That’s the type of privatized, pay-to-play model that Farron and other Montana BHA members are resisting. “We fully appreciate the value that private landowners offer toward our public wildlife-and they deserve not just our thanks, but they deserve some compensation,” he said. The thousands of dollars that change hands in exchange for these coveted landowner elk tags don’t go into the coffers of New Mexico Game and Fish, which means the money doesn’t benefit conservation. Montana voters want marijuana tax revenue to be used for conservation and specifically, for Habitat Montana.”Īn elk herd grazes on private property. “Despite overwhelming support for the program, Governor Gianforte’s budget and HB462 are both attempting to wipe out this funding for Habitat Montana completely,” the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) said in a recent press release. HB462 would remove those funds from Habitat Montana and earmark the money for law enforcement and prison guard recruitment and retention. The Habitat Montana program, administered by Montana FWP, provides critical funds for conservation easements and state land management. According to the Missoula Current, marijuana sales are projected to bring more than $50 million in tax revenue for the fiscal year of 2024-and as much as $57 million in 2025. That revenue has allowed Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks (FWP) to acquire new public lands and secure new conservation easements that open public access to private ground. In the end, just 20 percent of the weed tax revenue was set aside for conservation. Then a series of impassioned local speakers took the podium to air their grievances with the “bad bills.” The sound of their applause-muffled slightly by heavy mittens and gloves-resonated across the north lawn of the capitol. It was five degrees below zero with a windchill of -20, but these people were on fire.
Hunters and anglers clapped, cheered, and chanted slogans in unison.
By the time I arrived at the capitol building, a crowd had already amassed. If passed, the legislative measures would siphon money away from critical conservation programs, threaten the state’s cherished stream access law, and upend habitat protections enshrined in the Montana State Constitution.Īs someone who recently moved to Montana in part because of its access to vast wild country, I’d decided to head to Helena from my home in the Bitterroot Valley to attend the rally in person. Huddled around propane heaters amid subzero temperatures, we’d come to protest a slew of newly-introduced bills that threaten the state’s hard-won culture of fair-minded access to hunting, fishing, and public lands. On Thursday, February 22, hundreds of hunters and anglers gathered on the steps of the State Capitol in Helena, Montana.
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