Montana FWP announces new head of the wardens

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has announced its new head of the wardens, Pete Glowacki. Glowacki has a decade of experience with FWP, and he says he’s excited to lead the Enforcement Division as their new chief. 

“I think it would be a little less excited if I thought I was sitting here by myself, but I know that I have a lot of passionate people in the field that are engaged in what we do and really take it seriously,” noted Glowacki. “And so to me, that creates a tremendous amount of excitement.”

Glowacki is a Capital High School graduate with twenty years of law enforcement experience in Big Sky Country. As chief, he’ll oversee more than 100 FWP employees. A responsibility Glowacki does not take lightly.

“I've had an opportunity to work with wardens who are not only passionate but have an incredible work ethic. And so I think just continually focusing our work back to our core mission, which fundamentally is public service, is going to be my priority,” he noted.

The appointment of the new chief comes as FWP leadership continues to work to improve workplace culture and trust within the department.

FWP leadership has acknowledged challenges in the enforcement division for years, notably among leadership. A 2023 audit showed that wardens did not trust leadership, feared retaliation and had low morale overall. The era was marked by high resignations and turnover among warden staff.

Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed Director Christy Clark in Dec. 2024 to lead FWP. She has made addressing challenges in the Enforcement division and improving FWP’s workplace culture a top priority. Efforts have included hiring an outside consulting firm and bringing in the former head of the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Brian Lockerby, and now U.S. Marshal for Montana Brian Gootkin to conduct their own assessment and provide recommendations.

An internal FWP survey in March 2026 identified continued issues with Enforcement Division leadership. Clark then removed Chief Ron Howell and Assistant Chief J.D. Douglas from their positions.

Clark told Nonstop Local she is very excited to have Glowacki in the position following his assistance and dedication to the department over the years.

“Really looking forward to him getting on board and getting his feet wet and doing all the things that we've been so patiently waiting for,” Clark explained. “I know it's been a long road. Everybody's been very patient, very gracious. But this is a big day for us, one that we've been looking forward to for a long time. Very excited to have Pete on board.”

Glowacki said he is committed to supporting staff in the division and repairing the divides.

“Workplace culture is really important when you think about trying to accomplish what our purpose is and our mission, which is, like I mentioned, public service,” he noted. “And so communication is a key aspect of that. And that is one benefit I have is being able to work with a large variety of wardens here.”