OPINION: Hunters, anglers saw successes in 2015 Legislature

The last legislative session was a tough one on Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. There were plenty of bills introduced to cut back wildlife habitat programs along with a multitude of bills to transfer our public lands to the state. Despite those challenges, the session ended well for our public wildlife and our hunting and fishing traditions.

I contacted my legislators numerous times to ask for support for our wildlife, habitat and access programs, as did, thankfully, many hunters and anglers. Because we made our voices heard, Montana’s sporting community can look back on the 2015 legislative session and point to some significant achievements.

First and foremost, Montana hunters, anglers and outdoor recreationists helped defeat every effort to transfer federal lands to the state. More than 500 citizens who love our public lands came from all over Montana to rally at the Capitol to let our legislators know that public lands need to stay in public hands. We know state control of federal lands would require massive tax increases and expansion of state government to cover the management costs of firefighting, road maintenance, inevitably endangering public access and wildlife habitat.

Second, the sporting community helped pass the bill to modernize hunting and fishing licenses and fund Fish, Wildlife and Parks (HB 140). This bill revamped licenses to make them simpler, standardizes reduced priced licenses and switches to a four-year timeline for reviewing funding needs. These changes will have benefits for years to come.

Third, several bills to benefit hunters, anglers, wildlife and habitat passed this session. Among them were measures that cracked down on people who abuse replacement hunting licenses (SB 21), a bill that clarified how to tag game animals (HB 279) and a bill that worked to keep destructive feral hogs out of Montana (SB 100). In addition, Montana’s stream access law, which was based on a court ruling, is now embedded in state law (SB 232).

This session saw many bad bills for wildlife and habitat as well. These included bills which would have stripped the ability of game wardens to enforce wildlife laws (HB 281); sage grouse hunting in the state (SB 247), and a measure that would have required county commissioners’ approval to locate bison in their county (SB 284). With the support of many legislators and Gov. Bullock, sportsmen and sportswomen were successful in killing these bills.

Hunters also played an important role in passing the sage grouse stewardship bill (SB 261). This measure designates $10 million to protect key sage grouse habitat on private lands and enhance areas to protect the bird and keep it under state management. This conservation package will benefit sage grouse as well as numerous other prairie wildlife species, including mule deer and antelope.

The session had its challenges. Some legislators again this session worked to strip Fish, Wildlife and Parks of the authority to purchase new wildlife habitat, including winter range that benefits wildlife and creates excellent public hunting opportunity. But because sportsmen and sportswomen loudly raised their collective voices against this misguided proposals, FWP was able to keep the authority to finish the land protection projects it’s already working on. And we were able to beat back legislation aimed at eliminating FWP’s authority to protect upland game bird and bighorn sheep habitat, as well as to purchase fishing access sites.

There is always more work to be done to maintain our legacy of fair chase hunting and public access to public lands and wildlife. But through the hard work of Montana’s hunting and angling and outdoor recreation community, Montana remains the envy of the nation for outdoor recreational opportunities.

Kathy Hadley is president of the Montana Wildlife Federation and lives on a ranch in the Upper Clark Fork River valley.