Presenter: Interviews on Stage – Saturday
Mike has been involved in numerous field work, projects and folk festivals across the West and in the southern Appalachians, documenting traditional music, cultural and occupational traditions. He worked for the Smithsonian Institution’s Folklife Program as well as on projects of the American Folklife Center of the US Library of Congress. In 1979 he was appointed director of the Montana Folklife Project. During his time there, Mike was involved in numerous projects documenting and presenting the wide variety of Montana’s traditional cultures. Those included numerous articles and publications, a weekly syndicated radio show featuring Montana folk artists (My Home’s in Montana,) production of two phono records (When the Work’s All Done This Fall; Songs, stories and Poetry from Montana Cow Trail and Cattle Camps and If You Can’t Dance to It, It’s Not Old Time Fiddle!,) museum exhibits of Native American art and artists, and Montana saddle makers, among others, and was a “founder” of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Mike left the Folklife Project in 1988 to work for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks where he oversaw the formal beginning of the popular Block Management Program, acted as Helena Area Coordinator, supervising fish, wildlife, parks and law enforcement activities for a 4-county area, served as a state game warden and finally, as the agency’s Assistant Chief of Law Enforcement. At the same time, Mike also acted as unofficial historian for FW &P, collecting artifacts, papers and oral interviews which were deposited with the Montana Historical Society. He retired 2015 after an almost 30-year career with FW & P. He’s currently working on several advocacy projects with conservation organizations in the state as well as a documentary on the history of aviation in Montana.