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Panel hears bill to create block‑management network and stronger enforcement for landowner rules
Summary
Senate Bill 441 would allow private landowners to opt into a block management network and create mechanisms to bar repeat violators from block management properties after criminal convictions. FWP and multiple conservation and hunting organizations supported the bill as a way to preserve access and hold users accountable.
Senate Bill 441, sponsored by Senator Denley Loge, would allow block management cooperators to opt into a network that enables Fish, Wildlife & Parks to coordinate enforcement and track repeat violators across enrolled ranch properties. The bill would also provide a mechanism to suspend or revoke hunting privileges on block management properties for individuals convicted of specified offenses.
FWP Chief of Enforcement Ron Howell testified in support on behalf of the director, saying the block management program opens millions of acres of private land for public hunting and that the measure adds enforcement tools to protect landowner participation. Howell said disqualifying individuals from block management access would occur only after a criminal conviction (Title 87 or Title 45 offenses) and that a judge could order suspension or revocation of access privileges for repeat offenders.
A wide array of hunting, conservation and landowner groups testified in support, including the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Montana Conservation Society, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Montana Wildlife Federation, Flathead Wildlife and individual hunters. Testimony emphasized that a relatively small number of bad actors (off‑road driving, leaving gates open, littering) drives cooperators out of the program and that stronger enforcement could help sustain and grow block management enrollment.
Proponents noted the network is opt‑in and that individual ranch rules would remain in place; the bill does not standardize landowner rules across cooperators. Supporters said the measure respects landowner discretion while providing a way to remove repeat offenders who have been criminally convicted of game or property offenses.
No opponents registered in the committee hearing record. Committee members had no substantive follow‑up questions in the hearing record; the sponsor closed asking members to give the bill a do‑pass recommendation.
No formal vote was recorded during the hearing.
