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Guest Profile

Western Governor’s agree, Sage Grouse shouldn’t be managed based on population number

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Sage Grouse. Photos by Bob Wick, BLM
Photos by Bob Wick, BLM. Sage Grouse.

INCYMI: Last week, Interior Secretary Zinke ordered a review of the greater sage grouse conservation plans. The 60-day review by the Interior Department team could upend plans that are based on science, conditions in individual Western states, and the overall threats to sage grouse, including the loss and degradation of its habitat.

Zinke is considering directing the Department to change its approach to sage grouse, moving from a habitat management model to one that sets population objectives for the states. Western Governors believe this is a mistake. In a letter sent to the Secretary, Governor Mead (R, Wyoming) and Governor Hickenlooper (D, Colorado) said that population management ignores the scientific view that habitat is critical to the sage grouse’s long term survival.

Western Governors are also concerned that the order by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review and perhaps significantly alter the greater sage-grouse conservation plans would risk and derail the years-long effort to save the bird and a landscape that supports 350 other species. The secretarial order could create more delay and impede what Montana and other western states want – growing, healthy sage-grouse populations and the conservation of an iconic landscape. Stepping back and re-debating will only delay and undermine the restoration of the sage brush steppe landscape and sage grouse. The Secretary should listen to the original stakeholders who spent years debating, finding compromises and working to create a plan that was good for sage grouse and our western way of life. Any review or changes to the plan should be made with the original goal in mind – avoiding further declines in the sage grouse populations to the point where drastic measures like an Endangered Species Listing will be required to save it.

John Bradley is the MWF Eastern Field Representative. Contact him at jbradley@mtwf.org

Wildlife Federation Urges Secretary Zinke to Release Wildlife Funds

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Elk_shutterstock_457334638

The Montana Wildlife Federation, along with wildlife federations from 34 other states and the National Wildlife Federation, have called on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to ensure that the department’s recently-announced review of grants doesn’t impair state wildlife management and hunting access programs.

Last month, Secretary Zinke announced a freeze on all Interior Department grants over $100,000 while the agency reviews its budget.  Unfortunately, this freeze has caught up the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Wildlife And Sport Fish Restoration Program.  These funds are crucial to  management of fish and wildlife, and providing hunting and fishing opportunities. In Montana, the delay in funding has already caused the cancellation of a statewide Hunter Education conference and instructor training. A prolonged delay could result in the missed opportunity of the Grant Marsh WMA in eastern Montana, as well as other long-term conservation projects.

Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson are not “grants” in the traditional sense, because they are directly funded from excise taxes that are paid by all of us hunters, anglers, recreational shooters, and boaters and put into a special Trust Fund to enable our state fish and wildlife agencies to carry out their conservation and management missions. Senator Jon Tester has also asked the Interior Secretary to release wildlife management funds.

We hope that Secretary Zinke will honor our request and allow these crucial funds to move forward without delay.

Read the Wildlife Federations Letter to Zinke.

ICYMI: Tester’s Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act

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Tester’s recently announced Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act aims to permanently withdraw federal mineral rights on 30,000 acres of public land in the Custer Gallatin National Forest adjacent to the Absoraka Beartooth Wilderness and Yellowstone National Park. It also eliminates the ability for proposed mines to expand onto unclaimed public land.

Tester’s bill expands the Interior Department’s two year prohibition on new mineral right claims on public lands just north of the Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone National Park visitors spent an average of $196 million in Park County in 2014. With more than 4 million people have visited the national park this past year, the ecosystem sustains nearly 3,000 jobs. Senator Tester understands that a clean river is worth a whole lot more to Montanans than a little bit of gold. Visitors come from around the world every year to the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem to experience the pristine land and water, and marvel at the abundance of fish and wildlife. Sen. Tester’s bill will help ensure that future generations will be able to have the same experience.

“This bill means cold, clear water for trout, boaters and irrigation. It means elk and bighorn sheep can keep migrating in and out of the park. It recognizes the Yellowstone River as the pulsing, living main artery of Paradise Valley,” said John Salazar, Livingston resident and MWF Board Member. “Our ranches, our recreation, our families, our jobs, if not our very souls rely on clean water and access to our public lands.”

Senator Tester deserves a thank you for standing up for Montanans and preventing an unwanted gold mine. To learn more about the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act and the businesses that are involved, click here.

Habitat Montana Restored, and You’re to Thank

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Ninepipes WMA credit Steve Woodruff
Ninepipes WMA credit Steve Woodruff

Thanks to your hard work, Montana’s premier conservation and access program, Habitat Montana, was fully restored.

HB 5, the state capital improvement budget, passed the House in a final vote on Friday and is heading to Gov. Bullock for his signature. The bill includes Habitat Montana, a program paid for by hunter license dollars that provides funding for conservation projects.

For over two decades Habitat Montana has protected working farms and ranches through conservation easements, and allowed Montana to buy key parcels from willing sellers, securing hunting access and fishing sites. The 2015 Montana Legislature put a rider on the state budget that barred future purchase of land. Thanks to calls and emails from you and many other MWF members, legislators ended that restriction in this year’s budget.

Thank you for responding to all of MWF’s calls-to-action. And we also owe a big thanks to the coalition of hunting and angling organizations that came together this session to make restoring Habitat Montana the top priority in the 2017 Legislature. Working together, we are ensuring that future generations will also experience the hunting, fishing, and other great outdoor recreation we enjoy today.

Capitol Wildlife Report: Habitat Montana crosses hurdle, Constitutional Referendum goes down

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ElkCapitol

We’re down to the final days of the 2017 Legislature, and this past week was a good one for wildlife and habitat in our state.

Habitat Montana on track

Habitat Montana, the state’s premier conservation tool to protect vital habitat and provide access for hunters and anglers, cleared another hurdle last week. The program is included in HB 5, the state’s capital improvements bill, and last week it passed out of the Senate.
HB 5 was amended in the Senate and has to go back to the House for concurrence. If it does, the bill will be heading to the governor for his signature. Montana’s hunters and anglers will again be able to acquire quality wildlife habitat, and will gain access to those lands as well as adjoining public lands for hunting.

Constitutional referendum fails

SB 236 would have put before Montana voters a constitutional amendment that created a right to hunt, fish and trap. While Montanans overwhelmingly support our outdoors traditions, the measure was fraught with legal problems that could have affected private property rights, the ability of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to differentiate between resident and non-resident hunters for license pricing, and the ability for state biologists to manage big game, birds and fish.
The measure requires 100 votes, and earlier in the session received 30 votes in the Senate. It hit the House floor after a 10-9 vote in the Judiciary Committee, but was amended and only received 48 votes for it. A motion to reconsider SB 236 came up on Thursday, but it went down even harder in a 38-62 vote.

Habitat bill amended

A bill that brought together landowners, hunters, counties and others, HB 434, was amended for the worse this week. The bill would have allowed FWP to work on habitat improvement projects on public and private land, including weed treatment. Any project would have to be approved by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, and would have required matching dollars. But the Senate Fish and Game committee amended into the bill large sections of HB 651. That was a bad bill that would have gutted Habitat Montana, and created a redundant access specialist position that already exists. The bill is heading back to the Senate and could go to a conference committee, where it will hopefully be restored to a good bill that benefits habitat.

Deer permits, outfitter check in and more

In other bills, SB 171 that would have limited the ability for FWP to issue unlimited deer permits to manage harvest was table in the House FWP committee. SB 185 that would have allowed an outfitter to report clients’ game animals died in House FWP. Several other bills that have been broad consensus measures are making their way to the governor.

Winding down

The Legislature is taking a four day break over the Easter holiday, and will be back on Tuesday. It will be working to finish the state operating budget (HB 2) and working to get an infrastructure improvement bill passed. It’s close to the finish.

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.

Jeff Lukas – MWF Elk Campaign Manager

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.