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Committee advances bill to loosen shooting-preserve restrictions, standardize fee and reporting
Summary
House Bill 106, advanced by the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee, removes a 2,560-acre contiguous minimum, requires preserves be on private land, sets a flat $250 five-year fee, removes minimum-release and recovery rules, and replaces tagging with a harvest form, according to department testimony.
The House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee moved House Bill 106 forward after department testimony describing the measure as administrative simplification for shooting preserves.
Ron Howell, chief of law enforcement for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said HB106 would remove the 2,560-acre contiguous-acre restriction, clarify that preserves must be on private property, allow an owner to establish multiple preserves without multiple licenses, set a standard $250 fee for preserves, and extend license periods from one year to five. Howell said the bill also removes the current 100-bird cumulative release minimum and an 80% harvest recovery requirement and replaces FWP’s self-sealing harvest tags with a free harvest form to reduce department purchasing and distribution burdens.
Peter Dudley of Montana Audubon said the organization generally supports the bill’s clarifications but raised a fiscal concern: using an acre-based fee formula under prior law could make very large preserves pay much more annually than the $50/year equivalent of the new $250/5-year flat fee. "If I understand it correctly, that would be an annual fee of 660 for shooting preserves at the top end," Dudley said, noting he did not see a fiscal note on the bill.
Scott Bollinger of the Montana Conservation Society said his group supports the bill as well.
Committee members asked technical questions: Representative Fielder asked whether the bill’s species list would automatically authorize newly listed game species; Howell said the bill does not itself change species lists but references species the department could authorize. Representative Durham asked how many preserves are licensed; Howell said there are currently 128 licensed preserves in Montana. Representative France asked about siting near urban neighbors; Howell and Warden Captain Phil Kilbreath said an environmental assessment would address noise and safety concerns.
In executive action the committee took a voice vote and the chair declared HB106 unanimous; the bill will advance to the House floor.
