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Bill expands anti-harassment law to all wild animals and explicitly names snowmobiles; livestock-protection carve-out requested
Summary
Representative Debo Powers told the committee House Bill 661 would expand the state prohibition on harassing wildlife with vehicles and devices to include all "wild animals" and explicitly reference snowmobiles.
Representative Debo Powers presented House Bill 661, which would replace the current statutory phrase "game animals and game birds" with "wild animals except alternative livestock," and add "and snowmobiles" to the statutory list of motorized devices prohibited from harassing wildlife.
"Some people ... find some kind of pleasure and excitement in chasing and harassing wildlife on their snowmobiles," Powers said, adding that chasing animals in winter can deplete energy needed for survival and may indirectly cause deaths. Proponents included Montana Audubon, Bold Visions Conservation, and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers; witnesses framed the bill as a refinement of fair-chase rules to account for modern equipment.
Law enforcement testified as an informational witness. Ron Howell, FWP chief of law enforcement, stood for questions about definitions and enforcement. Representative Fielder asked whether the term "wild animal" is defined; Howell read the statutory definition from MCA 87-6-101: "wild animal means an animal that is wild by nature as distinguished from common domestic animals... includes birds and reptiles."
Opponents included the Montana Wool Growers Association, which said predator losses account for roughly half of sheep and lamb losses in the state and urged an amendment to exempt nonlethal livestock-protection practices. Callie Michaels testified that drones equipped with speakers have been shown in some studies to reduce wolf depredation and that ranchers sometimes use ATVs and other mechanized means to chase predators off livestock; she said the bill as written could unintentionally hinder proven nonlethal predator-control tools.
Committee members and the sponsor discussed a possible amendment to exempt livestock owners and their agents engaged in immediate protection of livestock; Powers said she would consider such an amendment and described it as friendly to the sponsor. The bill as written also contains a provision that already exempts landowners and their authorized agents engaged in immediate protection of property, which witnesses noted does not explicitly reference livestock on leased or public lands.
Ending: The hearing closed after back-and-forth on drafting clarifications and a likely friendly amendment to protect livestock-protection activities was discussed. The committee did not take a final recorded vote on the bill in the hearing transcript.
