Aldrich vation issues and single-handedly represented all Montana conser- vationists at the state legislature. 1912 – 1990 orn in Deer Lodge in 1912, Don He also helped build a state-wide Bspent nearly his entire life within telephone network and provided the two miles of the Clark Fork River. His foundation for the Montana Envi- high school years were spent in Supe- ronmental Information Center. As rior, where he was a standout athlete a member and officer in local, state, and soon became an avid hunter, regional and national conservation angler and lover of the wilds. groups, he also lobbied Congress on In 1935, he earned a degree in natural resource matters and became journalism from the University of a much-respected contact for many Montana. Times were tough during lawmakers and land and resource the Great Depression and Don em- managers. barked on a 33-year career with the According to Tawney, “Don’s Montana Power Company. However, breadth of knowledge and his abil- a 1984 Missoulian article noted that ity to get things done were legendary Don really had two careers, the sec- among conservationists and policy ond after-hours working on wildlife makers alike. His awards made him management, resource conservation conservation’s ‘Man of the Year’ for and forest management issues. any given year.” Don helped legalize hunting of Those awards included the either sex of deer in areas where win- American Motors Conservation ter ranges were overused and winter Award (1966), Sears Conservation- mortality levels were very high. In ist of the Year (1967), Ray T. Rocene 1956, along with professional wildlife Sportsman of the Year (1967), KGVO managers and a number of hunters, TV and Radio Citizen of the Year he embarked on a field trip to winter (1967), Shikar Safari International range near Salmon Lake. On a 1,200- Award (1970), the Mellow-Ohrman acre plot, they found 131 carcasses of Conservationist of the Year (1980), deer, all showing acute signs of mal- Montana Wildlife Federation Conser- nutrition. Conservationist and writer vationist of the Year (1983). Robin Tawney proclaimed, “That was Don’s American Motors Award Aldrich’s epiphany; it also marked came with a check for $500 which he the beginning of citizen advocacy for promptly turned over to the Save the conservation.” Upper Selway Committee. Don became a leader in the From the early 1950s until his Missoula-based hunter and angler death in 1990, Don was involved in organization, the Western Montana virtually every major conservation Fish and Game Association. As battle fought in Montana: wildlife president, he shifted the group’s “good habitat, stream and lake shore pro- old boy” focus toward conservation- tection, wild and recreational riv- based management of wildlife and ers, wilderness, strip and hard-rock other natural resources. In 1963, he mining, Colstrip plants 3 and 4, water began a long career with the Mon- reservations, energy, water quality, tana Wildlife Federation, serving pesticides and more. two terms as treasurer, one as vice These were all important issues president, two as president and six as to him and to the growing conserva- executive secretary. tion constituency he inspired. 10 forests. The first fire on the National Forests to be purposefully monitored and managed—instead of controlled— Bud Moore was the White Cap fire in the Selway- Bitterroot in 1972, carried out under Bud’s guidance. 1917 – 2010 ud Moore was a tireless con- After he retired from the Forest Bservationist and a wilderness Service in 1974, Bud continued to champion for Idaho and Montana. lead by example, overseeing a sus- He blazed a trail his whole life for tainable timber harvest and wildlife all who revere wilderness and wild protection at his 80-acre homestead land—linking the mountain men, who in the Swan Valley. In recent years, taught him backcountry skills in his he applied his ecosystem manage- youth, to the modern foresters who ment ideas to an old 200-acre mining came to understand ecosystem man- claim, blazing a new trail for ecologi- agement with his vision. Throughout cal restoration. his life, he worked as a trapper, logger, He was one of the founders of the horse packer, cabin builder, hunter, current wilderness fire management firefighter, fire manager and wilder- policy and was a leader, during the ness preserver. He was an ecologist, 1960s and 1970s, in the push to use a naturalist and above all an advocate wilderness fire in ecosystem manage- for the wilderness. ment. Bud’s career with the United In June 1974, the University of States Forest Service began in 1934. Montana awarded him an honorary He worked various seasonal positions doctorate for his contributions to including lookout, trail crew fore- natural-resource conservation and in man, fire dispatcher and alternate 1996 he published a book titled The ranger on the Powell Ranger District. Lochsa Story: Land Ethics in the Bit- He joined the Marine Corps during terroot Mountains. World War II, but returned to his Bud used to give this advice to the work with the Forest Service in 1949 new wilderness rangers: “You ought as a ranger on the Powell Ranger to be like the moose and show up here District on the Clearwater National and there as often as you can. Be un- Forest. obtrusive. Be present enough so that One of his first actions was to people in the wilderness know there stop a bulldozer cutting a “fire” road is a wilderness ranger around and he’s from Elk Summit to Moose Creek in a great guy and he loves the country.” what later became the Selway-Bitter- root Wilderness. The road would have bisected the wilderness but was con- sidered necessary for fire control. Bud “As everything in an turned the bulldozer back. Years later he said, “I just told them, ‘Not while ecosystem is ‘hitched’ to I’m ranger on the Powell district are everything else, we are … you going to take any dozers down to linked to each other and to Moose Creek.’” Bud went on to become the chief the land with similar invisible of fire management and air opera- bonds.” tions for the northern region of the —Bud Moore Forest Service out of Missoula and led the effort to let fire once again play its ecological role in the national 11 Returning to Ronan upon his retirement, Thurman quickly as- sumed a leadership role in tribal and Thurman Trosper state-level environmental issues. He chaired a broad-based coalition to fight a proposed open-pit coal mine in 1918 – 2007 hurman Trosper of Ronan, British Columbia that threatened the TMontana was a well-respected quality of Flathead Lake. He was also conservation leader in three realms appointed by Governor Ted Schwin- that rarely intersected: Federal den to the newly formed Flathead government, non-governmental advo- Basin Commission and immedi- cacy and the Confederated Salish and ately elected chairman of this unique Kootenai Tribes, of which he was an commission of citizens and local, enrolled member. state, tribal and federal agencies. His He earned his bachelor’s degree continued advocacy for wilderness on in forestry and range management national forests was rewarded in 1978 from the University of Montana in when Congress established the Great 1941, then joined the Marine Corps. Bear Wilderness. After surviving the terrible Battle of But perhaps Thurman’s great- Guadalcanal as a commissioned of- est legacy is found on the Flathead ficer, he returned to Montana to join Reservation where he was born. the United States Forest Service and He returned to the reservation in quickly became one of the first Native the midst of great controversy over Americans to serve in a management proposed clearcutting in the Mission position with the Forest Service. Mountains behind his home. Three After working on the Kootenai “yayas,” or grandma elders, lobbied and Clearwater National Forests, tribal members to oppose the logging he was supervisor on the Bitterroot plans and Thurman proposed a tribal National Forest from 1955 to 1959. wilderness area as a solution. His leadership there was marked For eight years, he organized al- by advocacy for wilderness and a lies and politely engaged opponents. strong resolve to ensure watersheds He led field trips and educated fel- not be damaged as a result of politi- low tribal members about the value cal pressure to aggressively increase of wilderness. Finally, in 1982 the logging on national forests. Later, he Confederated Salish and Kootenai was assistant regional forester for the Tribal Council voted to establish the Eastern Region in Wisconsin, moved nation’s first tribal wilderness area, to the U.S. Bureau of Outdoor Recre- the Mission Mountain Wilderness, ation and eventually retired in 1973 unlogged and unroaded forever. from the National Park Service. Even while employed by the fed- eral government, Thurman followed the path of his long-time friend and predecessor on the Bitterroot Na- Perhaps Thurman Trosper’s tional Forest, Guy “Brandy” Brand- greatest legacy was his fight borg, into a leadership position at The to establish the Mission Wilderness Society. He served on the Governing Council of the non- Mountain Wilderness on the governmental advocacy group from Flathead Reservation where 1965 to 1980, including three years he was born. as president following his retirement from federal service. 12 Doris joined with ex-Forest Service Supervisor G.M. “Brandy” Brandborg to form the Save the Upper Doris Milner Selway Committee. They organized opposition to permanent develop- ment of the then-recently declassified 1920 – 2007 oris Milner was a volunteer wil- Magruder Corridor on the Selway Dderness advocate from western River in Idaho, a pristine and unique Montana with an impressive list of 100-mile stretch of wild river country. conservation accomplishments. Joining Idaho Sen. Frank Church Doris spent her life advocating and Montana Sen. Lee Metcalf, for the preservation of wilderness, among others, Doris helped ex- including the Scapegoat, Great Bear pand the wilderness to include the and Frank Church Wilderness Areas. Magruder Corridor and secure desig- She was successful in her efforts nation of the Frank Church River of at preserving the Selway-Bitterroot No Return Wilderness. Wilderness with the passage of the Doris served as Montana Wilder- Wilderness Act in 1964 and she ness Association council president helped add the Magruder Corridor to from 1973 to 1975 and was an inspira- the Selway-Bitterroot in 1980. tion for then up-and-coming conser- She was a life-long member of the vationists like Montana Wilderness Montana Wilderness Association and Association's longtime conservation also served as its president. In 1978, director, John Gatchell. Doris was named one of 10 citizen “I still remember her voice, im- conservationists of the year by the pressing on me to have credibility in American Motors Corporation. all my dealings,” Gatchell said. “She’s “Milner represented conserva- really the reason I’m involved and still tion efforts at the citizen level, paral- working for Montana wilderness.” leling the work of Sen. Church at the Writer and friend Dale Burk said national level,” said former Darby it should be remembered that Milner District Ranger Dave Campbell. had all her accomplishments at a time Doris was born in Maryland but when women weren’t usually accept- moved with her husband, Kelsey ed in leadership roles. Milner, to Hamilton, Montana in “Her perseverance was epic, an 1951. Doris loved her new home, the essential quality in a situation where valley and its people, and especially timing is at play,” Burk said. “But the natural beauty of the surrounding she also based her stand upon a very areas. scientific analysis of the law of nature Then in the early 1960s, she spot- and the law of the land. That set her ted a bulldozer near a favorite camp- aside from other activists.” ing spot in the Magruder Corridor But it wasn’t her informed view and learned the United States Forest of the environment and the need Service had planned a timber sale for wilderness that helped win over along the Selway River. potential adversaries, according to The threat spurred Doris into the role of citizen conservationist—a Trout Unlimited spokesman Marshall role she would play for more than 40 Bloom. years. “All I knew was I was mad,” she “I can sum up her philosophy of told National Public Radio in 2004. environmental protection in three “That’s all I knew—and I was going to words: integrity, respect and mod- do something about it.” esty,” Bloom said.

13 and boycotts of his hardware store, Cecil gained enough support to delay the logging project. But he didn’t stop Cecil Garland there. Instead, he convinced Mon- tana Republican Rep. Jim Battin, who had helped stop the road plan, to 1925 – 2014 ecil Garland initiated the “boots introduce legislation to permanently Con the ground” approach to wil- protect the area. derness campaigns we're all familiar Cecil, Battin and Montana’s two with today. A resident of Lincoln, Democratic senators—Lee Metcalf Montana, he worked for decades to and Mike Mansfield—succeeded in protect the Scapegoat Wilderness, their monumental campaign despite a 240,000-acre addition to the Bob tremendous pressure from logging Marshall Wilderness Complex. He interests. The Scapegoat Wilderness succeeded and continues to be the was designated in 1972, the first area inspiration behind citizen-created to enter the system by citizen initia- wilderness areas today. tive rather than agency nomination. Cecil grew up in North Carolina “The fact that I could do it and get and, as he told Montana Wilderness it done is all the reward that I ever Association Staffer Gabe Furshong, needed or ever will need,” Cecil later by the time he was 10, logging had re- said. moved the vast majority of the virgin “There was a burnout-letdown forest in the Great Smoky Mountains. afterward,” he said more recently of “Everything that I had romanticized the experience. “But I don’t have a lot in my mind had disappeared,” he said, of sympathy for that kind of stuff. I “and I knew that if I’d find it anywhere told myself I was tougher than that again, it’d be in the West.” and kept going.” Cecil said he found what he’d Cecil served as vice president and been missing in the Big Blackfoot president of Montana Wilderness As- Watershed after moving to Lincoln sociation from 1969 to 1973. He was around 1955: “That night in Ringeye living in Utah’s backcountry when Creek, we had an elk bugling up above he learned he would be an inaugural us on one of them benches and down member of the Montana Outdoor Hall the Webb Lake Hill was another elk of Fame. He died on May 11, 2014, but bugling back and forth, and of course it’s easy to imagine Cecil spent the as someone who had never heard that autumn listening to those elk wel- or seen that before I was spellbound … come him home and salute him up on and I told myself, ‘They’ll destroy this, Ringeye and Webb Lake. too.’” Cecil pledged to protect Mon- tana’s backcountry even if it meant “[The elk were] bugling back risking his business and friendships and forth, and of course as in the small town of Lincoln. In 1960, he learned the United States For- someone who had never est Service planned to log what is heard that or seen that now the southern end of the Scape- before I was spellbound … goat Wilderness. So he and William Meyger formed the Lincoln Back and I told myself, ‘They’ll Country Protective Association. destroy this, too.’” Meyger died in 1962, but Cecil con- tinued as association president. By – Cecil Garland 1969, despite community protests 14 designations since 1983. She noted the importance of the association in campaigning for wilderness, but Gerry Jennings also encouraged additional work to improve relationships with con- gress and enhance the “boots on the 1940 – erry Jennings has the kind of ground” technique for wilderness Genergy that is unstoppable. She designation. is an avid hiker, biker, and skier, as Gerry worked with Montana well as the recent vice president for Wilderness Association as changes the Montana Wilderness Association. were made to create a new culture of She has been involved in conserva- wilderness and public-land manage- tion for most of her life and has been ment. She said, “I have enjoyed my an active volunteer with Montana relationship with Montana Wilder- Wilderness Association since the ness Association as much or more early 1990s. Gerry is an irreplaceable than anything else I’ve done. We are member of the wilderness advocacy an organization that is not just singu- community and has proven her dedi- larly focused; we are everything that cation by volunteering on campaigns is outdoors and public lands.” and holding leadership positions for Montana’s wildlands and fellow 12 years. conservationists clearly have a place Gerry’s interest in conservation in Gerry’s heart. She spoke highly of piqued while living for a short time the administration and the progres- in Germany. She noted how cleaned sion of the organization to stay cur- and “combed” the European forests rent and become a leader in statewide were of any vegetation or wildness. conservation associations. They seemed tame and manicured. “We do have some real heroes At first, she saw it as anyone would: in our organization, there’s no doubt somewhat pretty. But she quickly about it,” Gerry said. And while she realized how strange and unnatural may have been speaking about others, it was to have a “clean” forest. She it is apparent that Gerry herself is a recognized the importance of keeping true champion for wilderness. public lands thriving and sustainable and the necessity of wilderness to maintain the natural ecosystems and “[My husband and I] will have landscape. Gerry said, “The outdoors will the recreation, the wildlands, not be what we know them as un- the skiing and biking for the less they are preserved.” She hopes rest of our lifetime. It will all to teach this to the younger genera- tion because, as she said in a recent be there for us. But I want interview, “We want them to know the same activities, solitude, the importance of preserving these lands.” and protected lands to be Gerry joined the Montana available for our kids and Wilderness Association in 1992 and grandkids, and the rest of served as the president of the Island Range chapter shortly thereafter. their generation, as they get She joined the state council in 1997 older.” —Gerry Jennings and was association president for four years. When she joined, there hadn’t been any new wilderness 15 landowner on the Beaverhead River filed a complaint against Ron and associates under the state’s code of Ron Marcoux ethics law. It could have cost Ron and a couple of colleagues their jobs. Ron and his associates were forced to hire 1942 – on Marcoux was born and grew an attorney to defend them against Rup in Maine. After high school the attack. The district court sum- and military service, he enrolled at marily ruled in their favor. the University of Montana where In 1981, Ron became FWP’s as- he earned a bachelor’s of science in sociate director and later its deputy wildlife technology in 1967. He then director. During his 10-year term in went on to Montana State University those positions, he was actively in- and received a master’s of science in volved in most of the critical resource fish and wildlife management. issues that the department faced. Ron Upon graduation, Ron signed retired from the department in 1990 on with the Montana Department of and in 1991 began an equally eventful Fish, Wildlife and Parks for an excit- 15-year career with the Rocky Moun- ing 22-year career. tain Elk Foundation. Starting as a fisheries biologist, Ron came on board at the RMEF he rose quickly to become the fisher- during its formative years and held a ies manager for an area that en- number of positions. He developed its compassed many of Montana’s blue land acquisition, conservation ease- ribbon fisheries. ment and land-donation programs During his tenure as fisheries and was involved in major elk-habitat manager, his vision and leadership acquisitions in Montana and other blossomed. In the mid-1970s, Ron western states. and associated biologists embarked Perhaps his signal achievement on a bold and controversial experi- in the protection of elk habitat was ment to manage quality waters as his role in negotiating the permanent wild trout fisheries. protection of 7,850 acres of elk habi- The longstanding practice of tat in the Upper Yellowstone Basin planting hatchery-produced, catch- adjacent to the park’s north entrance. able-size fish was to be abandoned. It was a transaction once de- When proposed, Ron and associates scribed as “the most significant were roundly criticized and, at times, wildlife conservation achievement in threatened. the vicinity of Yellowstone since the However, following a thoroughly creation of the park itself.” professional scientific protocol,

they forged ahead and within a few In 2011, Ron’s career took still years demonstrated that wild trout another turn when he went to work management produced a robust and as conservation director for the resilient fishery. Prickly Pear Land Trust, launching The innovative idea quickly be- its riparian-protection strategy. came statewide policy, setting a new Today, Montana’s wild trout standard for fisheries management. fishery, robust elk populations and Ron also found himself in the progressive public access to those crosshairs of controversy on the amenities are among the Treasure always contentious issue of stream State’s proudest assets. access. In an attempt to intimidate The hand of Ron Marcoux has department personnel, who were touched them all and made them competently doing their job, a private better. 16 Bighorn Sheep habitat in the Ana- conda area as well as public access to Georgetown Lake. Chris Marchion During the 1990s, Chris was a vi- tal member of a team that succeeded in banning the captive shooting of 1952 – hris became an officer in the wildlife by virtue of a citizen initia- CAnaconda Sportsmen Club 1985, tive. He gathered signatures, lobbied serving as secretary, vice president the legislature, crafted a presentation and then president. He continues to about related diseases and spoke to serve as vice president. He has also numerous civic groups. been the club’s representative to the In the course of his public ser- Montana Wildlife Federation since vice, he has been appointed to a wide 1985, holding several leadership variety of advisory boards at both the positions including vice president of state and federal level having to do issues, president and executive board with conservation, fish and wildlife member. He was the first MWF presi- restoration and the absolute neces- dent to serve three terms and has sity of public participation. His own tallied 28 years of contributed service “boots on the ground” participation to Montana’s outdoor heritage. included building infrastructure on In 1987, Chris drafted the Bighorn fishing access sites, planting wil- Sheep auction legislation and single- lows, participating in control burns of handedly saw the bill to passage. The winter range, tree planting and trail legislation raised millions of dollars maintenance. for bighorn sheep conservation, from Chris has been a constant transplants to protection of critical presence for 30 years in the ongoing habitat—including the purchase of battle to protect the public’s right to 1,200 acres in the Lost Creek area. enjoy public land and public wildlife During the 1980s, he championed against the people who sought to protection of roadless forest lands, privatize or commercialize those appearing at numerous public meet- public resources. ings and testifying before both the House and Senate committees. When the National Forest Plan was ad- dressed, he participated in a historic Among many other settlement to reconcile numerous plan appeals. accomplishments, Chris When ARCO and the State of Marchion was active in Montana agreed to a settlement on an effort that saw 75,000 historic damages for mining and smelting on the upper Clark Fork acres of critical habitat— River, Chris became active in an ef- known as the Watershed fort that saw 75,000 acres of critical habitat—known as the Watershed Lands—assembled to form Lands—assembled to form the Mount the Mount Haggin Game Haggin Game range along with other range along with other public lands in the Lost Creek area. Because of Chris’s reputation on public lands in the Lost public-land transactions, he became a Creek area. mentor and advisor for others around the state on a variety of conserva- tion projects. Those include critical 17 Acknowledgments

he idea for a Montana Outdoor Hall of TFame came when longtime Montana conservationist Jim Posewitz was the banquet speaker for a similar entity in Wyoming in October 2012. Posewitz returned to Montana and tested out his idea with people at the Montana Historical Society and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Their initial enthusiasm for the idea led to the formation of a planning committee, working under a memorandum of understanding signed in December 2013. Individuals and organizations participating include: Bruce Whittenberg and Molly Kruckenberg of the Montana Historical Society; Thomas Baumeister of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; George Bettas, Samantha Lavin and Jane Ratzlaff of Montana’s Outdoor Legacy Foundation; Dave Chadwick and Stan Frasier of the Montana Wildlife Federation; Laura Parr and Brian Sybert of the Montana Wilderness Association; Stan Bradshaw of Montana Trout Unlimited; Germaine White of The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation; and Jim Posewitz of the Cinnabar Foundation.

Cover art: Charlie M. Russell’s “When the Land Belonged to God,” used here with permission of the Montana Historical Society. Wildlife photography: Jesse Varnado of Eye in the Wild Photography. Eyeinthewild.com.

Design/editing: Shane Castle 18 Acknowledgments

ant to nominate someone for a spot Win the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame? Here are the minimum inclusion criteria: • Has the nominee made a significant contribution to the restoration and conservation of fish, wildlife, flowing rivers, wild lands, and other outdoor amenities in the public interest that are equitably available to the public? • Montana residency is not a prerequisite to induction; however, impact to Montana is. There also needs to have been a personal contact with the state. • Has the nominee’s conservation commitment to fish, wildlife, flowing rivers, wild lands, and other outdoor amenities been of such a nature as to have a lasting significance whether applied at the national or local grassroots level? • Are the nominee’s efforts and impact consistent with that of current members of the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame when considered in the historical setting of the time in which he or she lived? • Have the nominee’s contributions positively affected a wide range of natural resources and the public’s equitable association with those resources? • If the nominee is a living person, they shall be at a stage in their career that their conservation contribution is not likely to be impugned by any future endeavors. The Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame committee is still working out the final details of the nomination process for coming years. When that process is complete, an announcement will be posted online at www.MToutdoorlegacy.org. Photo by Jesse Varnado 19

Broadbent Family Platinum Sponsors — $5,000 and above Foundation • The Broadbent Family Foundation • The Cinnabar Foundation • Montana’s Outdoor Legacy Foundation

Gold Sponsors — $2,500 to $4,999 (Fundraising efforts ongoing.)

Silver Sponsors — $1,500 to $2,499 • Boone and Crockett Club • Northwestern Energy

Bronze Sponsors — $1,000 to $1,499

• Montana Trout Unlimited • Montana Wilderness Association

Table Sponsors • Backcountry Hunters and Anglers • Montana Wildlife Federation • Vital Ground

In-kind Contributors • Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes • MT Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks • Montana Historical Society