Wildlife

On Thursday, the Senate Fish and Game committee will hear testimony on another important bill for Montanans and Montana’s wildlife.  SB 127, sponsored by Senator Jill Cohenour, will prohibit the sale of wildlife identification information for the purpose of hunting. In other words, it will outlaw the buying and selling of GPS coordinates and other information to use in locating trophy wildlife.  Simply put, this bill means that private individuals will no longer be able to profit by selling the location of trophy wildlife to the highest bidder.

Montana’s hunting heritage depends on everyone having an equal opportunity to pursue wild game, not just a few who can afford to pay.  SB 127 will also reiterate Montana’s commitment to the fair chase ethic.

The Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) strongly supports preserving fair chase hunting and our public wildlife heritage. To this end, we are going to be working hard to pass SB127.

MWF will be testifying in favor of this bill at its hearing and turning out volunteers to speak up. If you would like to lend your support contact MWF Central Montana Field Representative Marcus Strange at mstrange@mtwf.org.

The 2019 Legislature is now in full swing and with it this week a bad bill for our public wildlife and the people’s ability to have a say in how it’s managed was heard in front of the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks committee on Tuesday.

HB 161, sponsored by Rep. Ron Tschida, R-Lolo, would have limited the input that the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department would be able to consider. In essence, the public would be able to comment, but the agency & the commission wouldn’t be able to consider that input.

The bill had more than 40 opponents. They include hunters, anglers, past directors of state wildlife agencies, wildlife advocates and many more. Those opponents spoke about how much Montanans value abundant wildlife and state parks, but most importantly, they value their ability to be partners in how those resources are managed. The Montana Sporting Coalition, which is made up of more than a dozen hunting and angling groups gave testimony for MWF as well as our partners in the coalition and we sent in this letter to show our solidarity against the bill. A committee vote is expected next week and we are hopeful that the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks committee makes the correct decision and tables this bill.

Other bills with hearings this week as well were HB 29 which came out of the Environmental Quality Council the effects the regulations for training bird hunting dogs. It was meant to clean up a confusing law that made it against the law for everyone who runs dogs on public lands, because of the threat to nesting game birds. The law was the result of good work during the interim study and passed unanimously out of the House FWP committee.

In addition, this week the House FWP committee heard a bill to allow hunters to donate their refund from special permits back to the Block Management program (HB 239), and a bill to clarify the process for obtaining a fish pond license (HB 205). MWF supported both.

Bills are starting to show up on wildlife and public lands issues in force as the engine of the legislature starts to get up to full speed. Check our Bill Tracker on the MWF homepage. For more frequent updates, join our Legislative Action Team.

The Montana Sporting Coalition is made up of more than a dozen hunting and angling organizations, collectively representing tens of thousands of Montanans. We come from all walks of life and every corner of the state.

We share a deep commitment to our sporting heritage, the habitat that provides our opportunity and to Montana’s fish and wildlife. Perhaps most importantly, our coalition values our constitutional right to work with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) through public comment and our ability to present our positions, opinions and biological take on specific issues related to fish & wildlife management.

With that in mind, the Coalition strongly opposes HB 161. Montanans deserve to be honestly heard and respected. As a Montanan who cherishes our wildlife, state parks and just as importantly, your ability to exercise your constitutional right to have your input matter in decisions made by your government, we ask you to please oppose HB 161. 

With two weeks behind us, the wildlife bills are starting to move forward in the state Legislature. But hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts are looking ahead to a very troubling bill that is up next week.

HB 161, sponsored by Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Lolo, would eliminate the requirement that the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission consider any input from the public other than landowners in wildlife decision making.

It’s an attack on the Public Trust of wildlife and would limit consideration to a very narrow group of people. HB 161 is one of the worst wildlife bills in years. We need as many voices at the Legislature as possible to kill this bill. Please attend the hearing on HB 161 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22 in room 172 of the state Capitol.

Clean-up Bills Advance

This week several clean up bills that are good for wildlife and hunters did advance out of committee. They included HB 94 is a clean-up bill for Block Management; HB 43, which allows a landowner a non-transferrable elk license or permit for allowing public hunters onto their property and HB 104, which provides a free prerequisite license for Block Management participants.

In addition, HB 143, which removed the sunset date on the non-resident upland game bird license, advanced.

On the Senate side, SB 79 was heard in the Fish and Game Committee. The bill simply cleans up how bonus points for hunters applying as a party are used, by averaging the points for each individual and then squaring them just like for individuals.

Legislative Social a Big Success

This week we also worked on outreach to state legislators and statewide elected officials. The Montana Wildlife Federation and our partners with the Montana Sporting Coalition, as well as the Sportsmen’s Caucus, hosted our legislative social on Wednesday at The Brewhouse. The event was a huge success, drawing more than 60 lawmakers, Gov. Steve Bullock, and numerous senior FWP staff. It was a chance for sportsmen and sportswomen and their organizations to talk directly to legislators about the importance of the Habitat Montana program.

MWF continues to update and refine our Bill Tracker, which is available at the top of our homepage. Become a member of our Legislative Action Team to get more frequent updates and action alerts as the session goes on and more bills come in.