Montana sportsmen groups oppose HB 635

Montanans have long fought to make sure that hunting is available for all, equitably, and not just reserved for the wealthy and well-connected.

This is so important that when many of us agreed to join — and some of us helped start — the Montana Citizens Elk Management Coalition (MCEMC), we made sure that this was paramount to our many goals.

The group agreed, to the point that the “Who We Are” page of the website states, succinctly: “we are a diverse group of Montana hunters who seek to improve relations with landowners, outfitters, guides, farmers, and ranchers while ensuring that wildlife remains in the public trust and management remains equitable.”

Yet HB 635, one of the bills being pushed by the MCEMC leadership, is a blatant attack on Montana’s hunting heritage and our values, and flies in direct opposition to the statement of the coalition’s identity listed on the website. This is not ensuring that wildlife remains in the public trust and management remains equitable; it’s doing the opposite.

In general, we agree with the rest of the MCEMC legislative package. In fact, we appreciate the effort put forth by coalition partners in trying to work constructively towards solutions surrounding elk management and hunter behavior. This represents a significant challenge but is something that Montanans have a history of accomplishing. However, we passionately disagree with HB 635. It is not a consensus bill.

In Montana, wildlife is managed by the state, and held in trust for the benefit of all citizens. The rights to Montana’s game animals do not come with the deed to a private parcel owned by a nonresident, even if it’s 2,500 acres. HB 635 offers no meaningful public access incentives nor a real solution to public land hunting pressure. Yet it comes with great risks to our Montana hunting heritage, violates some of the main tenets of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, and threatens the traditions and values held by our great State. It benefits no one other than large landowners who don’t even live here.

Proponents of this bill are claiming it will reduce public land crowding, but we believe the number of hunters who might move from public land to private land is negligible once the following are considered:

• How many nonresidents own 2,500 contiguous acres or more in Montana?

• How many of them hunt?

• How many of them are already drawing tags?

• How many of them are currently hunting public and not just their deeded lands?

Only the remaining absentee landowners owning land in general units are the ones we can confidently point to as hunters who would be getting licenses and hunting private rather than public if HB 635 becomes law; when spread across the state, this will be an insignificant number. Surely, there are better and more equitable ways to address nonresident hunting pressure, ones that wouldn’t come with the consequences of HB 635.

Furthermore, since the proposed program will be undersubscribed, there could easily be pressure for the State to give more than five tags to each nonresident landowner who qualifies under HB 635. We fear that renewed pressure for transferable licenses will not be far behind.

Our groups respectfully ask that lawmakers in Helena table this bill and allow all the stakeholders present in the Montana Citizen’s Elk Management Coalition — including many of the undersigned groups — an opportunity to go back to the drawing board on this and present a true consensus solution for consideration. But this bill — alone or part of a broader package — is not something we can support.

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Nick Siebrasse, vice president — Bearpaw Bowmen

Garrett Sereday, president — Bridger Bowmen

Steve Platt, president — Helena Hunters and Anglers

John B. Sullivan III, board chair — Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers

Andrew Posewitz, founder — Montana Public Trust Coalition

Jeff Herbert, Leadership Group — Montana Sportsmen Alliance

Bill Bryce, president — Park County Rod and Gun Club

Bill Siebrasse, president — Traditional Bowhunters of Montana .