The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks “Hooked on Fishing” program in Northwest Montana may soon get a boost from a late Kalispell outdoorsman.

At a meeting today in Helena, the agency will ask the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission to accept a donation of oil and gas rights in North Dakota from William “Bill” Kamps, a Flathead Valley outdoors writer and longtime Sportsman & Ski Haus employee who died in December 2011.

Kamps’ donation includes a partial interest in oil and gas rights on land in North Dakota. The agency would lease the interests on two parcels and use the proceeds for the youth fishing program.

Jim Vashro, former regional Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries manager, said he knew Kamps for about 15 years before his death and remembers him as a model outdoorsman with a focus on wildlife management ethics.

“Bill was kind of an everyman sportsman — he enjoyed doing lots of outdoor activities and didn’t claim to be an expert in any of them,” Vashro said. “He’d cheerfully admit to missing birds, or not catching fish, and when he’d go out hunting he’d just shake his head and grin when he came back empty-handed.”

Hunting and fishing misadventures aside, however, Kamps was well-known as a knowledgeable hunting and fishing columnist. His writing appeared in the Daily Inter Lake and Montana Outdoors.

As an employee at the Sportsman, Kamps was a frequent source for the latest fishing and hunting tips, and was always looking to pass information on to customers, Vashro said.

“To Bill, it was more about getting out there than filling the freezer or getting a bigger critter than the next guy,” Vashro said. “It was just about being out there with people.”

Kamps died at age 62 at Health Center Northwest in Kalispell, and according to his obituary in the Daily Inter Lake, the Minnesota native developed his love of hunting, fishing and dog training early in life. He held a Bachelor of Science from St. Cloud University and had worked as a Realtor.

Vashro said the oil and gas leases aren’t the only form of support the agency has received from Kamps. He also bequeathed a donation to the agency to build a fishing pier at Pine Grove Pond north of Kalispell.

Vashro said the pier is still under design but he believes it likely will be installed sometime next summer.

Kamps’ contributions will support a new generation of anglers who learn to fish through the program, which is based on the national “Hooked on Fishing — Not on Drugs” program. It provides fishing equipment for students, training and curriculum for teachers and in-class assistance by agency and volunteer instructors.

Now retired from the agency, Vashro continues to volunteer with “Hooked on Fishing” along with other sportsman groups in the area and said Kamps’ impact on outdoor recreation will be felt for generations to come.

“It just goes back to helping everybody have a little more fun fishing,” he said.

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.