Very happy to inform everyone that the legislative session has come to a close, both houses moved to sine die. All that is left is signatures from the governor.
More to come, but I am elated to report that Montana BHA's priority bills HB 283 and HB 763 both made it through and are on their way to the governor's desk. For a refresher on what these bills will do: HB 283 allows for the moose and sheep tags to be raffled or auctioned so conservation orgs can raise more money for those species (as we did last year with mule deer
https://billingsgazette.com/outdoor...cle_db46973f-cbd0-5a45-a64e-b4497b9e5fdb.html). HB 763 provides another tool for a landowner to allow access to public land specifically during the hunting season under the Block Mgmt Program.
https://www.backcountryhunters.org/montana_hb_763_accessing_public_lands_through_block_management
A huge thanks is in order to Reps. Tyson Running Wolf and Joshua Seckinger for carrying these bills, and for the support we received from hunt talk members
@Eric Albus (a cosponsor on HB 763), and
@Ben Lamb.
Furthermore, both SB 537 and HB 932, which compete but both do great for conservation funding, are on their way to the governor's desk.
I'm really proud of the work our policy team did this year, this was our most successful session, and we were largely able to stay out of the fray and keep our focus on the bills that will make the biggest difference for our public lands and wildlife.
I'm gonna go try and kill a turkey this weekend now.