Helena — The House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee on Wednesday heard House Bill 71, which would allow the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to authorize an additional mountain-lion tag in certain areas where harvest prescriptions have not met objectives and would remove an obsolete sheep-monitoring requirement for the Tendoy Mountains.

Representative Shannon Maness, sponsor of HB 71, told the committee the lion-change provision is not a statewide quota change but rather a tool for FWP and the commission “to be able to issue some extra tags for certain areas so we can begin to meet some quotas that are not being met on the mountain lion harvest.” Maness said the Tendoy language on page 2 is a clean-up removing sampling and reporting that are no longer necessary after a restoration project in that range.

Quentin Kujala, chief of conservation policy for FWP, testified the department supports the bill and recommended a due pass. Kujala described the tool as analogous to provisions for other game animals where the commission can authorize more than one animal per license year in specific places to meet management objectives.

Sponsor and department witnesses said the additional tag would be issued at department and commission discretion, targeted to places where a harvest prescription (a quota or population endpoint) has not been met. Kujala said the department's online harvest-status information provides near real-time visibility on quotas and closures and that the commission would use its existing discretion to focus any additional tags geographically.

Opponents raised concerns about over-harvest, commercialization and equity. Mark Cook of Wolves of the Rockies said HB 71 could "advance the commercialization of our wildlife" by creating incentives for outfitters to increase lion take; Stacey Baertsch, president of the Montana Houndsman Association, said statewide tag supply already exists and noted a low overall success rate for lion tags. Baertsch testified that hunters using hounds have higher success rates and that any expansion of additional tags could disproportionately benefit those hunters.

Statistics cited during the hearing showed a recent discrepancy between statewide quota and harvest. Representative Maness referenced 2023 figures in her closing: a total statewide quota of 859 mountain lions and a total harvest of 542, indicating harvest fell short of quota in that year. Kujala and Maness said the additional-tag authority would be applied by the commission only in areas where managers determine more harvest is warranted to meet objectives.

The committee did not take an executive-action vote on HB 71 at the hearing. Department witnesses and several sportsmen's groups testified in favor; conservation and wolf-advocacy witnesses opposed the measure or urged caution. The hearing record closed without a committee vote.