Sportsmen ask for veto on land board control over FWP easements

A dozen sportsmen’s groups are asking Montana’s governor to veto a bill that would allow the state Land Board to veto conservation easements that would benefit hunters and wildlife.

Last week, the Montana Sporting Coalition and the Montana Wildlife Federation sent letters to Gov. Greg Gianforte asking him to veto Senate Bill 115 sponsored by Keith Regier, R-Kalispell. The bill is sitting on Gianforte’s desk, having already passed through both houses of the Legislature on party-line votes with Democrats opposed, although it was amended twice.

The bill would require the state Land Board to approve all conservation easements that Fish, Wildlife & Parks wants to acquire using Habitat Montana money.

The Sportsmen’s Coalition letter said the bill “adds a layer of unneeded government bureaucracy into conservation easements under Habitat Montana.”

Read more for the Missoula Current here...