More Bad MT Elk Legislation LC2343

[Nameless Range]

I have it from a pretty good source that the new FWP director will be testifying in support of the bill. Going to need a huge campaign to stop this bill.

Sportsmen gotta show up and call em on their bullshit. His testimony contains no magical powers of cogency that ours doesn't.

Win or lose, as Posewitz said, "You gotta make em take it from you." On a tentatively hopeful note, I do sense a streak of independent thought in this legislature, no matter how weak. We've already seen bad ideas burned down, and we've seen folks rise up in numbers sufficient to bring that independent streak out - yesterday's vote killing Right to Work being a fine example.

If it makes it past committee we'll harass the whole house - respectively of course. I have found my own house rep (R) to be pretty open to listening.

We gotta show up!

 

[Nameless Range]

Here's a question:

NEW SECTION. Section 1.

Class B-13--landowner-sponsored nonresident elk-only 13 combination license. (1) The department shall offer for sale, for the same fee established in 87-2-511(6), 14 Class B-13 landowner-sponsored nonresident elk-only combination licenses to persons otherwise qualified to 15 purchase a license pursuant to this part and who are sponsored by a qualifying landowner to hunt solely on that 16 landowner's deeded land or property in accordance with rules adopted by the commission for a general elk 17 license in the applicable hunting district. 18
(2) A landowner may sponsor up to 10 license applicants pursuant to this section if the landowner 19 owns 640 or more contiguous acres within a hunting district where the sustainable population number for elk, 20 as calculated pursuant to 87-1-323, is at objective as determined by the department's most recent elk survey 21 count. If the most recent elk survey count is above or below the sustainable population number, a landowner 22 does not qualify. 23

(3) Licenses issued pursuant to this section are in addition to nonresident elk-only combination 24 licenses available for sale pursuant to 87-2-511(6).

I bolded that last part. Am I reading this right that on top of the elk combination licenses that are typically sold every year, these new tags would also be available? So the private land in these districts becomes far more pay to play with these additional tags. Would that not likely increase pressure on public lands in these districts, since the same amount of nonresident elk combos that would exist otherwise would still exist?

 

[Ben Lamb]

@Nameless Range - you are reading that correctly. There could easily be an oversubscription in LE areas while there is no reduction in the amount of NR hunters from the statitorily mandated 17K B-10 tags.

 

[Nameless Range]

@Nameless Range - you are reading that correctly. There could easily be an oversubscription in LE areas while there is no reduction in the amount of NR hunters from the statitorily mandated 17K B-10 tags.

Thank you Ben.