Whether it's repeated attempts to privatize our wildlife or attacks on public access, Montanans have had plenty to complain about recently. While the legislature and Gov. Gianforte have been busy enacting laws like HB 635 from Rep. Kassmier (R-Fort Benton) — which guarantees deer and elk tags to large out-of-state landowners — and HB 637 from Rep. Berglee (R-Joliet) — which established tag giveaways for outfitters and sweetened the deal for landowners who want premium elk permits - ...

Sharing the results of their Resident Elk Hunter Survey, FWP’s press release and summary tout that 73% of respondents "are satisfied with elk management." Given the contention around elk management, this surprised us. So, we looked closer. FWP employs the commonly accepted 5-point numerical Likert scale to gauge hunter satisfaction, which provides the following five choices: 1 and 2 to measure dissatisfaction, a neutral option (3, signaling neither satisfied nor dissatisfied), and 4 and 5 to ...

August 7th, 2023   Director Temple, Chair Robinson, Commissioners, Chair Beal -   First, thank you for your continued efforts to improve the Elk Hunting Access Agreements. As you know, since the 2021 legislative session, there has been great contention from the hunting community around this program. In good faith efforts to lead to better management outcomes, however, the undersigned groups often stood up at each opportunity to improve the Elk Hunting Access Agreements, whether that be in ...

January 13, 2023 Katie RediskeNEPA manager, Malmstrom AFB39 78th St. N.Malmstrom AFB, MT 59402341CES.CEIE.NEPAWork-Flow@us.af.mil Re: the Establishment and Operation of a Helicopter Aerial Gunnery Range in Limestone Hills Ms. Rediske: The Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is a volunteer-led organization consisting of approximately 3,000 dues-paying members in Montana, plus tens of thousands of supporters. Our members have a keen interest in quality wildlife habitat, large ...

July 21, 2022    Chair Robinson, Vice Chair Tabor, Commissioners Waller, Byorth, Walsh, Cebull & Lane  Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks  1420 East Sixth Avenue  P.O. Box 200701   Helena, Mt 59620-0701    Re: The Proposed Pheasant Release    Chair Robinson; Vice Chair Tabor, Commissioners Waller, Byorth, Walsh, Cebull and Lane:    The Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers implores the Fish and Wildlife Commission to deny approving the release of pheasants on state-owned lands for ...