Gary Smith recognized for outstanding service
Remarks from the 2025 Montana Historic Preservation Awards ceremony at the Myrna Loy Center, Helena on May 16, 2025. Presented by Pete Brown.
Our Historic Preservation Award for Outstanding Service to Historic Preservation goes to retired Bureau of Land Management Deputy Preservation Officer Gary Smith. Gary is a Grand Junction, Colorado native. He attended the University of Colorado at Boulder prior to receiving his Master’s from Colorado State University.
After graduating, Gary embarked on his preservation career, working for private firms before joining the Colorado SHPO. One of his earliest assignments there was to verify high altitude site locations near Boulder, a physically challenging but fun adventure he fondly recalls.
Gary relocated to North Dakota in 1985 where he began his tenure with the Bureau of Land Management. Four years later, he moved west to Billings and a cultural resource management position at the BLM State Office’s, Division of Lands and Renewable Resources.
Highlights of Gary’s time as the Deputy Preservation Officer at the BLM include:
helping secure funding for the Billings Curation Center, a state-of-the-art facility housing archaeological and historical artifacts from public lands; and
his advocacy for BLM’s Cultural Resources Data Partnership, which improved internal BLM data, provided support for state-managed data repositories, and built consistency in data quality and distribution within the BLM and its state governing partners. Over its 27-year existence, the Cultural Resources Data Partnership has grown to become a vital and nationally recognized element in the State/Federal data creation and management relationship.
Gary also took seriously the BLM’s role in listing its properties on the National Register. Under his watch, the BLM listed 15 properties. Noteworthy examples include:
Garnet Ghost Town
a collection of homesteads along the Missouri River,
amending the Judith Landing Historic District to include its paleontological history;
the Nationally significant Everson Creek Archaeological District that exhibits continuous use for over the last 11,000 years; and
a World War II bombing range in Petroleum County used to train B-52 crews.
Gary’s level-headed promotion of cultural resources combined with his thoughtful oversight led to the identification and curation of countless historic properties and artifacts. And the avoidance of adverse effects otherwise brought by agency actions.