The Montana Wildlife Federation has long honored our champions in the Montana Legislature, and no one is more deserving from his work in the 2017 session than Rep. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls. Tom was a champion on issues relating to wildlife, our public lands and opportunity for public hunters and anglers in 2017. He was always willing to speak to our issues and was very effective at pushing pro-public hunter and angler bills. He also held the line against bad legislation. Through it all, he maintained effective relationships with both Republicans and Democrats, earning respect in the halls of the Capitol and back home in Great Falls.
Join us in recoginzing Rep. Jacobson’s leadership on Monday, Sept. 18 at the Mighty Mo Brewing Company in Great Falls to honor Tom Jacobson with a conservation award. The gathering starts at 5 p.m. with the award presented at 6 p.m.RSVP Here.
Two people look out over the Upper Missouri Breaks NM. – CC License – Bob Wick
Nine state wildlife federation organizations from across the West along with the National Wildlife Federation sent a letter today to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging him to conclude his Department’s review of national monuments and recommend no changes to any of the monuments under scrutiny.
In their letter, the Montana Wildlife Federation, Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Colorado Wildlife Federation, Idaho Wildlife Federation, Nevada Wildlife Federation, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Association of Northwest Steelheaders (Oregon) Conservation Northwest (Washington), Planning & Conservation League (California), and National Wildlife Federation noted the important role that national monuments play in protecting wildlife, habitat, and public access to public land.
“As you know, the protection of wildlife habitat has been one of the essential uses of the Antiquities Act for more than a century, from Theodore Roosevelt’s designation of the 600,000 acre Mount Olympus National Monument in 1909 in order to protect habitat for the Roosevelt elk. Since that time, monuments have been designated specifically to protect large habitat areas across the West, in both rural areas and adjacent to fast-growing urban centers, with widespread local support,” the letter noted.
“We urge you to bring this review to an expeditious close and consistently uphold the principle that wildlife and habitat are objects of historic and scientific interest that merit the application of the Act. The prudent, patriotic, and scientifically sound action is to uphold Antiquities Act and declare that all monuments will remain as they were legally designated.”
The Interior Secretary is expected to announce the results of the Department’s review on August 24.
The finish line is in sight for the 2017 Montana Legislature, and several key measures affecting wildlife, habitat and hunting and angling opportunities are shaping up to work out well for sportsmen and sportswomen. As of last week, Montana’s premier habitat protection and access program, Habitat Montana, was moving through the Legislature intact, meaning hunters will again be able to protect habitat through conservation easements and purchase crucial habitat.
Habitat Montana
This program, which uses a small fee on hunting licenses to protect working farms and ranches with conservation easements as well as give Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks the ability to buy key parcels, is in HB 5. That’s the state capital improvements bill. Last session Habitat Montana had a budget rider put on it that barred new purchases of land that weren’t in the works. HB 5 last week was heard in the Senate Finance and Claims committee, where several sportsmen and conservation organizations as well as individuals showed up to show support to restore this popular program.
Constitutional Referendum
SB 236 would put to voters in 2018 a constitutional referendum that establishes hunting, fishing and trapping as a right. It sounds good, but a little digging reveals that the measure is full of problems for property rights, for resident hunters and for Montana FWP to manage wildlife. The measure would invite litigation and could make it impossible to discern between resident and non-resident hunters in license pricing as well as limiting hunting licenses for non-residents. The bill was heard in the House Judiciary committee and had several proponents, but also numerous opponents including a property rights attorney and several conservation organizations. MWF opposes the bill as hastily written and for the potential consequences it could have for our sporting traditions.
Habitat Improvements
Another bill would create a committee to oversee habitat improvement projects, HB 434. The bill would use a combination of federal and state dollars and individuals could apply for grants to do projects including weed treatments. Projects would have to be approved by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission. The bill has passed the House and was heard last week in the Senate Fish and Game committee.
State Parks Bill
HB 324, which would change the state parks division so that the Parks Board would hire and oversee the executive director of the division, is heading to Gov. Bullock. MWF opposed the bill for the problems it could cause within the agency, as well as the potential threat to federal excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, sporting gear and fishing tackle.
Looking Ahead
This week the hearing to confirm Martha Williams as FWP director will be held April 11 at 3 p.m. in Senate Fish and Game. Most bill hearings are over and the committees need to take executive action on bills hanging out there because the Legislature is trying to get done early.
As always, check the Montana Wildlife Federation bill tracker at montanawildlife.org/billtracker 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.
Governor Steve Bullock has announced the nomination of Martha Williams of Missoula as the next Director of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP).
Ms. Williams is currently a professor of law at the University of Montana. She has worked for FWP in the past, as well as the US Department of the Interior. In response to the nomination, MWF’s Executive Director Dave Chadwick said:
“Martha Williams has a distinguished career in wildlife management law and policy, including having worked for Fish, Wildlife and Parks in the past, as well as experience with federal land and wildlife agencies. Montana’s fish and wildlife is a crucial public resource, essential to our heritage and our economy. The Montana Wildlife Federation looks forward to working with Ms. Williams to defend science-based wildlife management, build partnerships with private landowners, and expand public access for hunting and fishing.”
It’s hard for most of us to imagine a time when hunting and fishing were completely unregulated. Setting up wildlife management agencies to implement science-based management and habitat protection was really the first step in the wildlife conservation movement at the start of the 20th century.
With strong support from hunters and anglers, wildlife management was set up to be funded by hunting and fishing licenses. This “user-pays” model, in which hunters and anglers paid license fees to support conservation of the resources they loved, was a truly remarkable innovation in paying for government services – and the last century has shown that it is also a wild success.
Today, we enjoy an abundance of fish and wildlife that was unimaginable a century ago. These resources support the best hunting, fishing, and wildlife-watching in the world, generating billions of dollars a year in economic activity and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.
At the same time, the challenges facing wildlife and habitat are getting tougher. As our communities grow, we’re taking up more and more of the lands and waters that wildlife depend on for survival. The spread of invasive species and diseases poses a constant threat to wildlife populations. Working with private landowners to protect habitat is essential, but it takes time. Wildlife conservation is getting more and more expensive, but funding continues to depend only on hunters and anglers buying annual licenses.
Perhaps most important, we’re now realizing that all Montanans benefit from our state’s fish and wildlife, but many of them never purchase a hunting or fishing license. Wildlife management shouldn’t be paid for only by sportsmen. Everyone who benefits from our fish and wildlife should help shoulder the burden. That means we need to broaden how we pay for wildlife management beyond just hunting and fishing licenses.
A few states have already expanded conservation funding beyond just hunters and anglers. In Missouri and Arkansas, wildlife management has been funded for decades primarily from a dedicated portion of their state sales taxes. A similar effort is underway in Iowa. Other states have found ways to supplement license dollars with lottery revenue, real estate taxes, and other sources of funding that more of the public can pay into.
The experiences in Arkansas and Missouri also show us that moving away from a sole dependence on license revenue has strengthened, not weakened, scientific wildlife management and hunting heritage. When all citizens chip in for conservation, hunting and fishing grow in importance as valued traditions and proven wildlife management tools – and not just revenue sources.
In considering ways to broaden how we pay for wildlife management, we are standing on the shoulders of giants – the first generation of hunters and anglers who, a century ago, invented the conservation movement. Today, we have an opportunity to carry on that legacy. By involving all Montanans in paying for wildlife conservation, we can ensure that our wildlife resources and hunting and fishing traditions endure for future generations.
Dave Chadwick is the Executive Director of the Montana Wildlife Federation. Contact him at dchadwick@mtwf.org
Jeff Lukas
Elk Campaign Manager
Jeff Lukas is a passionate conservationist who has been fishing and hunting his entire life. Whether it’s floating a small stream chasing trout, pursuing elk in the high country, or waiting in a blind for ducks to set their wings, Jeff is always trying to bring more people afield to show them what we are trying to protect. He loves being in the arena, and he will never shy away from conversations about the beautiful and unique corners of Big Sky country.
