Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

FWP Seeks Comment on Several Proposals for August 25 Commission Meeting

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on several proposals slated to go to the Fish and Wildlife Commission in August. Under the new commission process, FWP is taking public comment on these proposals now and will present the collected comments and proposals to the commission for their review and decisions on Aug. 25. Commissioners can offer amendments to the proposals as they see fit. The proposals and supporting documents, commissioner amendments and collected public comment will be available on the FWP website two weeks prior to the commission meeting.

The commission will make a final decision on these proposals at its Aug. 25 meeting.

To comment and for more information on these proposals, go online to https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/commission/meeting

Fall 2022–Winter 2023 Furbearer and Wolf Trapping and Hunting Seasons and Quotas

The department recommends the commission adopt the furbearer and wolf trapping and hunting regulations as presented. Below are the proposed changes to the regulations adopted last year.

• Recommend reducing the quota for bobcat within Trapping District (TD) 1 from 275 to 225.

• Recommend reducing the quota for bobcat within TD 5 from 200 to 100.

• Recommend including the opportunity to purchase a C-4 license to hunt bobcats as established by SB 60 from the 2021 legislative session. A hunter that purchases a C-4 license to hunt bobcat may harvest the per person limit under the one C-4 license. (A hunter does not need to purchase multiple C-4 licenses to harvest more than one bobcat).

• Recommend reinstating the requirement that trappers are required to personally present the pelts of marten for tagging to a designated FWP employee within 10 days after the close of the season (see attached for specific language).

• Recommend amending the commission regulation on pelt possession by fur dealer license holders to include tagged marten pelts (see attached for specific language).

• Recommend eliminating all wolf management units (WMUs), except for combining former WMUs 313 and 316 into a new WMU 313.

• Recommend establishing a harvest quota of 10 wolves in total for trapping and hunting in WMU 313.

If a quota is instituted and when a season quota is reached, the trapping and hunting season will close upon a 24-hour notice, but no later than March 15, 2023.

• Recommend establishing a total quota of 100 wolves to be authorized by the commission in increments of 25 in accordance with MCA 87-1-901 section 3(c), commonly known as SB 200.

• Recommend managing wolf harvest primarily by trapping district.

• Recommend maintaining the floating start date for wolf trapping within the identical described area last year, except within trapping districts or portions of trapping districts (rather than wolf management units) in or near occupied grizzly bear habitat. Unchanged are recommendations for thresholds as approved by the commission in 2021, with the only exception being that the threshold for total harvest and harvest in TD 3 excludes those wolves harvested within WMU 313.

Pheasant releases for recruiting and retaining hunters

In the 2021 Legislative session, House Bill 637 authorized the department to spend up to $1 million each year for a pheasant-stocking program focused on recruiting and retaining hunters. FWP is seeking final approval for a five-year period, calendar years 2022 through 2026, to release pen-raised pheasants on state-owned lands within suitable pheasant habitat for recruitment and retention efforts.

Cornell Park Fishing Access Site (FAS) Acquisition (Region 3)

In 2020, the commission approved FWP to analyze the acquisition and development of the Cornell Park Fishing Access Site on the Beaverhead River near Dillon. That process is complete and FWP is asking the commission to authorize the department to acquire the site.

Amend Angling Restriction and Fishing Closure Administrative Rules, 12.5.507 and 12.5.508, ARM

In 2008 the commission adopted an administrative rule for implementing angling restrictions or closures during periods of drought. The department is proposing to change these rules to incorporate criteria for cutthroat trout fisheries and to provide additional guidance for when a restriction or closure will be implemented or lifted. FWP data and other research has found that the current restriction and closure criteria for salmonids (daily maximum temperatures reach or exceed 73 degrees Fahrenheit any time of day for three consecutive days) exceeds the mortality threshold for cutthroat trout. The department has determined that adopting criteria at 66 degrees Fahrenheit for cutthroat fisheries would better reduce angling impacts to cutthroat during drought.

Other proposed changes are intended to avoid scenarios where restrictions or closures would be implemented or lifted over a short period of time before a closure or restriction would be re-implemented or lifted again (i.e., an on-again-off-again scenario).

The proposed rule language will be posted on July 8. Public comment will be taken until Aug. 5.

Future Fisheries Improvement Projects, Summer 2022 funding cycle

The Future Fisheries Improvement Program (FFIP) continues to provide funds for projects that restore fishery habitats in streams, rivers and lakes for the benefit of wild fisheries. Applications are reviewed twice each year by the 14-member Citizen Review Panel appointed by the Governor. Recommendations are forwarded to the commission every six months for consideration and approval. For the Summer 2022 funding cycle, the Citizen Review Panel recommends funding eight of nine submitted proposals at a program cost of $238,810. Matching funds total $950,735, producing a ratio of $4 in external contributions to every $1 of FFIP funding.

Current applications, recommendations, and ranking information can be found on the FFIP website at https://fwp.mt.gov/ffip under Summer 2022 Grant Applications and Meeting Materials.

Other items of discussion for Commission meeting:

• Big Snowy Mountains WMA Fee Title Acquisition, Region 5

• Sha Ron FAS Site MDT Recreation Permit (Region 2)

• Nongame Tax Check-off Workplan

• Approval of Request to Translocate Sage-Grouse to Alberta, Canada, in 2023

• Programmatic Approval of Long-term Leases of Priority Habitat

• Selection of Organizations to Auction 2023 Moose, Sheep, Goat, Mule Deer and Elk Licenses

• Amendments to ARM 12.9.1403 Grizzly Bear Demographic Objective for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem

• Final adoption of motorized boating restrictions on the Boulder River as proposed by the Boulder River Citizens Advisory Committee

• Classification Review Committee’s recommendation to initiate rule making on classifying caracal cats as a prohibited species

• Amend ARM 12.11.6705 Extending Implementation Date of Madison River Commercial Use Cap

Comments will be accepted online at https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/commission/meeting in writing sent to the address above, and by email to:

For wildlife-related proposals: fwpwld@mt.gov

For fishing-related proposals: fwpfishcomments@mt.gov

For pheasant release: fwpgen@mt.gov

Unless otherwise specified in the proposals, comments will be accepted until Thursday, July 21, at 5 p.m. Comments will also be taken on proposals and any commissioner amendments at the Aug. 25 commission meeting.

 

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