Christy Clark was stunned last December when Montana’s governor asked her to take the helm at one of the state’s most closely watched agencies, the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. She wasn’t a biologist, unlike many prior directors. And, Clark admitted, she didn’t know much about state fisheries or the nuances of hunting regulations.

“I said, ‘Governor, you really don’t know me very well,’” Clark recently told a gathering of Republican policymakers. “I said my experience and all my interactions with the service, with FWP, has been through the lens of people trying to ranch with grizzly bears.”

In her telling, speaking during the Western Congressional Caucus summit in Whitefish, Gov. Greg Gianforte told Clark that made her the perfect candidate.

At the time, Clark was head of the s

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