Nongame Work Plan - Comments needed

[Ben Lamb]

https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/commission/2023/aug/non-game-wildlife-acct/cs_non-game-wildlife-account-workplan-for-fy2024.pdf

This is a really solid work plan laid out by the Non-game folks at FWP. It brings in some key elements of the legacy proposal that was in SB 442 (albeit on a fractional scale) but it does have the possibility to massively benefit key riparian habitats and work towards much better conditions on the land for all critters.

So, @DougStickney - to your excellent point that we put the habitat/resource first, and funding second - here's a great way to support that.

Comments are due on the 24th.

 

[stoep]

Where can we send comments to for this one? Direct email?

 

[Ben Lamb]

Where can we send comments to for this one? Direct email?

Web Portal is under the nongame work plan drop down menu on the commission page:

Fish And Wildlife Commission Meeting: August 17, 2023 | Montana FWP

Fish and Wildlife Commission Meeting: August 17, 2023

fwp.mt.gov

Looks like the agency's preferred way to comment.

 

[DFS]

https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/commission/2023/aug/non-game-wildlife-acct/cs_non-game-wildlife-account-workplan-for-fy2024.pdf

This is a really solid work plan laid out by the Non-game folks at FWP. It brings in some key elements of the legacy proposal that was in SB 442 (albeit on a fractional scale) but it does have the possibility to massively benefit key riparian habitats and work towards much better conditions on the land for all critters.

So, @DougStickney - to your excellent point that we put the habitat/resource first, and funding second - here's a great way to support that.

Comments are due on the 24th.

I might have overlooked it but it doesn’t look like any of that money focuses on mule deer. Good luck with your funding at the expense of wildlife.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I might have overlooked it but it doesn’t look like any of that money focuses on mule deer. Good luck with your funding at the expense of wildlife.

It focuses on habitat restoration. That helps all species, nongame & game.

 

[DFS]

It focuses on habitat restoration. That helps all species, nongame & game.

That’s cool and it feels good but the changes I have witnessed throughout my life the landscape has stayed the same. In my little area at least. If we restore the habitat but the wildlife are gone and not allowed to come back with current management what exactly are we doing.

 

[Wildabeest]

If we restore the habitat but the wildlife are gone and not allowed to come back with current management what exactly are we doing.

Just complaining, apparently.

 

[brockel]

That’s cool and it feels good but the changes I have witnessed throughout my life the landscape has stayed the same. In my little area at least. If we restore the habitat but the wildlife are gone and not allowed to come back with current management what exactly are we doing.

Exactly. We could put a billion a year into habitat in my little slice of Montana and mule deer would still be in the exact same boat they are right now. Killing more than what the resource can handle.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Exactly. We could put a billion a year into habitat in my little slice of Montana and mule deer would still be in the exact same boat they are right now. Killing more than what the resource can handle.

Have you looked over the season setting stuff for MD? By & large, the agency is becoming a lot more strict in mule deer mgt with several new LE permit districts being proposed, reduction in antlerless harvest and some fairly aggressive proposals in the state-wide portion.

That, in conjunction with this, is a good step forward.

Simply looking at 1 piece of the puzzle and not putting it in to context of everything else that's out there is how we continue to just pitch fits and not find solutions that work in an integrated plan.

 

[stoep]

> Thread created about helping great horned owls
> Becomes a Montana mule deer management thread

 

[Ben Lamb]

> Thread created about helping great horned owls
> Becomes a Montana mule deer management thread

my preferred nongame species to advocate for is the long-eared myotis, but yeah.

 

[DFS]

I know some great horny toad habitat. They are thriving. We don’t try to kill them though.