Fish Wildlife & Parks Montana Department

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Division, a state government agency and division of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, functions as a federal grant recipient delivering endangered species monitoring, fish hatchery operations, wildlife habitat management, and outdoor recreation infrastructure to federal agencies including the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and the National Park Service. The division does not compete for federal contracts under set-asides; it receives formula grants and project grants from federal partners, with no contracting vehicle participation.

The division's federal footprint concentrates heavily in wildlife and fisheries conservation programs. The top funding sources by award count are the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6 (191 awards) and the broader Fish and Wildlife Service (174 awards), followed by the National Park Service National Office (52 awards) and the USDA Forest Service R1-Northern Region (38 awards). By combined potential value, the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District Omaha dominates with 25 awards valued at $12.6 million, anchored by a $3 million-plus Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract for pallid sturgeon monitoring and endangered species studies on the Missouri River ecosystem. Representative prime grant work includes a $47.74 million Forest Legacy Program award from the USDA Forest Service for the Montana Great Outdoors Legacy Project Phase Two (conservation easements and forest protection through November 2026); a $3.86 million Forest Legacy Program award from the Forest Service for the Foy's to Blacktail Forest Conservation Easement near Kalispell (protection of 1,131 acres of working forestland adjacent to existing public recreation areas); a $1.44 million Coast Guard Boating Safety Financial Assistance award for recreational boating safety facilities, equipment, and education statewide (October 2025–September 2028); and a $260,612 Sport Fish Restoration award from Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6 to investigate brown trout decline in the upper Clark Fork River (January 2026–June 2029), under which the division sub-awarded work to Montana State University's Office of Sponsored Programs.

The division's contract portfolio sits on three Army Corps of Engineers IDIQs: contract W9128F09D0057 (12 task orders, $2.6 million combined potential value), W9128F20D0025 (8 task orders, $2.9 million combined potential value), and W9128F15D0015 (5 task orders, $1.1 million combined potential value), all focused on endangered species studies and pallid sturgeon population monitoring across Missouri River segments. Recent contract awards include a $419,386 firm fixed-price delivery order from the Army Corps for pallid sturgeon population monitoring in Segments 2 and 3 of the Missouri River (completion September 2027), a $406,027 delivery order for an FY25 endangered species study (completion January 2026), and a $404,758 delivery order for an FY24 endangered species study (completion January 2025). Award volume has declined year over year — 38 awards in 2022 to six awards in 2026 (through May) — reflecting the project-grant and research-focus nature of the division's federal work. Twenty-seven awards with combined potential value of $419 thousand complete in the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete opportunity for contractors supporting endangered species research and habitat restoration. The division sub-grants to Montana State University, Montana Department of Labor Industry (AmeriCorps), Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and local cities and towns for infrastructure and conservation projects, with sub-awards supporting black-footed ferret habitat work, prairie dog conservation, and recreation facility upgrades across rural Montana communities.