Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hunting Access topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers hear study bill to assess nonresident pressure, access loss and season structure
Summary
House Bill 568 would direct Fish, Wildlife and Parks to study growing challenges in Montana’s hunting-season structure, nonresident pressure, block management enrollment and access; proponents said the study is needed to turn anecdote into data ahead of 2027 licensure decisions.
Representative Courtney Sprunger opened a hearing on House Bill 568, a study bill to direct FWP to evaluate hunting-season structure, nonresident participation and access trends. "Nonresident hunting interest is steadily increasing in Montana," Sprunger said, noting changes in license sales and access that lawmakers and stakeholders have raised.
Nut graf: HB 568 would create a stakeholder-driven study on where nonresident hunters go, how many hunter days occur, what levels of pressure exist across regions and how access programs such as block management and Habitat Montana have changed. The bill seeks recommendations to guide the 2027 licensure package.
Proponents testified that the conversation is overdue. Ian Wargo said he had asked the department previously for detailed metrics and that a study would allow fact-based discussion about where pressure is concentrated. Matt Leo of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers cited block management enrollment declines and said the bill would provide useful, targeted data that could support policy proposals. Charlie Booher of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and others urged the committee to authorize the study so FWP can coordinate data analysis and stakeholder outreach.
Key figures discussed included an increase in base-license sales over recent years (sponsor cited figures comparing 2019 and 2023 sales) and a cited loss of nearly 1,000,000 acres of block-management access since 2010. Several proponent witnesses asked the committee to include upland-bird and waterfowl nonresident data in the study; Steven Christian testified that nonresident upland and waterfowl hunters form a sizable portion of out-of-state license holders in some regions.
FWP CFO Lina Havron served as an informational witness on fiscal matters; committee members and FWP staff discussed the study’s scope, region-level block-management acreage, and how lease and private-land uses (including outfitter leases) relate to changes in public access. Sprunger told the committee the bill would include representatives from FWP, the commission and the public, and that legislators and tribes would be invited to participate in crafting questions for the study.
Ending: Proponents framed HB 568 as a pragmatic first step: gather the data, characterize where access and crowding problems exist, and let the findings guide policy before the 2027 licensure package. The hearing closed with sponsor Sprunger urging a due pass to launch the study.
