Friends, Archers, Riflemen,
Lend me your fingers, phones & bodies for a hearing tomorrow on a really bad bill. HB 651 would erode the ability of Montana to purchase new Wildlife Management Areas, secure better access to public land through acquisition of private land and could potentially cause a $20 million hole in FWP's Pittman Robertson Funding. It is up for a hearing tomorrow at 3 PM in House Natural Resources.
If you are in Helena, or close by, we are asking hunters & anglers to show up and say no to a bad bill, however well intended. The hearing tomorrow is at 3 PM, in room 172.
If you cannot make it to the hearing, you can send messages to the switchboard at 406-444-4200. We need to make a ruckus on this.
The bill would do the following:
1.) Create a new full time employee that works exclusively for the politically elected land board, rather than use the DNRC staff that currently work with the Land Commission. This position duplicates the Access Specialist position at DNRC & the SPortsmen-Landowner Position at FWP.
2.) It would fundamentally change the purpose and scope of Habitat Montana and erode the programs primary mission of conserving critical winter range, funding conservation easements for willing sellers, and it would place a higher priority on state lands than any other land. This priority would have made the Red Hill project that the Elk Foundation put together a few years ago almost impossible to fund as it was not focused on just state lands.
3.) By removing the fish & wildlife commission from the decision making process on how Habitat Montana funds are spent, it eliminates a key interaction with the Commission for the public to voice their support or opposition to a project, increasing the likelihood that projects that are brought forward by the politically appointed access specialist are focused on only those one party wishes to see.
I spent 30 minutes with the sponsor and FWP staff today trying to talk through what he really wanted to do, and better ways to do it. Ultimately, the sponsor wants to have his vision move forward. It is unfortunate that the sponsor never reached out to sportsmen's organizations who utilize and advocate for Habitat Montana, and instead, simply introduced a bill with out any vetting by the people who actually use the program.
Again, if folks can come to the hearing, it's important that the committee and the sponsor see that Montanans support Habitat Montana as it is. If you cannot make it, please contact the House Natural Resources Committee and ask them to table this bill.
Lend me your fingers, phones & bodies for a hearing tomorrow on a really bad bill. HB 651 would erode the ability of Montana to purchase new Wildlife Management Areas, secure better access to public land through acquisition of private land and could potentially cause a $20 million hole in FWP's Pittman Robertson Funding. It is up for a hearing tomorrow at 3 PM in House Natural Resources.
If you are in Helena, or close by, we are asking hunters & anglers to show up and say no to a bad bill, however well intended. The hearing tomorrow is at 3 PM, in room 172.
If you cannot make it to the hearing, you can send messages to the switchboard at 406-444-4200. We need to make a ruckus on this.
The bill would do the following:
1.) Create a new full time employee that works exclusively for the politically elected land board, rather than use the DNRC staff that currently work with the Land Commission. This position duplicates the Access Specialist position at DNRC & the SPortsmen-Landowner Position at FWP.
2.) It would fundamentally change the purpose and scope of Habitat Montana and erode the programs primary mission of conserving critical winter range, funding conservation easements for willing sellers, and it would place a higher priority on state lands than any other land. This priority would have made the Red Hill project that the Elk Foundation put together a few years ago almost impossible to fund as it was not focused on just state lands.
3.) By removing the fish & wildlife commission from the decision making process on how Habitat Montana funds are spent, it eliminates a key interaction with the Commission for the public to voice their support or opposition to a project, increasing the likelihood that projects that are brought forward by the politically appointed access specialist are focused on only those one party wishes to see.
I spent 30 minutes with the sponsor and FWP staff today trying to talk through what he really wanted to do, and better ways to do it. Ultimately, the sponsor wants to have his vision move forward. It is unfortunate that the sponsor never reached out to sportsmen's organizations who utilize and advocate for Habitat Montana, and instead, simply introduced a bill with out any vetting by the people who actually use the program.
Again, if folks can come to the hearing, it's important that the committee and the sponsor see that Montanans support Habitat Montana as it is. If you cannot make it, please contact the House Natural Resources Committee and ask them to table this bill.
