FWP Region 4 Office
4600 Giant Springs Road
Great Falls, MT 59405
Phone: (406) 454-5840
Fax: (406) 761-8477
E-mail: fwprg42@mt.gov
Office Hours:
Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Lewistown Area Resource Office
215 W Aztec Drive
P.O. Box 938
Lewistown, MT 59457
Phone: (406) 538-4658
Fax: (406) 538-3249
Office Hours:
Monday-Friday, 10:15 AM-2:00 PM
Region 4 is made up of 12.5 counties in north central Montana with a combined area of 30,677 sq. miles, 19.5 millions acres (about 20.8% of Montana). The Region has a population of about 180,000 people. According to the current highway map there are 94 communities in Region 4 – 26 are incorporated. Close to 50% of the people in Region 4 live in Cascade County. About 8,460 sq. miles or 27.6% of Region 4 is public domain managed by the federal government – 44% by the US Forest Service, 23% by the Bureau of Indian Affairs/Blackfeet Nation and 17% by the Bureau of Land Management. In Region 4 there are 2, 044 sq. miles of School Trust Land (6.7% of Region 4) managed by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
This region offers the most diverse flora and fauna in Montana – 64 of Montana’s 89 fish species; 75 of Montana’s 109 mammals; 338 of the state’s 389 birds; and 7 of the 14 plants and animals listed as “Threatened” or “Endangered”. The region is currently managing populations of all ten of the state’s common big game animals.
Region 4 has 63 Fishing Access Sites, 133 lakes and reservoirs totaling over 61,000 acres; 3,700 miles of fishable running water; two managed recreation corridors – the Smith & Missouri Rivers; and 17 reservoirs with over 5,000 acre-feet of storage capacity.
Region 4 has eight Wildlife Management Areas with a total of 94,238 acres. The Region contains the “Rocky Mountain East Front” one of the richest wildlife areas in the U.S. Region 4 monitors four Conservation Easements: Bay Ranch, Paul & Helen Edwards, Harris Land & Cattle, and the Lewis & Clark Heritage Greenway.
In 2004, Region 4 had 116 Block Management Areas (199 contracts) with 984,977 private acres and 441,456 public acres. 1,426,433 acres in Block Management supported 62,730 hunters (about 91,000 hunter days).
The Region 4 Parks Division operates five State Parks: Ackley Lake, First Peoples Buffalo Jump, Giant Springs/Heritage – with Sulphur Springs addition, Sluice Boxes, and Tower Rock. Region 4 also runs the 61 miles Smith River Float Program and the Missouri Corridor Recreation Program.
The dock at Eureka Reservoir near Choteau that was driven over and damaged in early June has been repaired and replaced in time for the Fourth of July weekend. The damaged dock was repaired through a donation of time and materials by the PPL Montana maintenance shop at Rainbow Dam. "Bob Covington, operations manager for PPL, read about the damage and offered to fix the dock," says Roger Semler, FWP regional parks supervisor. "His shop ended up donating more than 80 man hours to make the repairs. (July 02)
A grizzly bear that spent several weeks traveling down the Teton River was captured Tuesday night in a snare at the confluence of the Teton and Marias rivers near Loma. The male, yearling bruin weighed 238 pounds and was in excellent shape, says Mike Madel, Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear management specialist. The animal was tranquilized, fitted with an ear tag, microchip and radio collar and relocated west of Marias Pass on the Flathead National Forest. (July 01)
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials announced today that the reach of Belt Creek that flows through Sluice Boxes State Park has been reopened to public floating. A closure to floating has been in place since May 24, due to a dangerous logjam that extended across the width of the inner canyon. "The logjam was removed on June 19 and no longer poses a significant risk to the public," stated Roger Semler, Region 4 Parks Manager. (June 26)
