Montana committee hears bill to allow lotteries for statewide moose, sheep tags

Representative Tyson Running Wolf, sponsor of House Bill 283, told the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee on Feb. 4 that the bill would permit the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission to award statewide moose and bighorn sheep tags either by auction or by lottery. "HB 283 is a simple change ... to allow wildlife conservation organizations to use either an auction or lottery for these fundraisers," Running Wolf said, citing proposed amendments to sections 87-2-722 and 87-2-724, MCA.

The nut graf: supporters from hunting and tribal organizations said lotteries can raise substantial money while giving ordinary hunters a fairer chance at rare tags; opponents representing major conservation-auction organizations said auctions historically produce larger, more reliable revenues for species conservation.

Supporters described a recent mule deer raffle run by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) as an example. Micah Fields of the Montana chapter of BHA told the committee that the group sold $20 raffle tickets and raised $56,620 — a sum he said exceeded the previous mule deer auction record of $41,000. "This bill will not rob any organizations from successful fundraising models that benefit wildlife conservation, but would simply open the door to another option," Fields said.

Proponents argued lotteries broaden access. Steve Platt of Helena Hunters and Anglers and Tom Jacobson of the Montana Wildlife Federation said allowing auctions or lotteries for moose and sheep would align those species with elk, mule deer and goat tags, for which the statute already permits either method. Land Tawney and representatives of tribal organizations including Alyssa Snow and Lats Forstar told the committee that lotteries better reflect the North American wildlife conservation model of democratic access to public wildlife.

Opponents included Grey Thornton, president and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation, and DJ Berg of the Montana Wild Sheep Foundation. Thornton told the committee the auction model aims to raise the most money efficiently and that in many cases lotteries raise substantially less than auctions. Thornton said the bighorn sheep auction tag will bring roughly $337,500 to Montana FWP this year and that a so-called "super tag" lottery raised about $246,000 last year. Berg said Montana's auction tag has been the state’s most effective funding tool for bighorn sheep since 1986 and urged the committee to reject the bill, citing the need for consistent funding for habitat, partnerships and science-based management.

Emily Cooper, licensing bureau chief for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, answered technical questions from committee members about how recipients of auction or raffle tags are selected: organizations submit proposals to FWP staff, staff collect and present them to the commission, and the commission chooses at its discretion. Cooper also testified that the nongovernmental organizations that receive tags are allowed to retain up to 10% of proceeds and must provide documentation of how those funds are spent.

Committee members pressed proponents and FWP staff on whether lotteries reliably generate as much money as auctions and on transferrable licenses. Cooper said the special statewide tags can be transferred one time and that the purchaser must sign an attestation that no money changed hands at transfer; she said the agency relies on forms and attestation as the enforcement mechanism.

The hearing closed without a committee vote. The bill would change language in two statutory sections to add "or lottery" where the code currently limits statewide sheep and moose tags to auction only, bringing them into parity with elk, mule deer and mountain goat provisions.