State holds drawing for bison hunt
By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau
and MARK HENCKEL
Of The Gazette Staff
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission met by conference telephone call Tuesday morning and voted to hold the license drawings among applicants for its canceled bison hunt this winter.
The commission decided to draw 10 names from among the approximately 8,300 applicants. Those 10 people will be offered the opportunity to purchase the first 10 licenses for the anticipated 2005-06 hunting season.
The drawing for the 10 names was held Tuesday afternoon, with successful applicants to be notified by phone.
3-2 vote
The vote on holding the drawing was 3-2 with the three new commissioners - chairman Steve Doherty, Shane Colton and Victor Workman - in favor and holdovers Tim Mulligan and John Brenden dissenting.
Doherty, of Great Falls, said he voted to hold the drawing to show that the commission is committed to having a bison hunt this year.
"The commission is pretty much dedicated to holding a hunt and is going to have to work hard in the next few months to make sure there's adequate time and adequate space to do that," he said. "That's my goal."
Brenden, of Scobey, was the only commission member who voted Monday to keep the hunt. He voted against drawing names for bison permits because there is no definite bison hunt yet planned.
"All these 10 people have from us is that maybe we'll have a hunt," Brenden said, adding he thinks Schweitzer is responding to threats of bad publicity. "That's baloney when you start caving into blackmail."
At its meeting on Monday, the FWP Commission canceled the bison hunt scheduled for Jan. 15 to Feb. 15, but stated that it fully expected to implement a hunt from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15 for 2005-06.
Details of that hunt would be determined during the normal season-setting process, which includes tentative regulations, public comment and a final decision in August.
Refunding fees
The drawings do not alter the commission's decision Monday to refund application fees. So even though the drawings were held among this year's pool of applicants, the commission decided to go ahead and refund the $3 drawing fee that the 8,200-plus applicants paid this year. The expected cost to the department of sending back the approximately $25,000 in drawing fees would be an additional $22,000.
Tuesday's action caps what has been a topsy-turvy week of commission decisions on the hunt.
The 2003 Montana Legislature authorized revival of a hunting season on bison that wander north out of Yellowstone National Park each winter. Hunting had been done on the herd in the late 1980s before it was stopped in 1991, largely because of the bad publicity it generated for the state, particularly during the winter of 1988-89.
During that tough winter, which came in the wake of the fire and drought summer of 1988, 589 bison were killed, most of them by hunters.
In other years, mortality figures were 57 in 1985-86, six in 1986-87 and 35 in 1987-88 before the big winter of 1989. After that winter, there were four killed in 1989-90 and 14 in 1990-91, when the hunt was canceled.
Under the hunt format at the time, hunters' names were drawn and they'd be notified, in order, by phone when bison wandered out of the park. They'd then be accompanied by game wardens who would point out which animals were to be taken.
In reviving the hunt this time, plans were to hold a season similar to those for other big game animals. Hunters' names would be drawn. They'd be given the opening and closing dates of the season and a designated hunting area. Then they'd be on their own to decide when and where to hunt.
At its December meeting, the FWP Commission decided to hold a Jan. 15 to Feb. 15 season in the area north of Gardiner for 10 hunters.
Last week, Gov. Brian Schweitzer expressed his desire to not hold a hunt this year for the same bad-publicity reasons the hunt was ended in 1991.
Schweitzer said the bison hunt approved by the former commission - all appointed by former Gov. Judy Martz - was more akin to "sighting in a rifle" than sport hunting. He then appointed three new commissioners - Doherty, Workman and Colton - and a conference call meeting of the commission was quickly held, and commissioners decided to reconsider the season at the meeting Monday, when this year's hunt was officially canceled.
Drawing winners
Mark A. Aquino, Eureka
Thomas L. Blazina, Billings
Dennis K. Haderlie, Belgrade
Ann M. Harapat, Bigfork
Fredrick T. Jaqueth, Libby
Joe F. Jurenka, Helena
Patrick J. Maloney, Butte
Billy J. Stone, Whitehall
Terry R. Suhr, Belgrade
Jeffrey K. Vader, Helena
By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau
and MARK HENCKEL
Of The Gazette Staff
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission met by conference telephone call Tuesday morning and voted to hold the license drawings among applicants for its canceled bison hunt this winter.
The commission decided to draw 10 names from among the approximately 8,300 applicants. Those 10 people will be offered the opportunity to purchase the first 10 licenses for the anticipated 2005-06 hunting season.
The drawing for the 10 names was held Tuesday afternoon, with successful applicants to be notified by phone.
3-2 vote
The vote on holding the drawing was 3-2 with the three new commissioners - chairman Steve Doherty, Shane Colton and Victor Workman - in favor and holdovers Tim Mulligan and John Brenden dissenting.
Doherty, of Great Falls, said he voted to hold the drawing to show that the commission is committed to having a bison hunt this year.
"The commission is pretty much dedicated to holding a hunt and is going to have to work hard in the next few months to make sure there's adequate time and adequate space to do that," he said. "That's my goal."
Brenden, of Scobey, was the only commission member who voted Monday to keep the hunt. He voted against drawing names for bison permits because there is no definite bison hunt yet planned.
"All these 10 people have from us is that maybe we'll have a hunt," Brenden said, adding he thinks Schweitzer is responding to threats of bad publicity. "That's baloney when you start caving into blackmail."
At its meeting on Monday, the FWP Commission canceled the bison hunt scheduled for Jan. 15 to Feb. 15, but stated that it fully expected to implement a hunt from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15 for 2005-06.
Details of that hunt would be determined during the normal season-setting process, which includes tentative regulations, public comment and a final decision in August.
Refunding fees
The drawings do not alter the commission's decision Monday to refund application fees. So even though the drawings were held among this year's pool of applicants, the commission decided to go ahead and refund the $3 drawing fee that the 8,200-plus applicants paid this year. The expected cost to the department of sending back the approximately $25,000 in drawing fees would be an additional $22,000.
Tuesday's action caps what has been a topsy-turvy week of commission decisions on the hunt.
The 2003 Montana Legislature authorized revival of a hunting season on bison that wander north out of Yellowstone National Park each winter. Hunting had been done on the herd in the late 1980s before it was stopped in 1991, largely because of the bad publicity it generated for the state, particularly during the winter of 1988-89.
During that tough winter, which came in the wake of the fire and drought summer of 1988, 589 bison were killed, most of them by hunters.
In other years, mortality figures were 57 in 1985-86, six in 1986-87 and 35 in 1987-88 before the big winter of 1989. After that winter, there were four killed in 1989-90 and 14 in 1990-91, when the hunt was canceled.
Under the hunt format at the time, hunters' names were drawn and they'd be notified, in order, by phone when bison wandered out of the park. They'd then be accompanied by game wardens who would point out which animals were to be taken.
In reviving the hunt this time, plans were to hold a season similar to those for other big game animals. Hunters' names would be drawn. They'd be given the opening and closing dates of the season and a designated hunting area. Then they'd be on their own to decide when and where to hunt.
At its December meeting, the FWP Commission decided to hold a Jan. 15 to Feb. 15 season in the area north of Gardiner for 10 hunters.
Last week, Gov. Brian Schweitzer expressed his desire to not hold a hunt this year for the same bad-publicity reasons the hunt was ended in 1991.
Schweitzer said the bison hunt approved by the former commission - all appointed by former Gov. Judy Martz - was more akin to "sighting in a rifle" than sport hunting. He then appointed three new commissioners - Doherty, Workman and Colton - and a conference call meeting of the commission was quickly held, and commissioners decided to reconsider the season at the meeting Monday, when this year's hunt was officially canceled.
Drawing winners
Mark A. Aquino, Eureka
Thomas L. Blazina, Billings
Dennis K. Haderlie, Belgrade
Ann M. Harapat, Bigfork
Fredrick T. Jaqueth, Libby
Joe F. Jurenka, Helena
Patrick J. Maloney, Butte
Billy J. Stone, Whitehall
Terry R. Suhr, Belgrade
Jeffrey K. Vader, Helena
