Enhancing access to private property through the Public Wildlife Private Lands Committee

 By PUBLIC WILDLIFE PRIVATE LANDS COMMITTEE 

January 18, 2023

                                    Our favourite hunting and fishing spots in Montana are continuously changing, and this piques our intense curiosity. While access to private holdings that we have long enjoyed and sometimes taken for granted being challenged, public lands are being used more often. Changes in ownership of agricultural property, landowner weariness from hunter pressure and conduct, financial pressures on agricultural operations, and habitat/range conditions on public lands are all factors that contribute to this problem.

The Governor Gianforte-appointed Private Land/Public Wildlife (PL/PW) Advisory Council, which is made up of sportsmen and sportswomen, landowners, and outfitters, is tasked with reviewing the hunter access programmes, evaluating hunter-landowner-outfitter relations, and making suggestions for their development. After reviewing all access programmes in 2022, we gave the following advice to Gov. Gianforte, the Montana Legislature, and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.

The Block Management (BMA) Program is a favourite among both local and nonresident hunters, with more than 7 million acres enrolled. Landowner and hunter satisfaction is still high. The resource is under a lot of pressure due to the public's high demand. Block Management payments to cooperators must be made more financially competitively with current standards, according to PL/PW. The maximum yearly payout is $25,000 per year. In 2022, 1,308 landowners will have paid for 603,507 hunting days. Twenty exceed the limit based on the $13 per hunter day calculation (1,923 hunter days). Through FWP, PL/PW has suggested raising the yearly ceiling to $50,000. If adopted by the 2023 Legislature, we think this increase will make the payment more in line with the current market value for effect and access, encourage long-term participants to continue participating, and attract new participants to enlist.

The 2001 Legislature established HB 454, which is commonly referred to as "454 Agreements," to create the Elk Hunting Access (EHA) Agreement Program. The original 454 Agreements (established in 2001) permitted a landowner to get a license/permit for four public either-sex (bull) elk hunters in exchange for granting four public either-sex (bull) hunters access to their property. Low interest was shown for it. In 2021, HB 637 modified the ratio for each landowner permit issued from 4:1 to 3:1 and enabled the landowner to choose the first public hunter in response to the low participation and to encourage greater landowner engagement to boost public access. Antlerless or bull elk might be taken by hunters, at the landowner's discretion. 13 landowners were drawn to these modifications in 2021, and 28 nontransferable either-sex elk licences or permits were given to family members or full-time workers. A minimum of 84 public hunters were permitted by the participating landowners. They all permitted two antlerless elk hunters and at least one hunter of each sex on their land. Additionally, some landowners permitted a total of 742 extra elk hunters to enter their estates. Despite being somewhat debatable, the outcome has improved opportunities for public hunters where none previously existed, and more elk have been taken. In order to make the first public hunter a "similar tag or permission" (either-sex/bull permit), PL/PW has suggested making changes to the present EHA agreement.

Concerns about hunting behaviour and, eventually, hunter/landowner interactions, are another current topic. Even while only a tiny minority of hunters engage in bad conduct, such as trespassing and causing road damage, the effects of this activity are felt by all hunters. In order to address these issues, there has been much discussion and work on providing improved hunter education. Programs like Block Management may even require this in order to access private property. Would harsher punishments for offences be effective?

For the management of all wildlife in our wonderful state to be effective, there must be contact and relationships between hunters, landowners, and outfitters. Because of the special characteristics of Montana's private and public lands, we must all "work together" to attain the greatest outcome. To develop sound ideas and long-lasting solutions, we must all be aware of the problems and difficulties, educate ourselves on the relevant information, share our opinions, and listen to one another. We look forward to hearing your opinions at upcoming PLPW meetings.

Under the terms of a Creative Commons licence, this article has been taken from INDEPENDENT RECORD. Go here to read the original article.