Wildlife bills: How they fared in the Legislature

By WALT WILLIAMS, Chronicle Staff Writer

At the beginning of the year, the pro-conservation group the Montana Wildlife Federation was tracking over 100 legislative bills on fish and wildlife issues.

And their view on the upcoming legislative session wasn't particularly glowing.

"To us, most were issues that don't need fixing," MWF Executive Director Craig Sharpe said.

With the 58th session now finished, the end result is a mixed bag for everyone involved.

Only about 30 bills made it past lawmakers, and many of them didn't escape without amendments.

It's hard to find any group satisfied with the way things turned out. But that's not the same as saying they're outraged.

"This session in terms of outfitters and guides was a relatively easy one," said Jean Johnson of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, which has often butted heads with MWF on a variety of issues.

Lawmakers were dealing with a projected $200-million-plus deficit this time around, the first budget shortfall in years. Most battles were over state agency cuts, tax hikes vs. tax cuts and a failed attempt to tap the coal trust fund.

So with maybe three exceptions - bison hunting, game farms and wolves - wildlife issues simply didn't get much attention.

"This was a budget session," Johnson said.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

House Bill 42 may be the biggest change for wildlife management to come out of the state Legislature this year, and no one is quite sure what it does.

The bill at face value simply orders for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to manage deer, elk and antelope populations in a "sustainable manner."

Just what "sustainable" means is the tricky part.

"The original intent of that bill was not good," said Glenn Hockett of the Gallatin Wildlife Association, a hunting and conservation organization.

The bill requires FWP to calculate the amount of available habitat for the three game species and then set manageable population numbers using that data.

HB 42 originally prevented FWP from using private land in its calculations, which hunters groups called unrealistic. That language was later removed.

It also ordered FWP to keep animal populations at a level where they don't adversely affect "private property owners."

Bill sponsor Rep. Debby Barrett, a rancher from Dillon, has long argued wildlife should be managed to protect farmers and ranchers.

The amended bill now substitutes "property owners" for the vague "Montana land."

There isn't a clear picture about how HB 42 will alter FWP's practices in coming years.

"In effect, what this bill does and what it requires us to do is identify or beef up our management plan for deer, elk and antelope," FWP Chief of Staff Chris Smith said.

The largest challenge for FWP will be keeping those populations at sustainable levels given the lack of hunting access on most private land, he said.

FWP Director Jeff Hagener said the agency is just starting to look how it will implement the bill.

"A lot of it is doing a better job of what we do now," he said.

FWP must have target populations in place by 2009.

FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

Recreation groups struck out in their attempt to change the make-up of the state's Fish and Game Commission, which oversees FWP.

Three bills would've required that one or more commission members come from a recreationist or conservation background.

All were killed by lawmakers.

MWF and other groups claim the commission - which is made up of gubernatorial appointees - is heavily weighed toward the state's agricultural interests and put those interests before those of hunters and anglers.

Current law already requires that at least one commission member have a agricultural background.

YOUTH LICENSES

Teens are about to lose one more excuse to spill out on the couch like Jabba the Hut.

Starting today, the state will waive the $25 fee for youth combination sports licenses and hand them out for free.

The change comes from the recent passage of House Bill 248, sponsored by Rep. Joe Balyeat, R-Belgrade, which guarantees Montana youth 12 to 17 a first free license.

Balyeat has said the bill will encourage more young people to fish and hunt, the latter having waned in popular appeal recently.

For that reason, FWP supported the bill despite the fact the agency could lose $42,000 annually in license revenue.

"We saw it as an investment in the future in those young hunters and anglers," Smith of FWP said.

RIGHT TO HUNT

Balyeat also passed a bill - HB 306 - putting before voters a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing residents the "right to hunt."

Balyeat has said he brought the bill because there have been recent efforts in other states to limit hunting.

The amendment would read in part: "The opportunity to harvest wild fish and wild game animals is a heritage that shall forever be preserved to the individual citizens of the state."

HB 306 easily passed the Legislature, and now voters will take up the issue during the November 2004 elections.

OTHER BILLS

* The legislature ended a 12-year-ban on hunting wild bison with the passage of SB 395, sponsored by Sen. Gary Perry, R-Manhattan. The hunts won't begin until Fish and Game Commission first authorizes the sale of special bison licenses. But FWP has said it could institute the first hunts by 2004.

* An effort to overturn a voter-approved initiative banning new game farms - HB 379 - died after much debate in the House. Also meeting its death was a proposal to financially compensate existing game farms for their alleged losses.

* HB 486, a ban on importing elk or deer carcasses from areas that have proven cases of chronic wasting disease, made it past the House but died in a Senate committee.

* Hunters will be able to bag a second, anterless elk during hunting season thanks to the passage of SB 122. FWP will sale special licenses in areas with large elk concentrations.

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