FWP’s administrative Region 3 is located in southwestern Montana and includes the counties of Broadwater, Gallatin, Park, Madison, Beaverhead, Jefferson and part of Deer Lodge. Region 3 encompasses 18,089 square miles, which is more than 12 percent of the total land area of Montana. About 60 percent of the region is made up of public lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
Southwestern Montana is made up of broad valleys comprised of prairie habitat consisting of grasslands, sagebrush, and wooded riparian areas rising to foothills and mountains as high as 11,000 feet elevation. Most of the lower land is privately-owned, while most of the higher reaches are federally-owned Forest Service or BLM land.
Region 3 is home to nine state parks, including Montana’s oldest state park—Lewis and Clark Caverns—and Bannack State Park, which was the site of the first Territorial Capital. The region is headwaters to some of the most renowned trout rivers in the U.S., including the Madison, Gallatin, Jefferson, upper Missouri, upper Yellowstone, Beaverhead and Big Hole. Some 26 percent of Montana’s angling pressure takes place in Region 3, and the region boasts 103 fishing access sites.
Big game hunting also is a major draw in southwestern Montana. Approximately 50 percent of the elk harvest in the entire state of Montana comes from Region 3.
