News

Wildlife bills kept MWF and our conservation partners busy last week as legislators work to pass bills before the upcoming transmittal deadline to get general bills to the other chamber of the Legislature.

Public roads bill hits roadblock

The main public access bill of the session, HB 295, faced a setback when it died 10-9 in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would raise the fine for gating a county road from the current $10 per day to up to $500 per day. It was carefully crafted for over a year, and drew the support of not only sportsmen groups but also the Montana Association of Counties. MWF is working to move the bill forward despite this setback. Stay tuned for how you can take action!

Sportsmen speak up against misguided Constitutional rewrite

MWF and numerous other sportsmen’s groups turned out to oppose SB 236, a referendum that would rewrite the Constitution’s language on hunting, fishing and trapping. The language in the proposed amendment would open up FWP to endless lawsuits, make it impossible to enforce wildlife protection laws, and otherwise hamper management of fish and wildlife. MWF’s efforts to work with the bill’s sponsor to draft practical language have been rebuffed. MWF was joined by numerous other opponents including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Trout Unlimited, and the Wild Sheep Foundation.

Unnecessary changes to FWP shooting range funding

MWF opposed HB 151, which would have mandated that FWP spend $350,000/year on shooting range grants and criminalized state employees if the money isn’t spent. We strongly support shooting range funding, but this bill was unnecessary – every shooting range grant in the past two years has been funded – and it would have jeopardized $20 million in federal Pittman-Robertson funds by diverting license dollars away from wildlife management.

State Parks management changes

HB 324 would change the administration of the state parks, giving the duty to hire the director to the State Parks Board and making some other key changes. MWF opposed this bill because it comes with a $2 million price tag and could have implications for hunter/angler federal excise taxes. The bill passed out of the House FWP committee and is moving forward.

Looking ahead

This week remains busy as we approach the transmittal deadline. We will join a diverse coalition of other conservation groups in opposing a bill that would call for the release of all wilderness study areas (HJ 9. Other bills coming up include SB 284, affecting sage-grouse; SB 262, on public road access; and SB 264, revising reporting requirements for outfitters.

As always, check the Montana Wildlife Federation bill tracker at www.montanawildlife.org 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.

Update: On Wednesday, May 5, the Senate voted not to repeal the Methane and Waste Reduction Rule by using the CRA.

In the latest attack on our nation’s clean air, water and public lands, the Senate has the BLM’s Methane and Waste Reduction Rule in its crosshairs. The vote which is expected to occur any day now would eliminate standards set by the BLM that limit natural gas waste from drilling on public lands. The House of Representatives has already used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to roll back these common sense standards that ensure natural gas is captured and sold, instead of being flared and vented.

Oil and gas wells currently waste methane worth more than $330 million annually by burning it up instead of saving it. As a result, taxpayers lose royalty payments that would add up to over $800 million over the next decade. These royalties would be split about evenly between the federal government and the states, and then used to help fund education, infrastructure projects, such as road and bridges, and mitigation projects to address the impacts of energy development to western communities.

Vented and flared methane pollution also contributes to Montana’s extreme weather, wildfires, and low stream flows that all increasingly pose threats to our lands and wildlife. The BLM Methane and Waste Reduction Rule is a win-win-win for our land, wildlife, and our economy: It reduces pollution and capture a wasted energy resource, while generating royalty revenue on our public lands.

If this rule is disapproved by the Congressional Review Act, then it undermines the ability of the BLM to regulate the waste of natural gas on public lands in the future. Using the CRA would create a problematic situation preventing the BLM from safeguarding publicly-owned methane and would go directly against its legal obligations to the taxpayer.

The BLM’s Methane and Waste Reduction Rule makes sense for taxpayers, and for public land users. The rule is supported by businesses, public health and conservation organizations, and individual recreationists. According to the 2017 Conservation in the West poll by Colorado College found, 84 percent of Montanans support requiring oil and gas companies to use updated equipment and new technology to capture methane emissions instead of wasting it by burning it off.

Natural resources on public lands are owned by all Americans and the wasteful management of these resources result in losses to the taxpayers. If oil and gas development are to proceed on public lands in the West then taxpayers need to be getting a fair return.

Last week, the Capitol was slammed with bills, including our highest priority public access bill of the session. MWF lobbyists and volunteers put in long days throughout the week to represent Montana hunters, anglers and other recreationists.

Removing Roadblocks on Public Roads

MWF’s access bill, HB 295, was heard this week before the House Judiciary Committee. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Jacobson, would increase the fine for illegally gating a county road from the current $10 per day to up to $500 per day. It would allow county commissioners to issue encroachment permits to landowners for fencing within the right of way, but still guarantee a road can’t be closed. The bill would also maintain stream access from bridges.

We are working to build support for this common sense access bill. Please help by sending a message to the Legislature at https://accurate-hobbit.flywheelsites.com/hb295/

Protecting Public Hunting Licenses

A bill meant to build relations between hunters and landowners that came out of the Private Land/Public Wildlife Council was amended in the House FWP Committee, and it turned into a divisive fight on the House floor that ultimately killed the measure. HB 96, sponsored by Rep. Zach Brown, would have given a landowner one elk license that could be given to a family member or full-time employee in exchange for allowing four public hunters. Unfortunately, the bill was amended to make the landowner license transferable to anyone, over the opposition of MWF and other advocates for public hunters.

When the bill was heard on the House floor, Rep. Brown tried to amend it back to its original form, but that failed. Ultimately Brown asked that his own bill be killed, and it died in a tight 52-48 vote. All Montana hunters should be grateful to Rep. Brown for his leadership and the difficult decision he had to make to kill his own bill.

Habitat Montana

One of our highest priorities this session is regaining full authority to spend Habitat Montana funds to purchase and protect vital lands. We took a big step forward this week when HB 5, the capital improvements budget, came out of the Joint Long Range Planning subcommittee with no restrictions on the program. We thank committee members for this vote in support of Montana’s hunters, anglers and recreationists, and Montana’s wildlife.

Other bills

MWF spoke against a a bill to revamp the administration of state parks which jeopardized federal fish and wildlife funding. Several other bills came up this week, including: SB 171, to prohibit restriction of certain deer permits (MWF opposed); SB 173 to prohibit use of out of state urine as a cover scent (support); and SB 187 to rohibit importing certain animal body parts from chronic wasting disease states (support).

Looking ahead

Once again, it should be a busy week at the capitol. Wildlife bills coming forward include SB 214 to allow limited spear fishing of game fish; and SB 218 to revise the apprentice hunter program.

As always, check the Montana Wildlife Federation bill tracker at www.montanawildlife.org for the most up-to-date information on bills and where they’re at in the process. For questions or to get involved in MWF’s legislative activities, contact MWF Conservation Director Nick Gevock at ngevock@mtwf.org or by calling 458-0227 ext. 108.