Wildlife - Montana Wildlife Federation

Values of the Breaks: Celebrating One of Montana’s Most Cherished Landscapes

October 21, 2025January 17, 2023 by Guest Profile

Designated on January 17th, 2001 by President Clinton, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is a place revered by hunters, anglers, and recreationists alike. On the 22nd anniversary of the designation, the Montana Wildlife Federation has released a new video documenting the value of the special landscape.

Featuring diverse viewpoints including a local farmer and rancher, a small business owner and a hunter, the video explores how the national monument designation has enhanced the landscape, increased access, improved ranching, hunting, and outdoor recreation opportunities in the Upper Missouri River Breaks.

Originally deployed by conservation champion, President Teddy Roosevelt, The Antiquities Act has been used by presidents of both parties as a bipartisan tool for protecting precious American landscapes. A recent University of Montana poll showed strong bipartisan support among Montana voters for the use of the Antiquities Act in preserving our public lands.

“Montana’s national monuments are a cornerstone of our outdoor way of life,” said Frank Szollosi, Montana Wildlife Federation executive director. “On the anniversary of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument designation, it’s worth pausing to recognize and celebrate what a great tool the Antiquities Act has been for protecting Montana’s special places for future generations.”

Rick Anderson, a local farmer and rancher says the national monument designation has been integral to his operation.

“The Breaks are important to me because this is where I’ve lived my whole life,” Anderson said. “It’s the backbone of our farm and ranch. Without the river, our ranch would have no water. Prior to the designation, we had more trespass problems. Because of the monument, people are better informed.”

Small business owner, Haley Miller of Upper Missouri River Guides, is also featured in the film explaining how the national monument designation for the area is crucial to her business and way of life.

“The Missouri Breaks is an amazing landscape because of everything it has to offer: hunting, wildlife viewing, recreation,” Miller said. “The hiking is incredible, it’s a very family-friendly adventure. Whether you are a rancher, a canoer, a hunter, we can all only benefit from making sure this landscape only gets healthier. What makes it so important to us is that it’s public lands.”

Garrett Titus, Helena bird hunter, noted how Montana’s rapid population growth adds to the urgency of protecting places like the Upper Missouri River Breaks.

“Once our public lands are gone, they don’t come back,” Titus said. “Montana is growing extremely fast. We need to find a way to identify and protect places like the Missouri River Breaks because it allows us to experience wide open spaces and we need that and our future generations need that.”

Reconnecting Southwest Montana

August 5, 2021 by Guest Profile

Southwestern Montana is a patchwork of public and private land. While many people consider our public forests and mountain peaks to be pristine wildlife habitat, private lands consistently harbor abundant populations of wildlife and provide critical habitat for wintering big game. Pronghorn, in particular, typifies the relationship that wildlife has with private land. Year after year, our resident antelope completes a roughly 200 mile round trip journey from wintering grounds in the Beaverhead River watershed, to higher-elevation meadows nestled along the continental divide south of Anaconda in the summer. This migration route, one that has been used by generations of pronghorn, presents barrier after barrier with the most prominent being fences.

Pronghorn, like all ungulates, struggle to overcome the thousands of miles of fence in our valleys. Where elk and mule deer have evolved in a way that allows them to bound over fences in a single leap, pronghorn have evolved to crawl below. That makes this species particularly vulnerable to fencing. Luckily, biologists and wildlife managers have put their heads together to develop wildlife-friendly fence modification standards that both enable pronghorn to move freely while also keeping livestock in their pastures. Now, after years of studies, pronghorn movement data has shown us exactly where we need to focus our efforts and wildlife conservationists are chomping at the bit to make a change.

That’s why the National Wildlife Federation, our national partner in conservation, is now spearheading efforts to modify fences across southwest Montana. Through partnerships with the Montana Wildlife Federation, 2% for Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks, the Wild Rockies Field Institute, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Bureau of land Management, and, most importantly of all, willing private landowners, NWF is reconnecting southwest Montana. Volunteers from across Montana are chipping in to change the landscape and join together under the banner of conservation.

MWF was fortunate enough to be able to come out for a long day pulling fences, rolling barbed wire, and ripping posts out of the compacted prairie soil and, while we were able to get a significant chunk of fence pulled, that’s not what this project was really about. This project wasn’t even just about the pronghorn or wildlife in general. It’s about proving the collaborative nature of conservation in Montana. Volunteers, agency staff, nonprofits, and landowners working side by side, day in and day out is the Montana way. If good fences make good neighbors then it’s time to get to work.

By Montana Wildlife Federation Western Montana Field Coordinator Eric Clewis

Strong support for conserving big game migratory routes in Montana

March 12, 2021March 10, 2021 by Guest Profile

By: Eric Clewis

For the majority of the past century, the status quo was the protection of vast landscapes that would, in turn, protect critical wildlife habitat. With a growing understanding of wildlife ecology, however, our focus has shifted and our priorities have broadened. We now understand that large landscape conservation is not enough to sustain our wildlife. Wildlife needs room to roam and that means an interconnected landscape that allows free movement over the course of changing environments, stressors, and the organism’s life cycle.

The threats to wildlife movement are almost too many to count; habitat degradation and loss, urban development, disease, invasive species, and climate change name just a few of the many roadblocks to successful wildlife conservation and landscape connectivity. That’s why it is critical for wildlife conservationists to identify, and work to protect key migratory corridors. Over the past year, the Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) has taken an active role in working with other conservation organizations, hunters, and landowners to support new efforts to conserve big game migration corridors in Montana.

Recently, Pew Charitable Trusts commissioned a new poll that was conducted by the research firms FM3 and New Bridge Strategy. Over 500 Montanans were polled and results showed resounding support for work enhancing and protecting big game migratory corridors across the state. From that poll, roughly 88% of respondents were in favor of constructing new wildlife crossings and adopting strategies that conserve migratory routes. Additionally, nearly three-quarters responded in favor of requiring new housing developments to avoid migration routes and 87% support incentivizing private landowners to protect wildlife movement. This data shows that Montanans from all walks of life understand the risks and are ready to take steps towards protecting their wildlife.

Ultimately the poll also demonstrated that Montanans are keyed in on the real issues at hand. Montana residents consistently rated barriers to wildlife movement, such as highways and fences, as significant threats to migrating wildlife. It’s no secret that Montana is growing. With growth comes new roads, new fences, and increased impacts on wildlife habitat. Having support from a wide array of residents will be key to overcoming these challenges. This will not only make Montana safer for wildlife but will also reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and make our roads safer for people as well.

Fortunately, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) is already moving forward to demonstrate their commitment to these issues by producing a new strategy called the Terrestrial Wildlife Movement and Migration Strategy, which will guide the department towards highlighting and enhancing their work in conserving migratory pathways for wildlife within this state. This document identifies issues to wildlife movement in Montana while also establishing the vision and strategies needed to achieve functioning landscape connectivity.

The issues that are impacting the future of wildlife movement and connectivity in Montana are daunting, but there is overwhelming support for conserving big game migration routes and improving habitat connectivity for wildlife. Whether red, blue, urban, or rural, people across Montana can agree that we need to take strong steps toward making our landscapes work for both people and wildlife. Public opinion, just like wildlife science, has evolved to meet new challenges and Montanans are up for the task. We encourage all wildlife conservationists to speak to your state officials, federal land managers, and the Governor to let them know that we all stand behind these initiatives and that it is time to take action towards protecting migratory wildlife in Montana.

Photo by Marcus Strange.

Montana Poised to Establish a National Precedent for 21st Century Conservation Funding

March 30, 2021October 16, 2020 by Guest Profile

Montana hunters, anglers, conservationists support bid for $18 million-a-year investment in wildlife, habitat, access

The Montana Wildlife Federation is Montana’s oldest, largest and most effective statewide wildlife conservation and sporting organization. Our roots date back to 1936, when hunters and anglers joined landowners to restore Montana’s depleted wildlife. We have an 84-year record of working to solve the difficult issues surrounding public wildlife, habitat and access to enjoy our public trust resources.

MWF endorses I-190 and CI-118 because of their tremendous potential to address longstanding financial issues surrounding many of our public resources. It’ll be extraordinary if Montana voters support this new revenue stream for conservation. Natural resources, working lands and public recreation would tremendously benefit from passage of these ballot initiatives.

With CI-118 and I-190, it’s estimated that Montana’s budget for public land access and management would see an $18-million boost in revenue. I-190 is a statutory initiative that legalizes, regulates, and taxes marijuana in Montana. CI-118 amends the Montana Constitution to make the minimum age for consumption and purchase of marijuana 21.

I-190 includes language that earmarks half of generated marijuana tax revenue for conservation efforts, however, CI-118 also needs to pass for these funds to be made available. The Nongame Wildlife Special Revenue Account, State Park Special Revenue Account, and Trails and Recreational Facilities Account will each get more than 4 percent of tax revenue generated from marijuana sales. Habitat Montana alone will get 37 percent of collected revenue. Combined, that’s more than $18 million per year in funding for Montana’s wildlife, waters, and public lands.

Montana Wildlife Federation is taking the extraordinary step of endorsing these ballot measures because funding deficiencies for public natural resources and their enjoyment have been decades in the making and need to be addressed. A 2019 report produced by Montana-based Headwaters Economics found numerous funding shortfalls to keep up with the growing demands on our state’s parks, ranches and farms, public trails and public wildlife. For example:

Wildlife management and conservation needs an estimated $15 million annually to keep pace with a host of growing challenges, from emerging issues like Chronic Wasting Disease in big game, aquatic invasive species in our fisheries to longstanding conservation priorities that include restoring key wildlife habitat such as big game winter range.
Working lands including private farms, ranches and timberlands have an unmet need of $12.4 million. The needs include conservation easements over lands slated for development. Easements keep these lands in working agriculture and timber production, while also ensuring they provide the open space to maintain wildlife habitat and public recreation on these important areas.
State trails for multiple-use recreation have a $7.1 million need to address safety, erosion and access. Statewide nearly three quarters of Montanans use trails Funding is needed for maintenance and improvements.
The Montana State Park system has an estimated $25.7 million maintenance backlog just to keep up with the demand on facilities. The backlog includes repairing and upgrading campgrounds, toilets, and other facilities, and boosting educational programs to meet the increased visitation.

With roughly half of the public revenue generated by I-190 and CI-118 dedicated to these important needs, Montana is poised to establish a significant national precedent for funding conservation in the 21^st century. The funding will benefit wildlife habitat on public and private lands – including important big game winter range and helping efforts to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered. It will go toward our state parks. And it will go toward trails and recreation that all Montanans enjoy. This initiative would benefit all Montanans; our quality of life, ranchers and landowners who are our partners in conservation, and our growing outdoor recreation economy.

If approved by Montana voters, Montana Wildlife Federation will collaborate with many others to ensure that state government will abide by the will of the electorate. MWF will staunchly oppose any attempts at reallocation of existing or new conservation appropriations.

Elk Management in Montana, A Survey of Montana Hunters

March 30, 2021January 28, 2020 by Guest Profile

More than 1,200 elk hunters have spoken up to call for more public hunting access to achieve better elk management in a statewide survey. The Montana Wildlife Federation has been conducting the Montana Elk Management Survey for several months to gauge hunters’ attitudes toward different approaches to elk management and found a strong desire to improve access during the five-week general season to help address game damage to private lands, push elk onto public lands and help get a better harvest of elk when the most hunters are in the field.

Eight in 10 respondents said in the survey it is very important or important to increase public access for hunting during the general season to achieve better elk management. Montana has the longest general rifle opportunity for deer and elk in the West, with a five-week season. For decades, public hunting during the general hunting season has been the primary management tool for elk and Montana hunters said they want to maintain that and return to an emphasis on the five-week season.

Another finding showed that nine out of 10 Montana hunters said maintaining high ethical standards in elk hunting is very important or important in the future of elk management.

“This survey indicates that Montana elk hunters are nearly unanimous in their desire for FWP to manage elk through public access and public hunting,” said Dave Chadwick, MWF Executive Director.

The Montana Elk Management Survey Report is available here.