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.
