Independently reported news stories of Montana's people, land, water and wildlife.
As Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks tries to plan the next two years of elk hunting, the biggest problem appears to be antiquated population goals that were carved out 14 years ago.
That was what the FWP commission struggled with on Thursday as it tried to figure out whether proposed hunting quotas were adequate and if shoulder seasons were long enough.
Read MoreThe main focus of Thursday's Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission meeting was updating Montana's hunting regulations for the next two years, but the issue of chronic wasting disease kept popping up.
Read MoreAfter almost a year of consideration and comment, a proposal to save some of Montana’s streams from the technological toys of the future has been defeated.
While considering the Quiet Waters Initiative on Friday, the three new members of the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission had their first taste of the contentiousness that can flare up in response to fish and wildlife proposals. Although the commission was originally scheduled to vote on the initiative, Chairman Dan Vermillion proposed to once again extend the public comment period to gather more information and give those new commissioners a chance to better acquaint themselves with the issue prior to voting. So that’s the thing he asked people to comment on.
Read MoreAfter the Legislature rejected two of the governor’s four candidates for the Fish & Wildlife commission, two FWP veterans will fill the roles for at least the next two years.
On Friday, Gov. Steve Bullock appointed Tim Aldrich of Missoula and Shane Colton of Billings to replace Gary Wolf and Matthew Tourtlotte on the FW commission.
Read MoreThe two new members of the Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission got off to an easy start on Friday with minimal public comment on wolves, lions and grizzly bears. But wolves still sparked discussion.
Commission chair Dan Vermillion praised an FWP proposal to finally include wolves in the regular season-setting agenda that comes before the commission every two years.
Read More9 p.m. UPDATE: HB 651 failed the second reading on the House floor by a vote of 47-53, so the bill is probably dead.
In spite of overwhelming opposition, Republicans have resurrected a bill to create a second public-land access specialist and spend sportsmen’s dollars buying land for access that might be poor habitat.
In a specially scheduled meeting Wednesday, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Kerry White, R-Bozeman, brought House Bill 651 up for an unprecedented third round of executive action. Montana already has a public-land access specialist working in the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to improve public access to all public lands, but HB 651 would create another position under the state land board to increase access to state lands using Habitat Montana funds.
Read MoreWresting the decision from the hands of legislators, the Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission has approved the use of lighted arrow nocks, although not without reservations.
On Friday, the FWP commission voted 3-1 to allow bowhunters to use lighted nocks during archery-only season, putting an end to the question that has cropped up repeatedly for the past five years.
Read MoreMontana hunters and trappers can still kill only two wolves north of Yellowstone National Park.
On Wednesday, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission decided against a FWP effort to assuage elk hunters by increasing the quota in wolf management unit 313 near Gardiner.
Read MoreIf you want to hunt mule deer this fall, then southeastern Montana is the place to go, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Mule deer populations have been struggling throughout the West, but not so in the prairies and grasslands of southeastern Montana. FWP Region 7 Supervisor Brad Schmitz said the mule deer population is almost 50 percent above the long-term average, based upon recent counts, and production of fawns over the past three years has been good. So Schmitz wants to head off a population surge by almost doubling the number of mule deer doe tags.
Read MoreA petition asking for a limit on use of anti-predator poisonous devices has been denied, but it’s still got livestock groups on the alert.
At the end of a brief Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission meeting Thursday, Zach Strong of the Natural Resources Defense Council expressed frustration over the commission’s rejection in May of an NRDC petition to limit trap threats to grizzly bears and other wildlife.
Read MoreThe soothing sound of a mountain stream is hard to hear over the roar of a powerboat, and one organization wants only the former on some of Montana’s streams.
On Thursday, the Fish and Wildlife commission gave a nod to nature when it voted to initiate a rule-making process related to restricting certain types of watercraft on several state streams.
Read MoreMontana Fish, Wildlife & Parks tried to justify a big jump in a Gardiner area wolf quota, but after lengthy public comment, the Fish and Wildlife commission didn’t buy it.
On a 3-1 vote, the commission decided against an FWP proposal to increase the quota in management unit 313 to six wolves, even though the six would be meted out over time. The period of September 4 through November 30 would have a limit of three wolves and another three would be allowed between December 1 and March 15.
Read MoreFish, Wildlife & Parks has been able to preserve some critical habitat thanks to Habitat Montana funds. But a legislative restriction on the money may cause FWP to lose some opportunity.
At Thursday’s meeting, FWP commissioners gave the go-ahead to start negotiations on four conservation easements and one donation of land that would benefit elk, mule deer and sage grouse and, in some cases provide additional access to public land.
Read MoreMontana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission joins other organizations in calling for the end of federally-funded sheep grazing in the Centennial Mountains.
After last week’s marathon FWP commission meeting, the commissioner sent letters to Montana’s Congressional delegation asking them to remove Montana lands from the area managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Experimental Sheep Station.
Read MoreIn many parts of the state, elk season will now last as long as six months.
On Thursday, the Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission sat through more than two hours of discussion and comments before approving, with a few modifications, the next round of elk shoulder seasons. For the next two years, rifle season will extend mostly from Aug. 15 until Feb. 15 in about 40 hunting districts. But outside the general season, hunters can harvest only cows.
Read MoreThis spring, 40 Montana sage grouse hens will be looking for love in Canada.
On Thursday, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission voted to approve the transplant of 40 sage grouse to Alberta, Canada, as part of an effort to bolster Canadian populations. The 3-1 vote went against a recommendation made by the legislative Environmental Quality Council on Wednesday to ban all such transplants for the next three years.
Read MoreThe Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission has thrown its support behind the reauthorization of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
On Thursday, commissioners unanimously approved a letter urging Montana’s congressional delegation to revive the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Read MoreThe new elk shoulder seasons will be tested in a handful of pilot projects this winter, but the seasons are getting pushback from the very people they were supposed to help: landowners.
On Thursday, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks commissioners approved five hunting districts for a late elk season this year but rejected FWP’s recent inclusion of a sixth district partly because of opposition from landowners in the district.
Read MoreMontana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has stepped back a decade in its management of elk populations.
On Thursday, the FWP commission reluctantly voted to approve FWP’s plan to reinstate shoulder seasons for elk. Then FWP sidestepped some of the new guidelines when it proposed pilot shoulder seasons to begin in December.
Read MoreAt the urging of both trappers and wolf advocates, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission has killed a proposal to allow FWP to put its wolf-trapping course online.
FWP Big Game chief John Vore asked the commissioners to approve the online course Thursday mainly to save FWP time and effort.
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