INDUCTION

2016 Table ofof ContentsContents Table of Contents

Introduction 4 Pat McVay 12 Introduction 4 Bob Munson 13 Margaret Adams 6 Bob Munson 13 Margaret Adams 6 Jim Posewitz 14 Jim Posewitz 14 BobBob Anderson Anderson 7 7 Bob Ream 15 Bob Ream 15 KenKen & &Florence Florence 8 8 Tony Schoonen 16 Baldwin Baldwin Tony Schoonen 16 George Darrow 9 Bearhead Swaney 17 George Darrow 9 Bearhead Swaney 17 Jim Goetz 10 Pat Williams 18 Jim Goetz 10 Bud Lilly 11 SponsorsPat Williams 20 18

PatBud McVay Lilly 12 11 Sponsors 20

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Photo by Jesse Varnado Photo by Jesse Varnado 33 IntroductionTable of Contents

Introduction 4 Bob Munson 13 Margaret Adams 6 Jim Posewitz 14 Bob Anderson 7 Bob Ream 15 Ken & Florence 8 Tony Schoonen 16 Baldwin George Darrow 9 Bearhead Swaney 17 Jim Goetz 10 Pat Williams 18 Bud Lilly 11 Sponsors 20

Pat McVay 12

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e crossed the Rocky Mountain divide on the tenth day of October, 1857 … Instead of the gray sagebrush covered plains of Snake River, we saw smooth rounded grass that waved in “W the wind like a field of grain. A beautiful little clear stream ran northwest on its way to join the . … 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 comes from one of Two of America’s great national parks sit as the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame’s inductees, bookends, with the Northern Rockies sprawling Granville Stuart. It was his first impression when out between them and the Missouri River Breaks he was just 23 years old. National Monument stretching eastward. Where the Rockies “front” the plains, precious tracts Theodore Roosevelt, another of our inductees, of wild country are destined to remain forever was born a year later. Their trails crossed about wild, home to the great bear and a pyramid of 30 years after Stuart’s arrival. They met in Miles companion species. Water gathers in these places. City at a Montana Stockgrowers meeting and It seeps, meanders, rushes and at times thunders their primary topic was conservation, specifically to three oceans. These streams, creeks and rivers “the Texas fever and the overstocking of the are clean, cold and laden with wild fish. range.” The 14 people we recognize tonight are but One biographer noted Roosevelt “was a great a small sample of the legions of worthy and admirer of Granville Stuart, and was always on deserving Montanans. But the diversity of his side of every question.” this second class of inductees is also worth acknowledging. From educators to agency These two events show us that a conservation personnel, from politicians to grassroots activists, ethic rode into Montana seven years before our from pioneers to present-day leaders, the stories birth as a territory; and also arrived on a steam of these fourteen inductees speaks to an ever- engine-drawn rail car a few years before we evolving conservation ethic that is uniquely became a state. In the three decades that separate Montanan. those events we had taken a wildlife resource that once “exceeded anything the eye of man had Enjoy their stories and join us as we gather ever looked upon” and turned it into the wildlife to celebrate the achievements of those who “bone-yard” of a continent. contributed through time and those now holding

the line while expanding the outdoor horizons of

However, the seed of Montana’s conservation America’s Last Best Place. ethic was planted, took firm root, and as the generations passed that ethic produced an outdoor masterpiece.

Photo by Jesse Varnado Photo by Jesse Varnado 535 Great Falls Conservation Council, which continues to bring together Margaret Adams conservation leaders from local nonprofits and governmental resource agencies every few weeks to discuss important regional 1920–2005 hough Margaret Adams was a issues. T product of 1920s Havre, Montana – where she was She helped found the Upper raised with her seven siblings Missouri River Breaks chapter of and graduated from what is the Audubon Society – and served now Montana State University- as its president as well as president Northern – it was in Great Falls of Montana Audubon. In 1997, she where she blossomed into an was named Montana Audubon’s environmental educator and Conservationist of the Year. activist. Margaret also helped to create Lewis and Clark Fund, Inc., a Margaret was a life-long nonprofit to further the U.S. Forest elementary school teacher and Service’s Lewis and Clark National principal. Her legacy lives on in Historic Trail Interpretive Center the lives of children she taught, at in Great Falls. and in the lives of children now And, ever the educator, she co- benefiting from Great Falls Public founded Friends of the Library in School’s elementary environmental Great Falls. education program, which she created some 40 years ago. Make no mistake, however, She arrived in Great Falls to teach Margaret knew well the power of at Lincoln School during 1957. a strong woman’s voice. When she Shortly afterward, she became was in her 60s, she and similar one of the early members of the minded women of her age began Montana Wilderness Association, taking extended backpacking trips later testifying for designation through Montana’s wilderness of the Scapegoat and Great Bear areas. When it came time to testify Wildernesses. She received the for wilderness legislation, their MWA’s Brass Lantern Award in presence belied the argument that 1992 and the Founder’s Award in wilderness was only for the young. 2000 for her trailblazing work. And earlier, as a campaign for the Yet, after becoming the principal confronted of Lewis and Clark Elementary, USFS plans to log the area, a local Margaret’s activism was notably store owned by Lincoln activist marked by an inquiring bent to Cecil Garland – an inaugural understand, learn and share ideas. inductee to the MOHF – was She would famously insist that threatened with a boycott. fellow board members and visitors Margaret and her friends would research their opinions before have none of that and drove from taking a stand or offering comment Great Falls to Lincoln to stock up on issues of concern. from the shelves of Garland’s Town and Country store. That style of learned advocacy enabled her to work with folks who were not natural allies to achieve conservation victories. For example, she co-founded the 6 Bob also was a founding member of “Citizens for the Great Bear,” Bob Anderson formed to protect lands between Glacier National Park and the . The , like the Absaroka- 1943–2013 ob Anderson was born in Beartooth, was designated in 1978. B Seattle and raised in Livingston, Montana and spent his In tandem with others, Bob battled formative years hiking the Absaroka against the Allenspur Dam on and Beartooth country. the Yellowstone River. The 380- foot tall earthen dam would have He said he “wanted to know been just upstream of Livingston, what was over the next ridge” Bob’s hometown. He wrote a and he found out soon enough detailed analysis for the Livingston by painstakingly drawing the Enterprise, “The Challenge of boundaries of the Absaroka- Allenspur,” which informed the Beartooth Wilderness, an scientific basis for resistance. In the experience that was “like flying end, even the Montana Legislature over the landscapes,” and “the most was opposed to flooding the wonderful thing.” Paradise Valley with a dam on the With no background in political longest free-flowing river in the activity – but trained as an lower 48 states. engineer – Bob was among the few primary activists whose work led Additionally, Bob was a founder of to the designation of the Absaroka- the Greater Yellowstone Coalition Beartooth Wilderness in 1978. in 1983 and served as its executive director. The GYC works to He formed the Absaroka-Beartooth conserve the Greater Yellowstone Task Force in 1970, wrote a lands Ecosystem – which includes inventory that vastly expanded Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. the area under consideration for Bob was elected to statewide Wilderness, and prevented the office in 1990, 1994 and 1998 as wilderness from being split in two a member of the Montana Public by a road corridor through Slough Service Commission. He led on Creek. issues of energy conservation, non-renewable clean sources of Today, the extraordinary, nearly energy and efficient distribution of one-million-acre lake-strewn production. landscape contains the highest, wilderness elevation expanse in Bob continued his conservation Montana and, thanks in large work after leaving Montana, striving measure to Bob’s efforts, it’s to maintain the purity of Lake permanently protected. Tahoe waters. He achieved much before a tragic vehicle accident Bob spoke lovingly of “that high claimed his life in Serengeti place” and shared his knowledge National Park in Tanzania, Africa of it in Beartooth Country – following a successful ascent of Montana’s Absaroka and Beartooth Mount Kilimanjaro in celebration of Mountains, a definitive book his 70th birthday. published in 1984 by the Montana Geographic Series and reprinted by Farcounty Press in 1995. 7 – America’s first state wilderness Ken (1908–2007) and group – with Ken as its first Florence (1911–2007) Baldwin president. Florence and Ken then organized en and Florence Baldwin, Montana support for The K perhaps more than any . Evidence of their other couple in Montana’s effectiveness is found in the fact storied conservation history, that Montana’s U.S. Senators were responsible for organizing Murray, Metcalf, and Mansfield hundreds to get involved in were original sponsors of the bill protecting Montana’s wildlife and from its beginning in 1958. wildlands. Passage of The Wilderness Act of 1964 established the first They were irrepressible catalysts permanent legal protection of of focused citizen advocacy for wilderness in the State of Montana, natural resource conservation – including the Bob Marshall, and they remained at the vanguard Cabinet Mountains, Gates of the for decades to prod fellow Mountains, Anaconda-Pintler and conservationists to get and stay Selway-Bitterroot wilderness areas. involved. Places like the Chinese Wall, Welcome Creek, and Red Rock Avid hunters and outdoors people, Ken and Florence trekked regularly Lakes will never change thanks throughout Montana’s wildlands. to the Wilderness Act – and In the 1930s and 1950s, they because of the foresight of Ken and noticed a troubling decline in the Florence to create an organization state’s wildlife populations. that advocates for such wild places. Still, what Ken and Florence most As Ken continued to hone a holistic enjoyed was sharing their outdoor approach to conservation, the experiences with others. couple’s observations propelled Ken to join and later serve as Two years prior to the passage of president of fish and game The Wilderness Act of 1964 the groups like the Montana Wildlife couple set out with a group of Federation and the Gallatin 40 hikers along a trail to Table Sportsmen’s Association. Mountain in the Spanish Peaks. In time, Ken realized “it was Their intention was to build necessary that wildlands be set grassroots support for wilderness aside to leave the habitat for those by taking people to a special place animals.” that needed protection. In 1958, Ken sent letters to 100 Montana friends and colleagues. He aimed to seek support for a “It was necessary that Congressional bill proposing a wildlands be set aside national system of Wilderness areas. Within two weeks, 21 to leave the habitat for people from across Montana met at Bozeman’s Baxter Hotel those animals.” where they established the – Ken Baldwin Montana Wilderness Association 8 noting, “The entire snow-capped Swan Crest from Columbia George Darrow Mountain through the Jewel Basin and into the Bob Marshall Wilderness provides the high- quality watershed, recreation and t would seem George Darrow wildlife habitat that underlie the 1924–2015 was a contradiction. He I Flathead economy.” was an oil-field roughneck, a military man, dude rancher, As a Montana Republican farmer, horse breeder, and legislator – both in the House petroleum geologist. He was an and the Senate, between 1967 and arts patron, gallery owner, and 1974 – George was at the center of a passionate conservationist. He Montana’s foundational legislative was a Republican Montana state efforts on behalf of conservation. legislator and proud co-author of And while knowing that the the Montana Environmental Policy divides between Republicans Act. and Democrats, politicians and George Darrow – born in Osage, the populace, and conservation Wyoming, and educated in and resource extraction runs economics and geology at the deep, George expressed his views University of Michigan, where he passionately and yet always played football and wrestled – managed to remain a gentleman was an extraordinary Montanan and a statesman. whose contribution to conservation and protection of our shared In an era when business and environment cannot be overstated. conservation interests seemed A leader of Montana’s Republican incompatible, George rallied the Party, George routinely crossed Bigfork Chamber of Commerce to party lines to build the political support the Swan Crest Wilderness bridges necessary for protecting proposal. When politics demanded Montana’s natural resources and an all-or-nothing approach, he water quality. chose a path of deliberation and compromise, working to show In addition to championing that conservation paid enormous Montana’s bedrock environmental dividends to Montana businesses. law, George was chief sponsor of the Montana Water Policy Act of 1967 and remained a staunch defender of every Montanans’ “The entire snow- “right to a clean and healthful capped Swan Crest [...] environment,” as codified in the Montana Constitution. provides the high-quality watershed, recreation Close to his Bigfork home, George worked to conserve Cougar Canyon and wildlife habitat that – a mountainous parcel of state underlie the Flathead...” land overlooking Flathead Lake – and advocated for wilderness – George Darrow designation in the Swan Crest. In 1992, George testified before the U.S. House of Representatives 9 to access Montana waterways. Those early Montana stream access Jim Goetz cases included: “Montana Coalition for Steam Access v. Curran,” which focused on the Dearborn River; 1942– im Goetz was born in Miles and “Montana Coalition for Stream J City, Montana, in 1942 and Access v. Hildreth,” which focused raised in Ennis, a Madison River on the Beaverhead River. town. In arguing the cases, Jim won two district court and two Supreme He graduated from Montana State Court lawsuits. As a result, today University in 1965, and from Yale everyone can enjoy recreating on Law School in 1968. Montana’s rivers between the high- water marks. The next year, he began to practice law in Montana – or, more to the Jim’s advice to the Montana point, he began to practice law for Coalition for Appropriate Montana. Management of School Trust Lands led to a law that opened public In the 1970s, Jim drafted the access to five million acres of school prescient Montana Conservation trust lands and isolated parcels of Easement Law for a group of BLM and USFS lands for recreation. Blackfoot River Valley ranchers; later he represented A. B. “Bud” Guthrie, Jr. – famed author of Jim also personally handled and the novel The Big Sky and the prevailed in a class action lawsuit screenplay “Shane” – in contesting against the Butte Water Company, a subdivision in Teton County; brought by a group of nuns and he worked for Montana Trout citizens, to provide clean and safe Unlimited to keep water in the drinking water to thousands of Yellowstone River to benefit fish; residents. and he represented the Libby Rod and Gun Club in a case that saw His numerous awards and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court enjoin accolades include the “National the construction of a quarter of a Resources Defense Award” from billion dollar “re-regulation dam,” the National Wildlife Federation; below the main Libby Dam, on the “Legend of the Headwaters Award” Kootenai River in northwestern from the Madison/Gallatin Chapter Montana. Had that project of Trout Unlimited; and the proceeded it would have inundated “Jeannette Rankin Civil Liberties another seven miles of the Kootenai Award” from the Montana Chapter River. of the ACLU. He’s listed among In all, Jim’s argued nearly 100 cases Montana State University’s most in the Montana Supreme Court, prominent alumni in its first 100 including various seminal cases years. under the Montana Constitution. Widely recognized among the Most famously, in 1984 he served nation’s top litigators, Jim built as the attorney for the Montana his considerable reputation by Coalition for Stream Access, which defending the public’s right to formed to protect the public’s right access Montana’s waterways. 10 From there, Bud started the first fly fishing schools west of the Bud Lilly Mississippi and is widely credited for making fly fishing more appealing and accessible to women. 1925– ud Lilly’s been called “a trout’s Also, based out of his landmark fly B best friend” and the “Father shop, Bud worked with Yellowstone of Fly Fishing.” Suffice to say he’s National Park to adopt “sport changed the world. fishing” philosophy after a survey indicated 400,000 trout were being Bud has been a director, founding tossed away every summer. or charter member of multiple organizations whose goals are to YNP soon allowed anglers to use promote clean water, streamside only lures and flies, established conservation, and the preservation three-fish creel limits and catch- of wild trout fishing. and-release only areas. At Fishing Bridge, Bud urged a “viewing only” Think Montana Trout Unlimited, regulation for visitors to observe Montana River Action, Montana spawning Yellowstone cutthroat Land Reliance, International trout. Flyfishing Center, Montana Trout Foundation, Federation of Fly When Montana Fish, Wildlife & Fishers, and more. Parks designated streams as “blue ribbon” in the 1960s, Bud helped And now – perhaps closest to develop a wild trout management his heart – at 91, the U.S. Navy policy that would take hold in the World War Two veteran is the 1970s. director of the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation, a project that Since 1974 – following a then brings disabled vets to Montana to controversial and now celebrated introduce them to fly fishing and research project on the Madison the therapeutic power of ever- River conducted by Montana Fish, flowing waters. Wildlife & Parks’ Dick Vincent – managing for naturally reproducing Montana State University’s wild trout populations has been a unique library collection – which priority in Montana. has archived more than 11,000 books, photographs, papers and The awards and accolades literally other works for public review, rained upon the humble story research and study – is named in teller to include an honorary Bud’s honor: The Bud Lilly Trout doctorate from Montana State and Salmonid Initiative. It’s the University, induction to Federation world’s largest collection of trout of Fly Fishers Hall of Fame, the information. rare American Museum of Fly Fishing Heritage award for lifetime After returning from the war, Bud achievement, to name a few. began a math and science teaching career that took him to Roundup, His latest project is on the Gallatin Deer Lodge, and Bozeman. In 1952, River near Logan at a new fishing with $4,500 and his summers free, access site. As long as Bud’s around, he opened Bud Lilly’s Trout Shop in the world of trout fishing is bound West Yellowstone. to just keep getting better. 11 told the Flathead Beacon that Pat “teaches a homey, old-fashioned Pat McVay type of class,” Fraley said. “He’s funny and witty and he loves his students and they kind of return 1920– alispell’s Pat McVay taught that.” K hunter education in Montana before Montana had hunter Pat brings a Montana authenticity education. to his teaching. The setting, for starters, is his ranch home along In the early 1950s, when he began the brooding Swan Mountains, a 34-year career in the Civil Service where students are surrounded with 27 years at Hungry Horse Dam, by an interesting assortment of McVay conducted junior shooting animal mounts, pelts, firearms, and and hunter safety programs in the curiosities Pat’s collected over the hamlet of Hungry Horse. years.

There he’d discuss with anyone By the end of the class, his students who’d listen the need for a law to are so enthralled with their establish a full-fledged hunter safety education on firearm safety and and education program in Montana. wildlife conservation and history, Among the listeners was Mel Ruder, that they openly seek to adopt Pat the legendary editor of Hungry and his love of hunting. Horse News. And adults similarly gravitate to On a cold January night in 1957, Pat, Fraley told the Beacon. “He Ruder phoned McVay. The Montana connects [with] people so closely – Legislature had finally made hunter it’s hard to explain.” education the law of the land. Pat has touched the lives of more Three days later, Pat sent in than 1,600 students over a six- paperwork to Montana Fish & decade-long volunteer career Game for his students to be certified training the Flathead Valley’s under the new law, thus becoming budding hunter-conservationists. Montana’s first Hunter Education And he’s created a statewide Instructor. institution. Today, 1,600 active hunter safety and education Nearly 60 years later, Pat McVay, instructors teach about 10,000 96, is still at it, teaching the course at his ranch east of Kalispell. students each year. Pat’s list of Montana hunter education milestones include teaching the state’s first hunter “He’s funny and witty education course; the first in-the- and he loves his students field instruction course; and first to conduct live-firing of .22 rifles, and they kind of return shotguns, and large bore rifles. that.” In a touching story published in 2010, John Fraley, Montana Fish, – John Fraley Wildlife & Parks’ hunter education program manager in Kalispell, 12 secured public access to more than 700,000 acres, invested more than Bob Munson $84 million to fund some 1,600 scientific research and wildlife management projects and became a respected voice for sound wildlife 1942– ucks, trout, sheep, turkeys, stewardship and ethical, fair chase D quail, pheasants, ruffed hunting. grouse—fool hens for crying out loud—they all have their own Today more than 200,000 active group. People who are looking RMEF members hail from every out for them and their habitat. state in America. But elk? Way smarter, nobler, more majestic than all those. Yet Yet, where else but Montana would nobody’s taking care of them. Can you find such fanatic, wild-eyed you imagine life without wild elk optimism? And it didn’t hurt to put and elk hunting? Hey what if … everything on the line and work harder than you’ve ever worked. Thus went the genesis of the Rocky That’s Bob to the core. And he still Mountain Elk Foundation. brims with irrepressible energy, Bob Munson, Charlie Decker and infectious enthusiasm, and wicked two fellow parishioners from the good humor. Troy Christian Fellowship Church gathered around a kitchen table in Early on, he took Theodore a town in northwest Montana so Roosevelt’s challenge to Dare small it had no stoplight and darn Greatly. It served him well while few stop signs. as the RMEF’s president for the crucial first 14 years, and continues Scant months later, on May 14, to guide him today as he remains 1984, the Rocky Mountain Elk an ambassador for the RMEF’s Foundation was born. mission to “promote the proper management of elk and elk habitat Who would launch a nonprofit to ensure their future in North organization and a national America.” magazine and hold a national convention within the space of 11 With Bob’s guidance, the Rocky months – all without two nickels in Mountain Elk Foundation has the bank? Clearly, they must have become a tremendous force for been elk hunters. conserving wild country and ensuring the future of America’s Thirty years hence, RMEF has unique hunting heritage both in conserved more than 6.4 million Montana and all across the nation. acres of elk country in 27 states Bob, however, would be the first while forever protecting almost 1.1 to point out that no individual million acres of North America’s deserves the credit for what most vital elk habitat. could only be achieved through the passion, sweat and blood of In Montana alone, RMEF has so countless others. far protected forever 205,000 acres of the most crucial elk habitat Still, throughout the RMEF’s first and enhanced another 538,000 30 years, no one has dared more acres of incredible country. greatly than Bob Munson. Additionally, the RMEF opened or 13 Orion: The Hunters Institute and served as its executive director as Jim Posewitz well a founding board member and executive director for the Cinnabar Foundation. He’s penned four books on hunter ethics and history, ith apologies to Montana including Beyond Fair Chase: The 1935– author Norman Maclean, W Ethic and Tradition of Hunting, and perhaps to 13th Century Inherit the Hunt: A Journey into Zen Master Dogen Zenji, for Jim the Heart of American Hunting, Posewitz there’s never been a clear Rife in Hand: How Wild America line between anything and fish and was Saved and Taking a Bullet for wildlife conservation. It’s all one. Conservation. In a career of unparalleled accomplishments, “Poz” made Today, he continues to write extraordinary contributions to the eloquent opinion pieces for people of Montana. Montana newspapers and present his learned conservation philosophy Upon graduating from Montana at an array of venues. His State University on a football knowledge of Montana conservation scholarship out of Sheboygan, history is second to none. Wisconsin, Poz started his career with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks “Jim Posewitz is a conservation in 1961. As young fisheries biologist legend in the Northern Rockies,” in Great Falls and then Glasgow he said Collin O’Mara, president advocated for the Missouri River’s and chief executive officer of the entry into the federal Wild and National Wildlife Federation upon Scenic Rivers System. presenting Poz with NWF’s 2015 Conservationist of the Year Award. Later, he helped pass the Montana “Whether it has been fighting for Water Use Act of 1973, worked the reintroduction of bison onto for passage of the Montana the Great Plains…promoting Strip and Underground Mine fair chase hunting ethics…or Reclamation Act in 1980, Montana preaching about the historic role Environmental Policy Act, and the of hunters in conservation…Jim Major Facilities Siting Act, and has been the conscience and heart influenced numerous other pieces of the conservation and wildlife of Montana legislation. With these community for decades.” new tools, he led efforts to ‘reserve’ in-stream flows in the Yellowstone For anyone who’s driven the River and protect the Rocky highways from Helena to Missoula, Mountain Front from an energy or Helena to Great Falls there’s exploration frenzy. ample sign of Poz’s influence. He arm-wrestled with state and federal highway administrations to avoid impacts to rivers – including Interstate 15 through Bison “Jim Posewitz is a Creek Canyon north of Butte and conservation legend in Interstate 90 along the Clark Fork and Saint Regis Rivers. the Northern Rockies.” Poz worked for Montana FWP – Collin O’Mara for more than 30 years; created 14 management zone, and many Bob Ream others. His commitment earned him the appointment as Chair of the 1936– ver four decades of teaching Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks O and wildlife advocacy Bob Commission from 2009-2013, a Ream emerged as a gentle giant of period where key debates over conservation in Montana. Montana’s most iconic wild species As an educator, public servant, and were at the forefront. advocate for wild places and the wildlife that inhabit them, Bob’s life Bob’s background in science and work will provide benefits far into his determination to bring fair, Montana’s bright future. lasting policies regarding wildlife As a notable wildlife biology and wildlands have been decisive professor at the University of in sustaining Montana’s natural Montana’s College of Forestry and heritage. Conservation, he initiated the Wolf Ecology Project in 1973, setting For Bob, conservation efforts the groundwork for recovery of the always needed to focus on people gray wolf in the northern Rocky and how a deeper understanding Mountains. of nature could improve lives. For instance, since its inception 40 In 1975 he founded both the years ago, more than 1,000 students Wilderness Institute and the remarkable Wilderness and have been swept into the magic Civilization program, the latter of Montana’s wilderness through establishing a unique set of Bob’s personal commitment to educational experiences that takes creating an academic program a cohort of undergraduate students grounded in personal outdoor each year into Montana’s wildlands. experiences.

Bob served as interim dean The Wilderness and Civilization of the College of Forestry and Program at the University of Conservation from 1993-1994 Montana remains one of the where he catalyzed the transition premier, transformational of the school beyond traditional educational programs in the nation, forestry practices to incorporate and dozens of leaders in Montana’s wildlife biology, wilderness conservation community identify management, and restoration their initiation into environmental ecology. awareness as the “Wilderness and Civ” program. Bob served with distinction in the Montana House of Representatives Bob advocated policies that not from 1983-1997 as one of the state’s most trusted voices for resource only protected wildlands but protection. He was chief sponsor ones that encouraged research of Montana’s Stream Access and conservation education that Law, Montana Superfund Law, would allow future generations to restitution payments for illegally develop the science-based capacity taken wildlife, best management to address emerging resource practices in the streamside management dilemmas. 15 For Tony, mulling over the imbalance led to a new Tony Schoonen conservation consciousness. In time, Tony would recognize that his caretaker, who he held in the 1930– ony Schoonen’s boyhood highest regard, had turned toward T experiences shaped a efficiency but the unintended conservation consciousness that in consequence degraded the river turn shaped today’s extraordinary and its associated fish and wildlife public access to Montana habitat. experiences coveted by hunters and anglers the world over. Multiply that imbalance by the Tony was a resident of the probable scores of others and Tony Montana State Orphanage in had his life’s work cut out for him. Twin Bridges nearly from birth to After earning his master’s degree about 14 years of age. As was the from the University of Montana- custom in the 1930s, local ranch Western, Tony began a 30-year folks would take in kids from the career as a teacher and principal orphanage. It was Tony’s good luck that took him to Cardwell, to live on the Seidensticker Ranch Whitehall, and Butte. By the early where the family raised him as 1960s, his was a familiar face at the their own. Montana Legislature.

When he was done with chores The year 1962 saw the passage he roamed the Big Hole ranch of a law Tony championed to with the single-shot shotgun and require highway construction to springer spaniel gifted to him by follow strict guidelines to protect his ranch family. streams. In 1974, a new state law ensured that streambeds would be These experiences – and one protected and rivers wouldn’t be critical moment – set in motion a diverted by construction activities. love of the outdoors and a life of More than 20 years later, Tony and conservation activism. the Montana Coalition for Stream Access, prevailed in two U.S. The moment came in the late District Court decisions and two 1950s, upon returning to the ranch from two years of service Montana Supreme Court decisions in the U.S. Army. Sylvester “Siv” giving the public access to rivers Seidensticker, the ranch patriarch, and streams below the high water had used heavy machinery to mark. channel Big Hole River water to irrigation canals. Consider, though, Tony’s signature political activities were aimed at The backhoed channel moved recognizing and maintaining the irrigation water efficiently but it public’s right to use and conserve gnawed at Tony as much as the Montana’s natural resources. If you land. The practice seemed to knock hunt or fish or hike on school trust the ranch – which Siv worked to lands, or if you access a favorite improve for livestock and wildlife – stream at the public right of way at off kilter. a bridge, you have Tony to thank. 16 As a young man, Bearhead advocated for Montana wildlife, Bearhead Swaney helping to establish tribal-lands based conservation areas, including one for grizzly bears in the Mission Mountains. For these efforts and 1931–2009 ifted leader and orator, more, he received the American G Thomas “Bearhead” Swaney Motors Conservationist of the Year inspired a generation of Montanans Award in the late 1970s. to advocate for environmental Bearhead helped establish protection and tribal sovereignty. “Primitive Area” status for the 35,000-acre South Fork and Bearhead grew up next to the wilderness designation for 95,000 in Dixon, Montana acres on the westslope of the and lived most of his life on Post Missions – the nation’s first tribally Creek, near St. Ignatius. designated wilderness area. A Korean War veteran, Bearhead In 1979, due in large part to was one of the most earnest tribal Bearhead’s efforts, the Flathead leaders of the 1970s and ’80s. Indian Reservation was designated As a member of regional and as national “pristine” airshed, national American Indian councils, making CSKT one of the first Bearhead was among the best- Indian tribes to achieve the Class I known Indian orators in the nation designation for their lands. and recognized throughout Indian In Bearhead’s view, however, Country as a “warrior” –in the most protecting the Flathead River was respected use of the word –for his greatest accomplishment – and wildlife, wilderness, water, and air. the one with which he had the most personal connection. “Bearhead probably had more innate qualities of leadership than When Bureau of Indian Affairs anyone I’ve seen,” local historian proposed to log old-growth Thompson Smith, told Char-Koosta ponderosa pine from the banks of News, the official newspaper of the 72-mile-long lower Flathead the Flathead Indian Nation. “He River, he and his cousin Joe conveyed a sense of sovereignty McDonald organized a float trip in his being…He had a burning with world-renowned wildlife sense of justice – and for a more biologists Frank and John sustainable relationship with the Craighead, BIA foresters, and earth. He had a deep love for the his tribal council. The BIA soon earth and all of creation and felt withdrew its proposal. that nature and those among us with the least are very vulnerable; they both need protection and “Bearhead probably had care.” more innate qualities of Indeed, as head of the CSKT leadership than anyone Health Department, Bearhead incorporated his environmental I’ve seen.” ethos into drug and alcohol – Thompson Smith addiction programs by involving young people in their homelands’ natural resource setting. 17 Rattlesnake legislation included designation of an adjacent national Pat Williams recreation area management emphasizing environmental educational opportunities. Pat’s work, even when legislation at Williams – born in Helena stalled, cemented public 1937– and reared in Butte – employed P perceptions that Montana has many his considerable political savvy to do more to protect Montana’s areas worthy of federal Wilderness wildlands than almost anyone alive. protection.

Pat served 18 years in Congress In that way, Pat similarly from 1979-1997. No one in Montana championed 1990’s Lolo-Kootenai history has served more consecutive Accords, an early collaborative terms in the U.S. House of effort to balance forest-jobs Representatives than Pat Williams. creation with wildland protection. While legislation fell short, the As a congressman, Pat helped Accords broke decade-long Montanans protect invaluable animosities among mill workers landscapes and outdoor and environmentalist to provide opportunities. a model to address public-land issues across Montana through In the early 1980s, Pat secured meaningful collaboration. protection for more than 320,000 acres of wilderness and fended Today, Pat continues his service at off federal government efforts to the University of Montana’s Center open the Bob Marshall and Rocky for the Rocky Mountain West and Mountain Front to seismic testing as an outspoken advocate for forest in an area known as the Overthrust restoration, wilderness protection, Belt. education, arts and social justice. A number of years ago, the More than 30 years later, Pat’s Missoulian recalled the time when effort made possible the permanent Pat and a friend were on a walk protection of that important through The Rattlesnake National landscape via the passage of the Recreation Area. A man on a bicycle Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act passed by then stopped and looked of 2013. their way. His thoughtful and sometimes “You’re Pat Williams,” he hard-nosed representation shaped said, pointing at the retired a generation’s perception of wildland protection and the value of congressman. “Yes,” came the reply. wildlands, clean water and wildlife The man went on to say that they’d – and the importance those all hold met before during the heated debate for Montana’s economy and way of over the future of the Rattlesnake. life. He’d been a motorcycle rider back then and was bitterly opposed to the Additionally, Pat led the 1980 legislation - which did away with congressional designations for motorized recreation. Then he stuck the Rattlesnake Wilderness near out his hand to Williams. “I want to Missoula and the Lee Metcalf thank you for saving us from that Wilderness near Bozeman. The folly.” We all have Pat to thank. 18

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to those who Nomination Process: worked to make this Hall of Fame Want to nominate someone for the effort a reality: Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame? Here • Bruce Whittenberg and Molly are the minimum inclusion criteria: Kruckenberg – Montana Historical 1. The nominee has made a Society significant contribution to restore, • Thomas Baumeister – Montana conserve, or protect fish, wildlife, rivers, lands, and other outdoor Fish, Wildlife and Parks amenities in Montana. • Ariel Rademaker & Jane 2. The nominee has made a Ratzlaff – Montana’s significant contribution to advance Outdoor Legacy Foundation the public’s interest in and • Dave Chadwick & Mark Dostal – enjoyment of fish, wildlife, rivers, Montana Wildlife Federation lands, and other outdoor amenities in Montana. • Laura Parr and Brian Sybert – 3. The nominee’s contributions were Montana Wilderness Association tailored specifically and uniquely to • Stan Bradshaw – Montana Trout the challenges facing Montana at Unlimited the time.

• Germaine White – Confederated 4. The nominee’s accomplishments Salish and Kootenai Tribes are of such a nature as to have lasting significance for Montana. • Jim Posewitz – Cinnabar 5. The nominee’s accomplishments Foundation. are on par with the scope and breadth of accomplishments set Thanks to these folks who joined by other inductees of the Montana the Hall of Fame Committee to help Outdoor Hall of Fame. review nominations: 6. The nominee’s contributions have • Land Tawney Cover art: Charlie M. Russell’s positively“Donec affected imperdiet, others to take “When the Land Belonged • Ron Marcoux actions on behalf of the public’s interestmagna in fish, vitae wildlife, elementum rivers, to God,” used here with • Wayne Chamberlin lands, and other outdoor amenities permission of the Montana imperdiet, ex ex finibus in Montana. Historical Society. • Alexis Bonogofsky neque, et cursus turpis • The Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame Wildlife photography: • George Bettas committeediam will et start lacus. accepting Etiam nec nominations in 2017. If you wish to Jesse Varnado of Eye in • Zoe Ann Stoltz viverra nisi.” receive an email, notify us at Debra@ the Wild Photography. – Name Eyeinthewild.com. • Janet Ellis mtoutdoorlegacy.org

Photo by Jesse Varnado Photo by Jesse Varnado 1919

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A special thank you to the support of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Montana Historical Society.