Imagine owning 1.2 million acres in western Montana. It's land filled with staggering mountains, dense forests, and rolling grass-covered hills stretching off into the distance. Throw into the mix hundreds of alpine lakes, a few choice rivers, miles of sparkling streams, some valley reservoirs, and a spring creek or two.

For many fly fishers such a place represents a basic "died-and-gone-to-heaven" image. Spending the rest of your life chasing native cutthroat trout, browns, rainbows, brookies, bull trout, and even lake trout, along with large northern pike and largemouth bass, has a certain appeal for some of us.

For the Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, such a fantasy is reality, and they are making the most of the opportunity. While this fishing is not in Yellowstone Park's class, you will find mountain lakes filled with wild cutthroat, rivers with rainbows and browns to 18 inches, and valley ponds with largemouth bass over five pounds. Some of the finest fishing in the country is now located on Indian land ranging from the Apache Reservation in the Southwest to the Blackfeet Reservation east of the Continental Divide in Montana.

Located about 25 air miles south of Glacier National Park and just north of Missoula, the reservation takes in a large portion of the Mission Mountains, the southern end of Flathead Lake, dozens of miles of the lower Flathead River, and the National Bison Range at Moiese.

WHILE THE REST OF THE STATE wrangles over stream-access laws, clearcutting in sensitive drainages, irrigation allocations, and fisheries management directions, to mention just some of the problems, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have designed, adopted, and implemented a management plan for their abundant natural resources that is progressive by any management standards. The tribes have far fewer agencies, departments, directorates, and other bureaucracies to contend with, and this streamlined situation has made the implementation of a fisheries management plan on the reservation a relatively straightforward process.

"Yes indeed, this is a wonderful chance for us to improve what is already a great resource," said Tribal Fisheries Manager Joe DosSantos. "In some cases we will be able to restore native populations to historic levels. This is just an exciting project for everyone involved."

Adopted in 1985, the plan first inventoried all waters and fish populations on the reservation. Following this, various population goals were set for specific locations. Reaching these numbers involved habitat improvement, stocking, possession limits, guaranteeing stream flows, and in some cases closing streams to fishing.

All of this activity stems from the Hellgate Treaty of 1855 that guaranteed the tribes the "exclusive right of taking fish in all stream running through or bordering" the reservation. This has been interpreted by the tribes as also implying that they have the right to protect and maintain the reservation fisheries. In fact, many tribal members believe that this is not only a right but an obligation.

"Things are progressing so well that we may have to re-assess our plans," said DosSantos. "Habitat goals for many streams have already been achieved, and most of the fish passage problems are fixed. We are making headway with our fish population objectives, and speaking off the cuff, these are very achievable goals.

"The reason we are making strong headway is because the tribes are taking a multidisciplinary approach with landowners. Everybody is for good fishing. This is really a land management issue--a dynamic process, not a static issue."

THIS IS NOT TO IMPLY THAT EVERYTHING is perfect on the reservation. DosSantos and other tribal members admit that there are some problems.

There is a suit by nontribal members challenging the tribes' authority to enforce an aquatic/land protection ordinance on privately owned land. And a number of nontribal anglers resent members' right to take as many fish as they choose from reservation waters.

But these issues pale in comparison to problems surrounding state and federal lands--issues that often involve complicated legal issues, destruction of logging equipment by radical members of the environmental movement, and total elimination of certain fish populations by massive timber cutting on private lands owned by companies such as Plum Creek.

What the Flathead Reservation fisheries management plan means to anglers is that for $18 in 1992 you could buy the necessary permits to fish all but the few lakes and streams closed for tribal members only. The closed waters are clearly marked and represent a small fraction of the total fishable water on the reservation. You can spend a morning wading a small river taking numerous browns of 15 inches or so, enjoy lunch, and then drive up the road to catch largemouth bass on deerhair poppers.

The next day you can work the lower Flathead River, hike into the mountains and fish high-country lakes for native cutthroat trout, or visit lakes that are seldom fished. You will not see other people, only elk, eagles, and maybe grizzlies or goats.

"Our high-mountain lakes are really doing well," adds DosSantos. "Some of them do have Yellowstone cutthroat, but we have already replanted 12 lakes with pure-strain westslope cutthroat, and our overall goal is to give preference to native species."

Mission Mountain lakes like Lucifer, Mud Lakes, and Finley Lakes offer wild, glacial-cirque wilderness fishing for cutthroat and rainbows. These and other waters are in rugged country requiring strenuous hikes to reach. You'll work for the trout you catch one way or the other.

There are spring creeks near Ronan and crossed by Highway 93 northwest of Arlee. Brook, brown, and rainbow are present in good numbers in these fertile waters.

THERE ARE STRONG RUNS OF BULL TROUT in a number of streams, though they are off-limits to nontribal members, as are nearly 60,000 acres of the Jocko River's South Fork Primitive Area. This area was set aside both as a roadless area for tribal members and their families to hunt and fish undisturbed by outside influences and also to protect the pristine region from logging.

Another big plus for the tribes will occur when Kerr Dam on the Flathead River is turned over to the tribes in 2015. The tribes have other plans for the dam, currently operated at enormous profit by Montana Power at the expense of a potentially top-notch trout fishery.

"Oh sure, we are aware of the money involved here," laughed DosSantos. "We can always use it to help ourselves, but we will be just as concerned, if not more so, with operating the dam so that it will not damage the fisheries."

Admittedly, the plan is a result of the tribes' interest in improving the fisheries so that tribal members can enhance their food supplies. The side benefits for fly fishers could be enormous.

"We are not really interested in developing a recreational fishery on the reservation," said DosSantos. "By improving habitat and increasing fish populations, that aspect will pretty much happen on its own. While we do not plan to actively promote this resource, we will do everything we can to help anyone enjoy our fishing.

"Our philosophy is to manage our lands as a complete system, and to emphasize recreational fishing is not consistent with those objectives. Basically, if you successfully operate a system as we are trying to, fish populations will increase as a matter of course. As everyone knows, the concept is not complicated--take care of the land and the fish will take care of themselves."

So while the outdoor world around them is often in chaos, the Salish and Kootenai tribes have taken large steps to return their piece of the planet to its natural order, benefiting both tribal members and anglers alike.

Those interested in further information on Flathead Indian Reservation fishing opportunities may contact DosSantos at Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Box 278, Pablo, MT 59855, (406)675-2700, ext. 380. In addition to providing current conditions and regulations, DosSantos can point you in the direction of a qualified guide for the Flathead River.

Another option is offered by John Perry of West Slope Outfitters, Box 20080, Missoula, MT 59801, (406)549-9703. Perry offers dry-fly fishing on some spring-fed ponds near St. Ignatius below the Mission Mountains.