News

In 2013, USFS Law Enforcement Officer Dianne McKinley intervened to prevent a suicide in a remote area of the Flathead National Forest.

Another abysmal idea for our federal lands is coming out of Utah, with a bill (H.R. 622) by Rep. Jason Chaffetz that would strip federal US Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) law officers of their authority to protect public lands and public safety. In addition to firing hundreds of officers, the bill would force the federal government to give money to local counties to pay for local sheriffs to patrol public lands.

“It’s time to get rid of the BLM and US Forest Service police,” Chaffetz said in releasing the bill.

We couldn’t disagree more. Last year’s occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by a group of armed extremists illustrates how much we need law enforcement on federal lands. The officers and investigators that patrol our public lands help protect the resources and defend public safety. In addition to regular law enforcement activities, they address threats unique to the natural lands they protect – everything from wildfire investigations to the theft of archeological resources – and they receive extensive training to do so, above and beyond other law enforcement authorities.

We shouldn’t be surprised to see this latest attack by Rep. Chaffetz on our public land: he also just introduced a bill to begin a large-scale sell off of our national lands, starting with more than three million acres throughout the West. However, we’re shocked that he would push his bitter agenda by going after law enforcement officers.

Federal officers put their lives on the line to protect our public lands. They deserve respect for the difficult work they do, especially in the face of continued budget cuts coming from politicians like Rep. Chaffetz.

Things picked up last week at the Capitol, with a host of bills addressing hunting licenses, fishing access site maintenance and hunting access to state lands.

Several bills that have already passed one chamber of the Legislature moved over to the other side and received hearings. In addition, several new bills were heard.

Hunting Licenses

SB 119, sponsored by Sen. Jedidiah Hinkle, R-Bozeman, would add to the list of reduced price hunting licenses for Montana-born hunters, youth and college students. No one spoke for the bill, and MWF opposed it. MWF believes we need to maintain that the license structure put in place last session by HB 140, which simplified licenses and put FWP on a stable financial path.

Fishing Access Site Fee

HB 204, sponsored by Rep. Alan Redfield, R-Livingston, would have created a $25 per boat user fee for fishing access sites. The funding would go toward controlling weeds, fighting aquatic invasive species and other site maintenance. MWF opposed the bill, but said the concept was good. We recommended a fee per vehicle that uses fishing access sites. Stay tuned to see if we can work out a solution on this bill.

Sage-grouse Funding

In 2015, a broad coalition of industry, agriculture and conservation groups passed Montana’s plan for sage grouse conservation. Now after two years, the program needs its funding renewed, and that’s a tall order given the tight state budget. MWF joined the partners to support HB 228, sponsored by Rep. Jim Keane, D-Butte, to allocate $2 million per year for the program. In addition to conserving sage-grouse, Montana’s sagebrush-steppe habitats are key for numerous other game and non-game species.

Negotiating Access Issues

MWF has been heavily engaged with Rep. Kelly Flynn, R-Townsend and chairman of the House FWP committee, to develop a bill to put more funding into the popular Block Management Program. We will continue working toward a deal on the bill to gain more public hunting access.

Last week, we led opposition to an amendment to HB 96, a bill allowing nonresident landowners to get licenses for family or ranch employees in exchange for allowing public hunters on their property. The amendment would have opened up those licenses to be given to anyone, which would lead to abuse and under-the-table deals to sell licenses. Thank you to all the MWF members who called in opposition to this bill, your calls make a big difference!

Looking Ahead

This week will be busy at the Capitol. We will be hearing two bills that would reduce the price of hunting licenses for certain nonresidents, HB 315 and HB 318, sponsored by Reps. Jeff Essmann and Steve Lavin, respectively. We will also have bills on county bounties for predators, HB 305, sponsored by Rep. Bill Harris, R-Winnett; banning feeding of wild turkeys, SB 111 sponsored by Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell; and a bill cleaning up state law on state management of wolves, SB 110 sponsored by Sen. Mike Phillips, D-Bozeman.

As always, check the Montana Wildlife Federation bill tracker at www.montanawildlife.org for the most up-to-date information on bills and where they’re at in the process. For questions, contact MWF Conservation Director Nick Gevock at ngevock@mtwf.org or by calling 458-0227 ext. 108.

Here we go again. Representative Don Young has introduced the State National Forest Management Act (H.R. 232). This bill would allow state governments to take over up to two million acres of national forest land. That is more than the entire Gallatin National Forest (1.8 million acres) or nearly all of the Flathead National Forest (2.3 million acres). The bill would also require that the lands be managed for maximum revenue, not wildlife habitat or public access.

Representative Young has been in Washington DC for the last 45 years, so he might not realize that people who live in the West overwhelmingly oppose state takeover of national forests. Montanans recognize that these lands belong to all Americans and should be managed for multiple uses, not just to make money. The facts are clear, states cannot afford to manage these lands – and they will be forced to sell them off.

Politicians need to quit trying to grab our public lands and focus instead on real solutions that would protect wildlife habitat, improve forest management, and preserve our outdoor heritage.

Show your support for public lands by joining hundreds of other Montanans in the Montana Capitol at noon on January 30 to show our leaders how important our lands are to Montana. RSVP today!