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Sonya Smith

Muddying Montana’s Waters

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Scenic 2 - Matt Rogers

Rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands play an integral role in the lives of many Montanans. The waters that give us a place to fish, hunt, and float deserve to be protected. Unfortunately, hunters and anglers are seeing that, once again, our streams, lakes, and wetlands are under attack.

An executive order just issued by the Trump Administration would repeal the Clean Water Rule, removing the protections of the Clean Water Act from hundreds of thousands of miles of streams and waterways in Montana and across the nation. In fact, this directive removes protections for 60 percent of the nation’s stream miles and 20 million acres of wetlands.

The Clean Water Rule was developed by the EPA and Corps of Engineers over several years of work, and was intended to clarify legal confusion that existed in the past. The agencies met with over 400 stakeholder groups, including the energy industry, farmers, ranchers, and hunters and anglers. The EPA listened to concerns from the farmers and ranchers and made sure that the rule explicitly excludes artificial irrigation systems, ponds, and ditches, while also reaffirming existing exemptions for normal farming, ranching, and forestry practices.

Under the new executive order, a mining company will no longer need any government permission to dredge the creek upstream from your local trout honey hole. They won’t need permission to build a road through a creek or channel and divert the river to create settling ponds.

Anyone who has spent a day fishing a mountain creek or an early morning in a duck marsh knows how fragile those environments can be. As anglers and hunters, we are careful to respect streambeds and shorelines. Industrial users should also be required to take care of the resource.

In addition to providing quality habitat and hunting and fishing opportunity, small streams and seasonal wetlands provide drinking water for one in three Americans. These areas trap floodwaters, recharge groundwater supplies, and filter out pollution. Approximately 54% of Montana’s population uses public drinking water systems that rely on clean surface water; the rest of Montanans rely on clean groundwater.

John Bradley is MWF’s Eastern Field Representative. You can reach him at jbradley@mtwf.org

Contact My Representatives

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Take Action Now
Call the Legislature (406)444-4800 Contact Your Legislator via Online Form http://leg.mt.gov/css/Sessions/65th/legwebmessage.asp Look Up Your Legislator http://leg.mt.gov/css/find%20a%20legislator.asp Find Your Legislator from a Map of Montana http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=b5b72a5a272c47f0956cf8b647044e40

Capitol Wildlife Report: Fishing Access, Hatcheries, Sage Grouse, and More

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For multiple legislative sessions we’ve seen persistent and numerous attacks on wildlife, habitat and on the authority of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

This session is a lot different. Things are slower – and that’s a good thing. The Montana Wildlife Federation and our conservation partners have worked hard over the last few years to beat back bad wildlife laws. In addition, Montana FWP is sound financially, thanks to a hunting and fishing license bill passed last session that standardized the numerous free and reduced priced licenses, and made reforms to the agency’s finances. In a tough budget session like 2017, we’re fortunate that FWP isn’t asking for additional funding.

That said, there were some bill hearings last week. MWF was there to make the voice of hunters, anglers, and other wildlife conservationists heard.

HATCHERY CHANGES

Last week, MWF supported HB 214, sponsored by Rep. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls. It would lift a restriction on the number of fish produced at the Fort Peck Hatchery. This was a basic change needed to get more fish out of the facility, and was supported by Walleyes Unlimited.

BILLS MOVING FORWARD

Several bills heard in the past weeks have finally moved out of committee. They include HB 108, Allocate wild buffalo license for tribal purposes and HB 128, Revise waiting period for bighorn sheep licenses.

In addition, several bills have come out of their respective chamber, and are moving forward by being sent over to the other legislative body. Those include HB 98, Revise classifications of striped skunk, civet cat, spotted skunk; HB 150, Clarify FWP residency requirement for armed forces member, spouse and dependent; SB 52, Clarify additional penalties for hunting with artificial light; and SB 84, Extend the paddlefish roe donation program.

LOOKING AHEAD

MWF continues to stay engaged in bills that are being debated. That includes testifying, but also suggesting amendments and working to ensure that any changes benefit wildlife, habitat and Montana hunters and anglers.

A couple bills will also be heard for the first time this week. They include HB 204, sponsored by Rep. Alan Redfield, R-Livingston, to provide new funding for maintenance of fishing access sites; and HB 228, by Jim Keane, D-Butte, Provide funding for sage-grouse stewardship.

To get the latest information on bills, go to the MWF Bill Tracker. In addition, contact MWF Conservation Director Nick Gevock at ngevock@mtwf.org or by calling 406-458-0227 ext. 108.

Good News for Elk and Elk Hunting

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The withdrawal of controversial habitat security standards by the U.S. Forest Service illustrates that our public lands do, indeed, belong to us all and we can all have an influence on how they are managed. It also shows the value of hunters uniting and working together.
In response to concerns by Montana hunters and various hunting conservation organizations, the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest recently dropped an amendment to the Divide Travel Plan that would have changed habitat security standards. The Forest Service decided, instead, to return to time-tested, science-based, big-game habitat security standards.

“We’re pleased that they dropped the amendment and went back to the old standards,” says Gayle Joslin of Helena Hunters and Anglers, an affiliate of MWF. “Standards are measurable and definable at the landscape level and this recognizes vegetative cover as an important thing.”

As those of us who have crawled through dense, dog-hair lodgepole thickets; climbed up and down steep, slippery slopes covered in of tag alder, and slowly worked our way through piles of blowdown in dark spruce bottoms in pursuit of wild elk . . . well, elk aren’t easy to hunt. But that’s a good thing. If hunting were too easy, there’d be less elk and more hunting restrictions such as limited permits. Or, in many places, elk flee to private lands off limits to hunting. What makes some places tough to hunt is what wildlife biologists call ‘habitat security’. Numbers of hunters, hunting-equipment technology, open-road density and the percentage of terrain covered by forests and other vegetation can all influence elk vulnerability and habitat security. Protecting and enhancing habitat security and reducing vulnerability often results in healthier, more balanced elk herds; good bull-to-cow ratios; more mature bulls in herds; higher calf survival rates and, therefore, more and better hunting opportunities.

Extensive, cooperative research between the Forest Service, state fish and game agencies and several timber companies in the 1970s and 1980s helped define terms such as “bull elk vulnerability” and “habitat security,” and led to the development of standards that the Forest Service has used when developing management plans. When the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest decided to adopt new standards, MWF, Helena Hunters and Anglers, Anaconda Sportsmen’s Association, Montana Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Clancy-Unionville Citizens Task Force filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service calling for further analysis and justification for the change. In response, the Forest Service decided to avoid litigation and drop the amendment.

“I believe it’s in the best interest of the public for me to withdraw the Record of Decision for the Amendment for the Divide Travel Plan Area Divide Travel Plan,” Forest Supervisor Bill Avey stated in a decision letter dated December 2.

This is good news for wild elk, and good news for those of us who hunt wild elk.

David Stalling is the Western Field Rep. for Montana Wildlife Federation. Reach him at dstalling@mtwf.org

MWF WELCOMES BILLINGS’ NEWEST CONSERVATION CLUB

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Yellowstone Valley Sportsmen logo

A new conservation group has formed in Yellowstone County with the hope of tackling a problem that faces almost every group in the state – engaging a younger crowd of men and women in conservation. Yellowstone Valley Sportsmen is a club based in Billings that is dedicated to protecting and enjoying Montana’s land and waters, wildlife, and outdoor heritage. The group will host events and activities that educate hunters and anglers, while engaging the local community. The club will also prioritize the recruitment of new hunters and anglers, in the field projects, education on both hunting and fishing tactics, as well as education and action on conservation issues.

One issue in particular that the club will pursue is the sportsmen and landowner relationship around Yellowstone County and eastern Montana. The eastern side of our state holds some of the best wildlife habitat in the world, but much of it is private. By rebuilding relationships with private landowners through stewardship and personal connection, we can restore the hunter access that past generations enjoyed.

To learn more about Yellowstone Valley Sportsmen and to get involved like their page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Yellowstone-Valley-Sportsmen-311347832584377/ or contact John Bradley at jbradley@mtwf.org.

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.