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Committee hears bill to allow limited second mountain lion licenses and to adjust Tendoy sheep language
Summary
House Bill 71 would let the Fish and Game Commission authorize a second mountain lion license in specific circumstances and updates statutory language on Tendoy (Tendoy) bighorn sheep reestablishment; Fish, Wildlife & Parks supports parts of the bill but conservation and houndsmen groups opposed the mountain‑lion change.
Representative Shannon Maness introduced House Bill 71 to add mountain lion to the species list for which an individual may receive a second license in the same year and to update statutory language tied to a Tendoy (Tendoy) Mountain Range bighorn sheep reintroduction.
The department requested the bill, Emily Cooper, licensing bureau chief with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, told the committee. “This bill was requested by FWP to address the issues of interest to the department,” Cooper said. Cooper also told lawmakers the bill “would not change how the harvest quota is set by the commission.” The bill instead would allow the commission to authorize a second mountain lion license in narrowly defined situations, such as remote backcountry LMUs (lion management units) or late‑season efforts where quotas remain unmet.
Proponents including the Montana Conservation Society and individual hunters said the change gives managers additional tools in areas where harvest repeatedly falls short of management objectives. “Increasing the tools to be able to manage them to the objective that the agency and the commission have set is always something that we’re gonna support,” Ben Lamb of the Montana Conservation Society testified.
Opponents were numerous and included the Montana State Houndsman Association, the Montana Wildlife Federation and several professional houndsmen. Opponents stressed biological uncertainty, potential for increased female removals and effects on social structure in lion populations. “Allowing multiple lions kills per year, per hunter per year is not only biologically unsound, but also contributes to the growing perception that Montana prioritizes excessive predator removal over balanced science based conservation,” Winston Opelt read on behalf of the Montana State Houndsman Association.
Speakers raised data and procedural points in committee: Stacy Bartsch, president of the Montana State Houndsman Association, said Fish, Wildlife & Parks sells about “5,500 lion tags a year” and that last season’s harvest was roughly “550,” or about 10 percent of tags sold. Several houndsmen emphasized that quotas are limits, not targets, and warned the commission’s discretion could be used unevenly without clearer statutory guardrails.
On the Tendoy sheep matter, Cooper and Representative Maness said work to reestablish bighorn sheep began in 2021, disease testing continues and no new disease has been detected since reestablishment; reporting language was removed from the bill per updated information. The sponsor closed by asking the committee for a due pass.
No committee vote was recorded during the hearing; the bill remains under consideration.
