Records of the Forestry, Fish, and Game Commission

Abstract: The State Archives holds only a few cubic feet of records from the Forestry, Fish, & Game Commission, and many of these records are spotty or only cover a brief period of the agency's existence. However, these materials document many of the tasks and responsibilities of the Commission. Records range from Commission meeting minutes, to animal population and environment research, to records related to the establishment of various state parks in Kansas. As noted in the administrative history, the Commission changed names and some duties numerous times over the years, so broader searches may be necessary in order to find all records related to a particular topic.

Administrative History: The general concept of an agency such as the Forestry, Fish, and Game Commission began in 1877 when the governor appointed the first fish commissioner. In the early 1900s funds from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and other such permits became the major source of revenue for the agency, which continues to be the case up to the present day.

The Forestry, Fish, and Game Commission was first established in 1925 and underwent numerous internal reorganizations, changing numbers of Commission members and how they were appointed, from then through 1978. In this year, the commission dropped the forestry part of its name and became the Fish and Game Commission. In 1988 this Commission merged with the State Park and Resources Authority (created in 1955) to form the Department of Wildlife and Parks.

The duties and responsibilities of the Forestry, Fish, and Game Commission included establishing and maintaining wildlife management areas and state fishing lakes to facilitate public use of fish and wildlife resources; assisting private enterprises in fish and wildlife management where it is in the good interest of fish and wildlife resources; conducting researching to provide a basis for sound fish and game management; and disseminating to the public fish and wildlife resource information that was generated in carrying out these purposes. Goals for the agency included providing sound management for the state's fish and wildlife resources and their habitats so that these resources would forever be of high quality and available to citizens for all uses compatible with sound management.

[Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/ (accessed 15 April 2009).]

[Secretary of State. Kansas Biennial Report. Topeka: Secretary of State, 1976.]

[Secretary of State. Kansas Biennial Report. Topeka: Secretary of State, 1978.]

[Wilder, Bessie. Governmental Agencies of the State of Kansas, 1861-1956. Lawrence: University of Kansas Publications, 1957.]

Related materials: Records of the Fish and Game Commission; Records of the State Park and Resources Authority; Records of the Department of Wildlife and Parks.