FWP AT WORK Aimee Hawkaluk, FWP Attorney

LEGAL COUNSEL

AIMEE HAWKALUK

FWP Attorney, Helena

I’M ONE OF FIVE ATTORNEYS, along with two paralegals, who work in the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Legal Unit.

I grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and earned my law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, focusing on resource and environmental law. I was extremely lucky that a position opened at FWP, and I was hired in 2012. I still feel lucky that I get to come to work here every day.

Fishing and hiking had always been part of my life, but when I arrived in Montana I wanted to fully embrace the outdoors lifestyle. I quickly learned to hunt and am now a volunteer FWP hunter and bowhunter education instructor. I also fly-fish, backpack, and camp with my husband (a game warden sergeant here in Helena), our twoyear-old daughter, and my nine-year-old stepson.

I’m part of an FWP team working on making the hunting regulations booklets more readable and easier to understand. I still remember how confusing the regulations seemed the first time I tried to figure them out. The booklets’ redundant language and confusing organization didn’t make things any easier.

The Legal Unit provides FWP with in-house counsel to defend the department against litigation. FWP is occasionally sued over things like public access, instream-flow water rights, and management of the resources we protect. The Legal Unit also spends time reviewing contracts for everything from printing Montana Outdoors to hiring crews who net bighorn sheep from helicopters.

We regularly remind our FWP colleagues that it’s always better to bring us in early on an issue—no matter how small or seemingly trivial—so we can provide advice and help prevent legal problems down the road.

One thing I like about this work is that, rather than focusing on only one aspect of the law, we can be generalists with multiple areas of specialty. I’ve worked on personnel matters, water rights adjudication, and endangered species litigation, and have had cases before the Montana Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We have the opportunity to work with the entire agency, as well as advise both the Fish and Wildlife Commission and State Parks and Recreation Board. It’s a fascinating mix.

Best of all is the subject matter we deal with. We get to help protect what everyone in Montana cares about: wildlife, state parks, and fisheries. For an attorney who loves the outdoors like I do, this job is a dream come true.