HB 375, which sets up a payment system for deer, elk and pronghorn that graze on private land passed out of House Ag last night.
The bill in it's original form constituted a diversion of funds, and would have possibly cost the state all of our PR/DJ funds. The sponsor added an amendment last night to make it use only PR/DJ funds so that now it is certainly a diversion of federal funds, and will crater funding for the department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
With the transmittal deadline appoaching fast, and bills needing to come out of committee for floor action, a lot of bad bills will be moving forward. Bills like HB 396, which hand veto authority over bison transplants to County Commissions and are patently unconstitutional continue to move forward. This one came out of committee last night in House Ag as well.
A bill that was heard last night in committee, and should sail through tomorrow on executive action is HB 484. This bill would end bison hunting around Yellowstone National Park, require ridiculous fencing standards for the few bison that are allowed to wander outside of the park before being picked up for test and slaughter, and put the DOL in charge of buffalo completely. This bill is brought forward at the request of the Montana Farm Bureau because they lost their court case last year that tried to keep bison from wandering outside of the park.
Funny thing is, the bill would end participation in the IBMP, it would negate all of the work of the Citizens Advisory Council and it would create another series of lawsuits which the Farm Bureau and State of Montana could not win, setting us up for another huge set back in bison conservation. MWF, NWF, Audubon and several tribes testified against the bill, but as one member of the committee told me, snce the Farm Bureau wants it, it will pass out.
The Farm Bureau and the Stockgrowers both testified in support of this bill, which is kind of funny, since they were both on the Citizens working group that came up with the recommendations that would allow for increased tolerance of bison outside of the park. It's highly suspect that now these groups want another bite at the apple since they know they have the votes.
If you want to ever have a chance to hunt bison outside of Yellowstone, or in another area of Montana, now is the time to reach out to the House Agriculture Committee and tell them that HB 484 is not good for Bison, and it's horrible for Landowner/Sportsmen's relations.
You can use the online message system. Just select the committee button, halfway down the page, and then select the House Ag committee.
The bill in it's original form constituted a diversion of funds, and would have possibly cost the state all of our PR/DJ funds. The sponsor added an amendment last night to make it use only PR/DJ funds so that now it is certainly a diversion of federal funds, and will crater funding for the department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
With the transmittal deadline appoaching fast, and bills needing to come out of committee for floor action, a lot of bad bills will be moving forward. Bills like HB 396, which hand veto authority over bison transplants to County Commissions and are patently unconstitutional continue to move forward. This one came out of committee last night in House Ag as well.
A bill that was heard last night in committee, and should sail through tomorrow on executive action is HB 484. This bill would end bison hunting around Yellowstone National Park, require ridiculous fencing standards for the few bison that are allowed to wander outside of the park before being picked up for test and slaughter, and put the DOL in charge of buffalo completely. This bill is brought forward at the request of the Montana Farm Bureau because they lost their court case last year that tried to keep bison from wandering outside of the park.
Funny thing is, the bill would end participation in the IBMP, it would negate all of the work of the Citizens Advisory Council and it would create another series of lawsuits which the Farm Bureau and State of Montana could not win, setting us up for another huge set back in bison conservation. MWF, NWF, Audubon and several tribes testified against the bill, but as one member of the committee told me, snce the Farm Bureau wants it, it will pass out.
The Farm Bureau and the Stockgrowers both testified in support of this bill, which is kind of funny, since they were both on the Citizens working group that came up with the recommendations that would allow for increased tolerance of bison outside of the park. It's highly suspect that now these groups want another bite at the apple since they know they have the votes.
If you want to ever have a chance to hunt bison outside of Yellowstone, or in another area of Montana, now is the time to reach out to the House Agriculture Committee and tell them that HB 484 is not good for Bison, and it's horrible for Landowner/Sportsmen's relations.
You can use the online message system. Just select the committee button, halfway down the page, and then select the House Ag committee.
