This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

When Parker Jones landed a job with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, little did he know the lessons he learned in a University of Utah cinematography master's class soon would be put to good use.

Jones is a Web and video specialist for the state wildlife agency. He spends most of his time working on the agency's website, but he also gets a chance now and then to leave the office to film some of the amazing projects fish and wildlife biologists conduct across the state.

Parker and I have worked together on a dozen or so videos. We "mugged" pronghorn during the annual roundup on Parker Mountain (yes, we joked about the name) near Loa, chased tiger muskie at Newton Reservoir, where he captured some great underwater footage of the toothy predators, and developed a piece on the annual gathering of bald eagles at Farmington Bay each February. You can watch these videos, and many others, on the websites of The Tribune and the DWR.

On a day this fall, Parker was sent to one of the storage buildings behind the Department of Natural Resources offices in Salt Lake City to clean and make room for other items. He stumbled upon an amazing discovery.

Once he caught his breath, Parker started looking through the more than 1,000 reels of 16-millimeter film. Some of the reels were labeled with titles like "Hunter," but most had no identification.

He has since a viewed a couple hundred of the films and says they range from 3-minute shoots to half-hour productions.

"It turns out the film they used in most cases was of the highest quality. Only a few, probably the ones that were left exposed, have lost their color," Parker said. "There are some that go back to the 1920s. It is amazing to watch them."

After having just worked on bison transplants and roundups, Parker found a video from the 1940s of a similar effort back on the Henry Mountains.

"It was a big production. They had all these cool angles with the helicopter coming down on the bison and tranquilizing them. I thought helicopters were a relatively recent development," he said.

One of the films is of something that looks like a tractor that was turned into a snowmobile, obviously for some winter project, but the footage only shows the contraption being tested, not actually used.

Parker's favorite thus far is a black-and-white film he thinks was made in the 1920s.

"At least that is what it looks like, judging by what the men and women are wearing," he said. "They are on horseback and they look like cowboys."

Seeing those people got Parker wondering who they were. He imagined that some folks might find historical film of since-deceased or beloved elderly family members a family treasure. He also realized that wildlife enthusiasts and history buffs would find the films interesting. The general public may also be able to help identify people in the films and may be able to provide important historical information about where and when the film was shot.

Parker contacted the Utah Historical Society and then remembered from his film studies days the Special Collections section at the U.'s Marriott Library.

Both entities were excited to help, and the process of transferring the film to digital media has started.

Once they are ready, Parker plans to create a home for the films on the DWR's website. I'm looking forward to being able to watch the videos, and I'll make sure to mention in the Away section and on my blog when they have been posted.

Brett Prettyman is an outdoors columnist. Reach him at brettp@sltrib.com.