Guest Profile - Montana Wildlife Federation

Legislature Wraps Up with Commission Appointments, AIS and More

July 7, 2021April 27, 2019 by Guest Profile

greysen johnson 1242505 unsplash — Photo by Greysen Johnson.

The 66^th Montana Legislature adjourned this week and Montana’s hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts have a lot of positive achievements that set up the next two years to be productive for wildlife and habitat.

This week saw Fish and Wildlife Commission appointments go through, as well as several major bills that benefit our habitat and fisheries get done in the final days. Here’s the rundown:

Sage Grouse Conservation Passes

The Senate gave final approval to SB 299 (Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta) after a conference committee worked out differences with the House version of the bill. SB 299 as it passed requires a goal of no net loss of sage grouse habitat, with the goal of an increase in habitat. It codifies many aspects of the statewide sage grouse conservation plan. This bill was amended many times, but in its final form is a win for the conservation of sage grouse habitat in sagebrush-steppe areas. MWF is thankful to Sen. Lang for his willingness to work on this bill along with numerous partners.

Wildlife Location Data Bill, Resolution

The issue of how we use and protect specific wildlife location data was prominent this session, with a total of four different bills that addressed the issue. In the end, a bill to protect the data that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists gather, SB 349 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena) passed the House this week and is heading to the governor. The bill makes it illegal to use specific wildlife location data from FWP to hunt or harass wildlife.

In addition, SJ 30 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena) calls for an interim study of how FWP handles it’s fish and wildlife location data. The study resolution sets up a thorough look at the issue by the Environmental Quality Council to make recommendations for legislation. Other states have given their wildlife agencies the ability to deny specific GPS wildlife location data to people, and it’s an issue worth looking at. The resolution passed the House on the final day of the session.

Aquatic Invasive Species Bill Passes

HB 411 (Rep. Willis Curdy, D-Missoula) funds the statewide Aquatic Invasive Species prevention program. In the last Legislative session, the program got up and running quickly and has been effective at doing boat inspections. The big question this session was how it would continue to be funded. HB 411 continues the fee on hydro-power generators, as well as fees on boats and on anglers. This bill is a win for all Montanans who share a common interest in keeping invasive mussels out of our waterways.

Commission Appointees

This week the Senate confirmed all four of the nominees for the Fish and Wildlife Commission. But it didn’t happen without some controversy.

The first resolution for confirmation, SR 28, was for Shane Colton of Billings and Tim Aldrich of Missoula. It passed out of the Senate Fish and Game committee unanimously and passed the Senate 47 to 3.

But the committee voted 7-3 on SR 48, to confirm Logan Brower of Scobey and Pat Byorth of Bozeman. Committee Chair Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, expressed concerns of Brower’s support of mandatory trapper education, and Sen. Jason Ellsworth had issues with Byorth’s position with Montana Trout Unlimited, where he works as an attorney on water rights issues.

The Senate voted not to bring SR 48 forward, with Sen. Fred Thomas of Stevensville stating that the four-year term meant they will serve for the next governor, who should get to pick all five commissioners. But on the last day of the session in reconsidered. An amendment to strip Brower out failed and both were confirmed in a 31 to 19 vote. Both will serve until 2023.

Those are just the highlights from the last week in the session. MWF will be putting together a complete list of all the bills affecting wildlife, habitat, and access, as well as FWP’s budget, in the coming weeks. Look for it and other updates as a bunch of bills still await Gov. Bullock’s signature. You can still check the status of bills on our bill tracker on our homepage and continue to look for updates as we await the final resolution on all the bills.

Bill, Study Will Help Protect FWP Wildlife Location Data

July 7, 2021April 23, 2019 by Guest Profile

Montana’s longstanding tradition of fair-chase, ethical hunting had another boost this week as a pair of bills to address the issue of agency wildlife location data advanced.

SB 349 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena) passed the House and is heading to the governor for his signature. The bill makes it illegal to use Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife location data to hunt or harass wildlife. It’s an important step because FWP biologists need to be able to collect specific data to understand wildlife’s use of habitat, migration routes and other steps. At the same time, hunters and others shouldn’t be able to use that data for a grossly unfair advantage, or to harass wildlife.

But the bill doesn’t give the agency any ability to deny that data to the public. Montana has strong public interest laws protecting the public’s right to public information. Yet other states have given their wildlife agencies the ability to deny some information. That’s where SJ 30 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena) comes in.

The resolution calls for an interim study to look at FWP wildlife location data, to help determine under what circumstances or whether the agency can deny someone that information. It’s an important step to take a solid look at this issue, and potentially come up with legislation if needed to bring a bill to give the agency the ability to protect some of its data.

MWF supported both of these bills as needed measures to keep Montana at the forefront of ethical, fair chase hunting.

Veto Needed of HB 265 To Protect Habitat Montana

July 7, 2021April 19, 2019 by Guest Profile

Montana Wildlife Federation and our partners in the Montana Sporting Coalition are asking Governor Bullock to veto HB 265, a bill that re-injects politics into Habitat Montana, Montana’s premier access and conservation program. Hunters, anglers and all recreational users made our strong opposition to HB 265 (Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman) clear. Our members, alongside members of numerous hunting, angling, and conservation groups showed up to oppose the bill throughout the process.

We also sent in thousands of emails, made phone calls and wrote letters to oppose the bill. Unfortunately, the Legislature didn’t listen. It passed HB 265 regardless of our opposition.

Now MWF and the Montana Sporting Coalition are asking Gov. Bullock to spare Habitat Montana conservation easements from the same unnecessary bureaucracy that we saw last year. That was when the state Land Board indefinitely delayed the Horse Creek Complex conservation easement near Wibaux. This easement not only permanently opened 20,000 acres of excellent habitat to public hunting for mule deer, antelope, and game birds, it ensured that future generations of ranchers can operate this ranch as viable cow/calf operation.

Simply put, Habitat Montana works. It works for landowners, for wildlife, for habitat, and for hunters. It has for 30 years. We want to keep it that way, and a veto of HB 265 by Gov. Bullock will allow Montana FWP to continue working with landowners to build good projects without the fear of political interference while continuing to build better partnerships between Montana’s hunters and landowners.

Fair Chase Bill Comes Back to Life

July 7, 2021April 19, 2019 by Guest Profile

As the session winds down, and the bills that MWF has worked on over the last four months are dead, passed or indefinitely postponed, we can say that Montana’s wildlife and public access programs had a good year. Between the budget, House Bill 5 and House Bill 10, more than $35 million in new spending authority for better equipment and facilities for FWP is moving forward, as is the funding for a new Automated Licensing System (the current one is 20 years old!). Habitat Montana funding remains strong and intact, while the Upland Gamebird Enhancement Program and Governor’s tag funding all will be going where it needs to go: toward habitat improvement and acquisition.

Protecting FWP Data Revived

The House FWP committee this week reconsidered SB 349 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena). The bill makes it illegal to use specific GPS wildlife location data compiled by FWP to hunt or harass wildlife. This bill is important because FWP biologists need to collect wildlife data to map seasonal use, migration routes, denning sites, and other valuable scientific data. At the same time, that data should not be used to give a hunter an unfair advantage by showing the exact location of an animal. It violates the spirit of fair chase hunting, which is ingrained in Montana’s sporting heritage.

SB 349 had been tabled in the House FWP committee, but this week it was brought off the table. It passed second reading in the House and is up for the third reading next week. MWF is glad the Legislature took this important step in maintaining our heritage.

Wildlife Data Study

Another bill that calls for an interim study of how FWP handles its wildlife data passed out of the Senate Fish and Game and floor this week. SJ 30 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena) would set up a study by the Legislature to take a thorough look at FWP’s wildlife data, how it’s handled and how or whether it should be shared with the public. The bill is a solid step to determine whether FWP can restrict the dissemination of that data, and if so which section of state law it should go into. The resolution passed the Senate Fish and Game committee and awaits floor action.

PAL Act Headed To The Governor

The Public Access Land act, SB 341 (Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell) passed the House this week and is heading to the governor’s desk. The bill sets up grants to fund access agreements with willing landowners to inaccessible parcels of public land.

This bill is a solid win for public landowners, access advocates and those who wish to see tensions between landowners and outdoor enthusiasts ease. It was drafted with significant input from the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, MWF, Montana Trout Unlimited, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Montana Stockgrowers Association, Farm Bureau and the Montana Association of Land Trusts. This is how legislation should be done, in a coalition of stakeholders who come to the table in an honest effort to address an issue in a manner that respects all interests and rights.

There have been concerns that these agreements could be used to undercut existing prescriptive easements and harm public access. That’s why we made sure that there was accountability built into the bill to help ensure that this gaming of the program won’t occur. Three accountability measures to safeguard the public’s property, whether that be roads or public lands, were deliberately inserted into the bill.

Rulemaking: FWP has broad powers to make rules related to the programs the legislature enacts. While no outcome can be guaranteed, we want to assure our members that MWF and our affiliates, including the Public Land/Water Access Association, will be heavily involved in the rulemaking for the bill to ensure that there is a review of projects and that projects that would entail roads in dispute do not move forward.

Review: In addition, projects must be reviewed and recommended by the Private Land/Public Wildlife Council. This gives the public an opportunity to provide comment on the proposed agreements and weigh in before going to the Director of FWP for their approval or denial.

Final Approval: The final decision rests with the Director of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The PAL act was modeled off of the Block Management statutes. That program has opened up over 7 million acres of private land to hunters. As with any program, bad apples can try to take advantage of any loophole, real or perceived. If that happens, we’ll be back at the Legislature working on improving the act. The funding for the act is limited to 2 years as well, so the program will need to come back to the Legislature to prove its worth in order to get the funding to continue. That’s the final level of accountability that was built into the bill.

The PAL act brought together a diverse group of interests from both parties, and we’re confident it will be another tool to help improve public access.

Wolf Licensing Bills

A pair of bills to lower the cost of resident wolf licenses passed the Senate this week and are heading to the governor. HB 280 and HB 407 (Rep. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls) are both meant to get more wolf hunters in the field. HB 280 would make it possible for Montana hunters who buy a sportsman’s license to add on a wolf tag for $10. HB 407 would lower the cost of wolf licenses from the current $19 to $12. MWF is thankful to Chairman Brown for working closely with us on these bills.

Habitat Montana Bill Veto Requested

This week MWF helped rally our partners in the Montana Sporting Coalition to send a letter to Gov. Bullock requesting that he veto HB 265 (Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman). The bill would require state Land Board approval for Habitat Montana conservation easements. We saw last year the problem with that when politics were injected into the Horse Creek Complex conservation easement near Wibaux after a ranch family spent two years working out the details of the project with FWP.

That project permanently opened up 20,000 acres of public hunting in excellent habitat. The state Supreme Court in December ruled that board approval is not required, and never was intended by the Legislature when it created Habitat Montana more than 30 years ago.

State Parks, Trails Get A Boost

SB 24 (Sen. Terry Gauthier, R-Helena) passed the House this week and is heading to the governor. The bill increases the optional fee on motor vehicles from the current $6 to $9. The fee was set in 2003 and has been a big boost to state parks. The bill will pump roughly $2 million more per year into our parks, while also benefiting trails across the state. It brought together a broad coalition of sportsmen and sportswomen, conservation groups, health interests, realtors, the Chamber of Commerce and communities across the state who all value the quality of life that trails bring to all Montanans.

Those are the highlights as we wrap up the 2019 Legislature. MWF continues to be present to make sure the voice of hunters, anglers and wildlife conservationists is heard in the Capitol. Look for a thorough breakdown of all the bills this session in the coming weeks, and remember that our Bill Tracker continues to be updated in real time.

Legislature Passes Bad Bill for Habitat Montana

July 7, 2021April 14, 2019 by Guest Profile

The Montana Senate this week passed the bill that would severely damage Habitat Montana despite strong opposition from hunters, anglers and recreational users.

In addition, a good bill to address the issue of illegal gates on county roads was killed by the Legislature this week. Those key highlights mark the past week as we are very close to the end of the 2019 session.

Here are the highlights:

Attack on Habitat Montana Passes

HB 265 (Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman) would require state Land Board approval for conservation easements under the Habitat Montana program. This issue arose last year when the Land Board indefinitely delayed the Horse Creek Complex conservation easement near Wibaux for no valid reason. The project would have permanently opened 20,000 acres of excellent habitat to public hunting and helped secure the future of a ranching family. After Gov. Bullock approved the easement and had the authority of the governor to do so challenged, the state Supreme Court ruled that Land Board approval isn’t required of conservation easements.

MWF and our conservation partners made our opposition to this bill clear. We want to keep the certainty for landowners to begin negotiations with Montana FWP on easement projects. MWF and the Montana Sporting Coalition will be asking Bullock to veto this bad bill for landowners, wildlife and hunters.

Road Fine Bill Rejected by House

A bill that would have addressed the difficult issue of illegal gates on county roads that lead to public land was killed by the House this week.

SB 224 (Sen. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls) would have increased the fine for gating a county road from the current $10 per day to up to $80 per day, with no minimum fine. The bill was originally written to be a fine of up to $500 per day but was amended in the Senate to up to $80. That made it an inflationary adjustment from when the fine was passed more than 50 years ago.

But the bill died in the House Judiciary committee. And this week it was killed on the House floor in a blast vote to bring it back alive in a 55-42 vote. The bill had support from the Montana Association of Counties, county attorneys and sportsmen and sportswomen, and opposition only from the anti-access United Property Owners of Montana and the Rocky Mountain Stockgrowers Association. We’re disappointed this common-sense measure to improve access was killed by legislators.

Fair Chase Bills Die

Two bills to protect specific wildlife location data and uphold Montana’s fair chase hunting ethic were killed this week in the House FWP committee.

SB 127 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena) would have made it illegal to sell specific wildlife location data. It’s a trend we’ve seen in other states and want to get ahead of. The bill had passed the Senate and had broad support from Montana hunters and anglers. But the committee killed the bill, and only gave vague reasons for doing so.

In addition, SB 349 (Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena) would have made it illegal to use specific wildlife location data from Montana FWP to hunt or harass wildlife. The bill would continue to allow FWP to do needed research on big game, birds and fish, and maintain the public’s right to public information, but also prevent the abuse of that data. It had also passed the Senate but died in the House FWP committee.

MWF and our conservation partners had supported both bills. We are disappointed the Legislature didn’t stand with us and continue to put Montana in a leadership role in hunting ethics.

Parks, Trails Bill Keeps Moving

On a positive note, the bill to increase funding for state parks, trails and recreation is still moving ahead. SB 24 (Sen. Terry Gauthier, R-Helena) would increase the optional fee on light motor vehicles from the current $6 per year to $9. The funding would be used for our state parks and trails to increase recreational opportunities. The bill has broad support from conservation, community, and other interests. It passed the House on second reading this week 65 to 35. It now goes to the House Appropriations committee before being sent back to the House for third and final reading.

Public Access Land Network Bill Advances

The Public Access Land network bill, or PAL, would provide funding to work with landowners to purchase easements to landlocked public lands through negotiated agreements. SB 341 (Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell) brought together a broad array of sportsmen interests to build the program. It has been reviewed by FWP and would not detract from existing access programs including Block Management and Habitat Montana, but rather is meant as another tool to increase the public’s access to landlocked public lands.

The bill passed the House on second reading this week 93 to 7. It will now go to the Appropriations committee before it goes for third and final reading.

That’s a review of the major bills from the past week. MWF staff, our lobbyist and our volunteers remained engaged and are working to ensure that wildlife, habitat, and access are protected as we approach the end of the session. You can get a complete review of the dozens of bills on our issues by going to our Bill Tracker.

Nick Gevock

Conservation Director