Fishery vs. wildlife

[SAJ-99]

That's not how it is supposed to work, and that is the problem.

I don’t see you as a big fan of a Biden-drawn-up total budget. You should be a fan of “the omnibus”. (Literally typing that makes me laugh).
Carry on, but I’m out. We have derailed this thread enough.

 

[Gr8bawana]

stick to NV. You obviously don’t understand the numbers in MT…

So are you saying the the increase in the game populations brocksaw posted are false?

 

[brocksw]

So are you saying the the increase in the game populations brocksaw posted are false?

If you read his response to my post, I believe he’s stating that those numbers aren’t straight forward and don’t make that part of the discussion black and white. For example, elk numbers are up significantly. But he stated much of that growth is on private land and/or in the central or eastern portion of the state. So while the number might be true, it is not directly correlating to improved hunting in all portions of the state or on public land where the public needs it most.

 

[Eric Albus]

I am hearing from longtime FWP employees that this is the worst they've ever experienced, regardless of other Ds or Rs who were in the governor's office.

The biggest thing I'm seeing, wildlife-wise, is the shift of decision-making away from the local staff and more onto Helena staff/Director's office. Like taking away the ability for bios to adjust buck and bull permits. I'm even hearing that they're getting pushback on adjusting B licenses now, and multiple season proposals developed by the bios aren't even making it to the commission because the director axes them.

It's sad to see the local staff, who have a closer knowledge of the biological conditions and local public sentiment than anyone else in the department (usually), be stripped of so much of their decision-making abilities.

Just an observation, if things are as rosy as painted why is everyone bitchin’ about the state of mule deer populations?
Without some common sense folk pushing for no mulie does hunted on public land we’d continue to see slaughter commencing on accessible lands….unless im
Completely missing something ISN’T THIS WHERE WE(the hunting public) WANTS TO SEE MULE DEER????

 

[Eric Albus]

I would bet the increase of leased acres has a lot to do with the quality of the hunting on public drastically decreasing.

As far as elk populations go, more elk doesn’t always translate to better hunting. In a lot of areas, I bet the elk hunting was better in 2005 than it is today despite having more elk in the state now. When I was going to college in 2007-2008, I archery hunted general units in western MT and I found it easier to stay on elk day after day than I do now when I hunt districts in central MT that are 600% over objective.

Agreed, decline in decent hunting on accessible land has lead to an increase of leased private land, mainly by R sportsmen.

 

[Eric Albus]

May I ask what's gotten worse, outside of the politics? Not trying to play "got ya", just trying to understand your perspective and the metric you're using when you say "worse".

Please, correct me if I'm wrong on any these long term population trends.

Elk - overall numbers are up since 2000 from the numbers I've seen. That's in spite of the growth of wolves and bears.
Pronghorn - numbers are more weather dependent than anything, and I think virtually all fluctuations in populations can be attributed to that.
Mule Deer - obviously there's a huge debate about this right now, but it seems devoid of politics.
Big Horn sheep - In spite of significant disease challenges, populations since 2000 seem to be holding steady.
Sage grouse - their challenges are partly politics, but how they arrived at those problems is not so much politics as it is habitat.
Mountain Goats - Populations are somewhat steady
Moose - Growing populations from what I've heard

Can’t lay the blame totally on the dept for decline in breaks sheep. Mountain lions are eating them faster than they can reproduce.

 

[Eric Albus]

Just an observation, if things are as rosy as painted why is everyone bitchin’ about the state of mule deer populations?
Without some common sense folk pushing for no mulie does hunted on public land we’d continue to see slaughter commencing on accessible lands….unless im
Completely missing something ISN’T THIS WHERE WE(the hunting public) WANTS TO SEE MULE DEER????

This said, the decline in mule deer isn’t the total fault of FWP either. Other factors play
In the decline as well. Otherwise we’d see md populations doing really good on inaccessible land and/or in other states/provinces doing really well.

 

[cgasner1]

This said, the decline in mule deer isn’t the total fault of FWP either. Other factors play
In the decline as well. Otherwise we’d see md populations doing really good on inaccessible land and/or in other states/provinces doing really well.

I think a lot of people just lump fwp into one group. Most of our bios and wardens go above and beyond. Especially for the pay and the thankless job that they work.

 

[4ohSick]

Former MHP trooper claims retaliation after giving survey summary to union

The Montana Highway Patrol and the Department of Justice are accused of retaliation in the firing of a trooper Alicia Bragg.

www.kxlh.com

I think this shows a similar situation to what we’re talking about with FWP, and is indicative of Gianforte’s failure as the state executive. I work for the DOT and there are similar morale issues. One bureau in engineering has had 2 of 3 senior management positions empty for over a year after the top 3 left suddenly after being thrown under the bus for a situation they had no control over. And the director was shown the door, probably due to a bundle of bridge closures on bridges well past their service lives that have been deteriorating for decades.

GG may be new to government but he’s a natural at taking credit when things work and scapegoating people when they don’t.