Catching up on the posts over the past couple of days, as a DIY NR, this is the one that most offends. The issue isn't about creating economic opportunity/certainty for outfitters. They acknowledge they effectively get 39% of the tags every year already. And as pointed out by Randy and others, under the preference point system, the ability of outfitters to plan and book clients with a high degree of certainty, based on the points those prospective clients possess going into the draw, is quite simple.
Apparently, the real driver underlying this bill is the ability to re-book the same clients every year. That's not a Resident vs. Non-Resident issue, or even a which-type-of-NR-provides-greater-benefit-to-the-local-economy issue. It's a rich-versus-not issue: giving certainty of draw success every year to the same wealthy, guided Non-Residents at the expense -- no pun intended -- of the rest of us Non-Residents. I don't see how any Montana legislator can back that with a straight face.
