History:

The national Pheasants Forever organization was formed in 1982 and our Gallatin Valley Chapter followed in 1998.

The Gallatin Chapter has led the way in Montana with significant donor dollars going toward the purchase of key wildlife habitat and public access and awareness – over 22,500 acres of land near Malta, Denton and Miles City which are now open for public hunting and recreation, habitat improvement projects, and public education campaigns. Habitat improvement projects on public lands in southwestern Montana have included shelter belt and food plot development that enhance pheasant habitat available for public hunting opportunities. Most of these projects have involved Federal and State wildlife agencies and several habitat organizations as funding partners. Current financial activities are focused to pay off the Wolf Creek/Moylan acquisition near Denton and Tongue River Ranch southeast of Miles City.

We utilize a simple, and yet, revolutionary concept, unique among conservation organizations. Pheasants Forever created a system of local chapters whereby 100% of the net funds raised by chapters remains at the local level. This provides tremendous incentive to raise money because people can see the direct results of their contributions on the ground. Each of the 18 Pheasants Forever chapters in Montana manages its own funds and establishes its own wildlife habitat and education programs, customized to meet the needs of and to benefit the local area.

Pheasants Forever now has over 125,000 members in over 600 chapters in the US and Canada. Habitat projects have resulted in the average annual completion of over 27,200 projects. Pheasants Forever’s wildlife habitat projects have benefited more than 4 million acres across the continent. PF has participated in nearly 1,000 different land acquisitions totaling well over 100,000 acres. Those land acquisition projects have been completed in conjunction with local, state and federal natural resource agencies, and all of these projects are today open to public hunting.