Guest Profile - Montana Wildlife Federation

MONTANA SPORTSMEN: LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND DESERVES MORE THAN TEMPORARY FIX

June 3, 2021December 17, 2015 by Guest Profile

Hunters and anglers thank Montana delegation for their bipartisan support, vow to keep pushing for full funding and permanent reauthorization

Early this morning, congressional negotiators revealed a proposed budget for next year that includes partial funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the nation’s flagship program to provide public access to public land. The deal keeps the program alive for three more years and provides $450 million in funding for the next year. However, it falls short of what Montana hunters and anglers have repeatedly requested.

Created 50 years ago, the Land and Water Conservation Fund provides critical funding to Montana and every other state to improve access to public lands, parks and waterways. LWCF directs funds from offshore oil and gas royalties to support land conservation and public access. However, Congress has diverted more than half of these funds away from conservation purposes over the past half-century.

Though temporary reauthorization and partial funding are welcome, many Montana hunters and anglers want Congress to permanently reauthorize the LWCF and fully fund the program.

“The Land and Water Conservation Fund is crucially important to Montana’s hunters, anglers and everyone who enjoys our outdoors,” said Kathy Hadley, president of the Montana Wildlife Federation. “We’re grateful to Senator Jon Tester, Senator Steve Daines and Congressman Ryan Zinke for their support for permanent, full funding. We will continue to work with them to push the rest of Congress to get the job done.”

“We applaud the Montana delegation’s leadership in supporting this important program for sportsmen. However, reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund is only the first step,” said John Sullivan, co-chair of the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “We look forward to working with the delegation to ensure that the LWCF is fully funded at $900 million, as a conservation program is useless without funding. Public access is too critical an issue to ignore.”

“While we’re pleased the Land and Water Conservation Fund will serve Montana for a bit longer, we are disappointed that some negotiators in Congress still think they can get away with weakening one of our nation’s most successful programs,” said John Gibson, president of Public Land and Water Access, Inc. “This budget deal is like temporarily unlocking an illegal gate to our public lands. We need that gate torn down.”

“I’m encouraged that we made it this far, thanks to the bipartisan work of Montana’s congressional delegation,” said Jim Vashro, Flathead Wildlife, Inc. “We want to remind all lawmakers in Congress that the Land and Water Conservation Fund deserves much more than a temporary fix.”

Congress is expected to pass the extension of the LWCF, which is part of a broader, bipartisan funding proposal, this week.

THE MONTANA OUTDOOR HALL OF FAME

June 3, 2021December 14, 2015 by Guest Profile

Over the last two years, MWF has been working with the Montana Historical Society, Montana Wilderness Association, Montana Trout Unlimited, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana’s Outdoor Legacy Foundation, and the Cinnabar Foundation to launch and sustain the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was created to honor individuals, both living and posthumous, who made significant and lasting contributions to the restoration and conservation of Montana’s wildlife and wild places.

The first batch of twelve Hall of Fame inductees was honored in an induction ceremony on December 6, 2014. Future inductions will happen every other year. Nominations for the second round of inductees are being accepted until December 31, 2015, with the next inductees being selected and honored towards the end of 2016.

The focus of the awards is not only to recognize Montana’s historical and contemporary conservation leaders, but also to capture the stories of these individuals in an effort to contribute to public awareness and education. By celebrating the accomplishments of these men and women who contributed so much to Montana, we can inspire future generations to work to protect the Treasure State’s natural resources and outdoor traditions.

Conservation leader and long-time MWF member Jim Posewitz has been the force behind the creation of the Montana Hall of Fame. Jim had the idea after attending the 7th annual Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet as a guest speaker. When he returned to Montana, he approached various non-governmental organizations, the Montana Historical Society, and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to create an Outdoor Hall of Fame for Montana.

The first batch of inductees to the Hall of Fame include people from all periods of Montana’s history and all walks of life. They include some public historical figures and advocates who have worked for conservation in Montana “from territorial legislators, to activists in the 1930’s and 40’s, all the way to the present date,” says Posewitz. Several people with strong ties to MWF are in the inaugural class.

Help us continue to recognize and honor those who’ve worked so hard to make sure that Montana remains a state of healthy lands and waters, teaming with wildlife, with unmatched access and opportunity. Go online today and make a nomination. The window for the next round of honorees ends December 31.

Nominations can be made online at Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame.

SCIENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT SOMETIMES MEANS GIVING UP HUNTING OPPORTUNITY

June 3, 2021December 7, 2015 by Guest Profile

Elk sticks out tongue during winter scene.

Hunters are often asked to give up opportunity when a game species is struggling. And as conservationists, we know that it’s the responsible thing to do for the long-term health of our cherished public wildlife resources. In Montana, we have a long history of stepping up and doing just that. An excellent example is with antelope in eastern Montana following the brutal winter of 2010-2011. We went from 13,000 either sex licenses and an additional 7,000 doe tags to a total of 3,000 tags in southeastern Montana. It was a tough change, but that herd is recovering. Future generations will thank us for protecting their opportunity to hunt these antelope.

Hunting District 313, near the town of Gardiner on the north boundary of Yellowstone National Park, is another example where we need to limit hunting in order to support the long-term survival of our big game for future generations. The northern Yellowstone elk herd, which moves between the park and public and private lands north of there, has dropped to an average of just 2.7 mature bull elk per 100 cow elk. The number is below the threshold that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) considers sustainable, and the agency has proposed to address the situation by going from the current unlimited permit system to a limited draw for 75 bull permits.

This is a dramatic change, but it’s necessary. FWP biologist Karen Loveless has analyzed the data and come up with a science-based recommendation to protection the long-term survival of the herd. That’s what wildlife managers do – they use the best available science to recommend management actions that will keep the herd around for the future.

Unfortunately, FWP’s proposal has encountered some harsh, unwarranted criticism. Last week, the agency held a public information session on the proposal where several outfitters and area hunters criticized Loveless’ data. They pointed to a couple years when the herd wasn’t surveyed, including one year when the agency skipped the survey for budget reasons, to refute all of the data the agency has assembled. One outfitter repeatedly questioned Loveless’ educational background.

We can’t stick our heads in the sand or talk our way out of paying attention to good science. Facts are facts. The herd in HD 313 is struggling when it comes to bull-cow ratios. It’s been on the decline, despite the fact that the overall herd numbers are rising. Some who oppose the proposal are making claims about how much money it could cost the town of Gardiner to limit permits, but doing nothing will cost even more.

The Montana Wildlife Federation supports FWP’s efforts to recover the Gardiner elk herd. As hunters and conservationists, our first priority should always be the long-term survival of the public wildlife resource, managed with the best science. We can thank past generations for limiting their own hunting opportunity so that we can enjoy the best wildlife in the West today. We owe the same to future generations.

Nick Gevock is Montana Wildlife Federation’s Conservation Director.

DURFEE HILLS

June 3, 2021December 2, 2015 by Guest Profile

The Montana Wildlife Federation has for eight decades stood up for abundant wildlife, healthy habitat and public hunting opportunity. As part of that, MWF has been a leader in protecting our public lands, places that offer world-class wildlife habitat and equal opportunity for all Montanans to hunt.

Recently MWF debated the proposal by the N-Bar Ranch in Fergus County, which is owned by the Wilks Brothers, to trade roughly 4,868 acres of Bureau of Land Management public lands, including 2,785 acres of the Durfee Hills, for 5,100 acres of Wilks’ land that includes the former 2,243-acre Anchor Ranch in Blaine County. MWF voted to oppose the land trade.

It’s important to note that MWF is not opposed to land trades and public land sales that can benefit wildlife, habitat and public hunting. Montana is rife with examples of major land deals that have had public benefit. For example, land trades in the upper Gallatin River drainage blocked up large areas of public lands that are prime wildlife habitat. Many other carefully planned land trades have helped block up public lands and improve public access.

But in every case, it must be determined whether a land trade would benefit the public. And in this case, clearly it would not. MWF looked at the proposal on a value-for-value basis that considered several criteria, including the quality of the habitat; presence of huntable populations of wildlife including elk, mule deer and sage grouse; and public access and hunting opportunity.
The Anchor Ranch, a small isolated parcel of the much larger N-Bar Ranch, didn’t come close in terms of wildlife habitat to the Durfee Hills. The Anchor Ranch is essentially a sagebrush plain with little big game security habitat and relatively few big game animals. In contrast, the Durfee Hills contain superb wildlife habitat.

It’s true that the Durfee Hills are accessible primarily by air at this time. But in recent years, more and more hunters are accessing the area via airplane for a relatively affordable fee. The area has had roughly 200 elk hunter days per year, and high success rates, according to data from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The hunting district that encompasses the Durfee Hills has an elk population of more than 5,200. Roughly 2,000 of those elk inhabit the Durfee Hills at some time of the year. In addition, the Durfee Hills are the only remaining federal lands available for public big game hunting in Herd Unit 530, and are the core habitat for an elk herd that has provided 1,120 to 2,563 public elk hunter-use days over a decade.

In contrast, the Anchor Ranch, in Herd Unit 680, has walk-in access off of nearby dirt roads. The elk herd is small enough to warrant hunting by special permit only. It shows in elk hunter-use days, which have ranged from 100 to 533 over a decade.

One of the arguments to make the land trade was to open the Bullwhacker Road, which leads to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument south of the Anchor Ranch and the hunting opportunities it offers. However, that area is already accessible by boat on the river, as well as farther upstream via some roads.

A final reason to retain the Durfee Hills and the other parcels of nearby BLM public lands is to continue the public use and hunting access to a pair of state land sections that adjoin the federal lands there.

It is not in the interest of the public to trade away some of the best wildlife habitat in Montana. Land trades with private landowners have offered some solid benefits to the public over the years, but this would one would not. The BLM should reject this offer and keep the Durfee Hills in public ownership for the public to enjoy.

Bill Geer is a retired wildlife biologist and a board member of the Montana Wildlife Federation. Contact him at whgeer@bridgemail.com

This column appears in the Missoulian and in the Billings Gazette

BIRD HUNTING SOLO IN EASTERN MONTANA

June 3, 2021November 17, 2015 by Guest Profile

Let me start by saying that if you do not have access to a bird dog, but you know someone who does, it is time to invite him or her hunting. For me, it is simply more enjoyable to have a companion, two or four legged, in the field but there will always be times when hunting alone is the only option. Montana offers such amazing habitat that sitting around and watching football on the weekends would be a tragic waste of public hunter’s time. Below are strategies to guide a hunter on the day he turns off the television and sets off to fill his game bag.

Shoot straight:

Alright so this one is obvious, but it still has to be said; without a dog, you are responsible to chase down cripples, a task easier said than done. Hunting alone is not the time to take impressive or long shots. Shoot one bird, mark it, and immediately retrieve it. It is critical to put a good mark on the bird and get to that spot as quickly as you can. Pheasants are tough birds and they will vanish if your shot is not dead accurate.

Hunt the seams:

The highest percentage areas for a solo hunter are usually along the seams that separate food from cover. The essential element to hunting the seams is setting up for the flush, and the follow-up.

Hunt into the wind:

The best way to get within range of pheasants is to minimize noise and hunt into the wind whenever possible. This creates easier shooting opportunities as the bird will most likely flush against the wind.

Concluding thought:

Montana has some of the best pheasant hunting in the country and a lot of it is accessible to the average hunter who is willing to grab a map and hit the road. Between all the private lands enrolled in Block Management, state Wildlife Management Areas, and BLM land there is no excuse not to get out this season, even if you do not have a dog.

Jeff Lukas

Conservation Director