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House committee hears bill to raise upland-game fees; FWP warns of federal-funding risk
Summary
The Montana House Fish and Wildlife Committee heard House Bill 372, sponsored by Rep. Tom France, which would increase license fees to expand the Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program. Fish, Wildlife and Parks told the panel the bill as written would trigger a diversion of Pittman‑Robertson federal funds; the sponsor offered an amendment he and FWP say resolves that issue and will be added before executive action.
Representative Tom France introduced House Bill 372 on behalf of the Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program, seeking modest increases in resident and nonresident upland-game license fees to expand habitat projects and public hunting access across Montana.
France, the bill sponsor, told the House Fish and Wildlife Committee the program has delivered hundreds of habitat projects and more than 800,000 acres of public access since steady funding began in 2013. "This program touches all the things a good fish and wildlife program should touch," France said, and described projects ranging from multi‑year grazing contracts to shelterbelts that lock in public access for up to 15–30 years.
Supporters who testified in person and online described the program as landowner‑led and widely used by resident and nonresident hunters. Lance Forster, representing the Montana American Caucus, submitted a letter urging a due pass; Ben Dieble of the Big Sky Upland Bird Association said the fee increases are "nominal" compared with the acres of access gained. Andrew McKean of the Montana Sportsman Alliance and several private hunters said biologists lack capacity to meet current demand and that increased funding would expand participation.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials and conservation organizations said they back the program’s aims but opposed HB 372 as written because of an unintended fiscal consequence. Helena (Lena) Havron, chief financial officer for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, told the committee that, "as written it creates an annual loss of revenue to our general license account in the amount of about $3,500,000 and a loss of our federal apportionment in the amount of about $37,000,000." She and other opponents said the problem stems from changes that would alter how combination license dollars are allocated and thereby violate federal guidance tied to Pittman‑Robertson apportionment.
France said he and department staff worked together on an amendment (referred to in committee as amendment 1.1) to remove the language that caused the diversion. Licensing Bureau Chief Emily Cooper described how the amendment strikes references to discounted and certain combination (B11) license language and adjusts nonresident combination fees to preserve the intended earmark without triggering a federal diversion. "That would be a major portion," Cooper said of striking the B11 reference, and she noted the amendment also adjusts other combination licenses to correct calculations tied to CPI and license calendar years.
Committee members pressed for a revised fiscal note once the amendment is formally placed on the bill; staff explained the committee must adopt the amendment and then the department will compute a new fiscal analysis. Several groups that opposed the bill as written said they would support it if the amendment fixes the diversion.
No final vote was taken on HB 372 during the hearing. The sponsor asked the committee to place the department‑draft amendment onto the bill and consider it in executive action; the chair recessed the committee and circulated the amendment for members to review. The committee recorded plans to revisit HB 372 and the amendment in an upcoming executive session.
Other committee business that day included tabling House Bill 216 (hunting authority on fee lands within the Flathead Reservation) after motions and roll‑call votes, tabling House Bill 353 (authority to manage collection of naturally shed antlers and horns), and passing House Bill 242 as amended to increase penalties for transporting aquatic invasive species.
