The Montana State University Library is pleased to present Martha Williams, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) director, as its 2018 speaker for the Trout and Salmonid Lecture Series.

Martha will present “Wild Trout in Montana” on Tuesday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the Strand Union Building, Ballrooms BCD, in Bozeman. A reception will follow the lecture.

Martha will tell the story of retired FWP fisheries biologist Dick Vincent, and how his pioneering research shaped the department’s habitat protection and water conservation policies for trout on the world-class Madison River. She will also discuss current work by FWP to protect Montana’s trout fisheries from future threats.

Appointed by Gov. Steve Bullock in February 2017, Martha is FWP’s 24th director. She has spent her career dedicated to natural resource management. Martha served as legal counsel for FWP from 1998 to 2011, taught natural resource law, public land and resources law, and wildlife law at the University of Montana’s Alexander Blewett III School of Law, co-directed UM’s Land Use and Natural Resources Clinic, and worked as the deputy solicitor at the U.S. Department of Interior. At the Department of Interior, Martha oversaw legal issues and litigation for the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and her Juris Doctor with honors from UM’s law school.                 

“Through this annual lecture, the MSU Library strives to speak to all aspects of trout and salmonid, and to represent the diversity of angling culture,” said special collections librarian, James Thull. “Martha is the first female director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and we look forward to the perspective she will bring to this year’s lecture.”

Thanks to contributions from generous donors, this event is free and open to the public. RSVPs are encouraged. Guests can register by clicking the link below or by calling 406-994-6857. We ask that guests arrive no later than 6:45 p.m. to guarantee seating.

For information on the MSU Library’s Trout and Salmonid Collection, visit http://www.lib.montana.edu/trout/.