Game warders with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) describe a culture of retaliation and intimidation in a new audit of the agency. Officials hope new leaders can improve conditions.
The report, conducted by the Legislative Audit Division, is based on interviews with FWP staff. It found that a change in leadership several years ago led to a deteriorating workplace culture.
Wardens and regional managers in the agency’s Law Enforcement Division describe a lack of tolerance for dissenting opinions, distrust of the HR department and fear of retaliation for speaking out.
Legislative Auditor Jeremy Verhasselt spoke on the matter.
“Some examples of issues that they thought contributed to that breakdown were allegations of a past inappropriate relation and confidential complaints leaking in the past,” Verhasselt said.
In a survey, more than half of all game wardens said they had experienced retaliation or intimidation while on the job in the last five years. However, new leadership has since taken over the division and staff have reported improvements.
The audit also found issues with the department’s record keeping practices, the process for filing grievances and communication of wardens’ duties. The report provided recommendations to fix the problems and the FWP agreed to all of them.