Erict
WKR
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission met on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 8:30 AM. This is where some rather important stuff gets decided and if you have the time you can get a better understanding how or why things end up the way they do. IMHO, the best choice for watching the recorded session is HERE, which is on MPAN - Montana Public Affairs Network. The timer conveniently uses the time of day. If needed, you can read the AGENDA for a run down of the topics in order and detailed information about the TOPICS in the "Public Comment" section.
A few highlights from what I watched:
FWP appeared well prepared, especially Brian Wakeling, Big Game Bureau Chief and also the FWP lawyers. The Commission appeared to have made up their minds on almost everything long ago so comments and debates were a lost cause. Interesting to see Vice Chair Tabor suggest that BMA cooperators are in it for the money and Chair Robinson, who has land enrolled, took great offense to that.
Early on - lots of wolf and grizzly supporters, including one who stated that wolves are good because they will control spread of CWD.
11:25 - 12:10 Antelope discussion - Highlights included splitting Region 7 into North/South with Yellowstone River as boundary, increasing 900-20 quota to 7500 (up from 5600) in order to provide more opportunities to draw this archery tag, currently 14% success rate.
13:22 - Deer/Elk discussion begins
13:57 - Region 7 Antlerless MD discussion begins - I still don't get the science behind the proposal to restrict antlerless MD take to private only (no public, no BMA lands). As stated, R7 no longer allows MD antlerless tag on a NR general tag. Antlerless MD tags were reduced from 11,000 to the minimum quota of 1,000. Next year, a Senate Bill will further restrict NR from obtaining more than 1 antlerless license unless they draw a Combo license, in which case they can get a maximum of 2. In any case, the original proposal was shot down but reintroduced and passed as "R7 MD antlerless tags on private only." (BMA cooperators still have option to allow or disallow doe take).
14:34 - 15:31 - Public comment period where speakers gave thoughts on all Deer/Elk proposals.
I was mostly interested in Region 7 related stuff, but you should be able to easily scroll through the video following their agenda to find topics that interest you.
A few highlights from what I watched:
FWP appeared well prepared, especially Brian Wakeling, Big Game Bureau Chief and also the FWP lawyers. The Commission appeared to have made up their minds on almost everything long ago so comments and debates were a lost cause. Interesting to see Vice Chair Tabor suggest that BMA cooperators are in it for the money and Chair Robinson, who has land enrolled, took great offense to that.
Early on - lots of wolf and grizzly supporters, including one who stated that wolves are good because they will control spread of CWD.
11:25 - 12:10 Antelope discussion - Highlights included splitting Region 7 into North/South with Yellowstone River as boundary, increasing 900-20 quota to 7500 (up from 5600) in order to provide more opportunities to draw this archery tag, currently 14% success rate.
13:22 - Deer/Elk discussion begins
13:57 - Region 7 Antlerless MD discussion begins - I still don't get the science behind the proposal to restrict antlerless MD take to private only (no public, no BMA lands). As stated, R7 no longer allows MD antlerless tag on a NR general tag. Antlerless MD tags were reduced from 11,000 to the minimum quota of 1,000. Next year, a Senate Bill will further restrict NR from obtaining more than 1 antlerless license unless they draw a Combo license, in which case they can get a maximum of 2. In any case, the original proposal was shot down but reintroduced and passed as "R7 MD antlerless tags on private only." (BMA cooperators still have option to allow or disallow doe take).
14:34 - 15:31 - Public comment period where speakers gave thoughts on all Deer/Elk proposals.
I was mostly interested in Region 7 related stuff, but you should be able to easily scroll through the video following their agenda to find topics that interest you.
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