MISSOULA, Mont.—New data reveal a massive one-year decline in elk populations at ground zero of wolf restoration—Yellowstone—and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is renewing its call for Congress to delist wolves legislatively.

Reports also indicate that moose in the Yellowstone region are nearly nonexistent, adding even more urgency to the RMEF call for Congressional action.

RMEF President and CEO David Allen says two bills in Congress, a House version (H.R. 509) and a new Senate version (S. 249), hold the best promise. RMEF is asking lawmakers to remove unnecessary federal protections on burgeoning wolf populations and grant science-based wolf management authority to the states.

“Both bills would end the ridiculous lawsuits that are preventing a fully recovered species from being managed by conservation professionals,” said Allen. “And both bills would end the profiteering and abuses of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by environmental and animal rights activists who need a wolf controversy in order to protect their revenue streams.”

Allen said RMEF is asking its members and other conservationists to call their elected representatives and urge support of the House and Senate bills.

“All one has to do is look at the continued games being played with ESA rules by folks like Defenders of Wildlife, because that will make our case for us as to why delisting by Congress is warranted,” he added.

New data show the northern Yellowstone elk herd has declined from some 18,000 animals in the mid-1990s to just 4,400 today—a 75 percent decrease. Biologists estimate the herd has plummeted 24 percent in just the past year alone.

Other big game herds in wolf-inhabited areas of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming also are declining rapidly.

“We believe we made arguments to the judge that he could have relied on to uphold the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to delist the wolf,” said Joe Maurier, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. “We will carefully examine the ruling to determine what options remain open to Montana’s wildlife managers.”

While today’s decision by Federal District Judge Donald W. Molloy in Missoula takes away state management of the wolf, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission officially asked FWP to immediately appeal the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court and to aggressively seek management options with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“If we understand the ruling correctly, Judge Molloy is telling the federal government that because Wyoming still doesn’t have adequate regulatory mechanisms to manage wolves, you can’t delist the wolf in Montana and Idaho.” Maurier said. “We simply can’t manage wildlife successfully in that environment. We must have the ability to manage wildlife, to do our job, to seek a balance among predator and prey. As a practical matter, as wildlife managers, we need the authority to respond to the challenges wolves present every day.”
Today’s federal court decision reinstates Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, with federal law guiding Montana’s wolf management options. With today’s ruling, a general wolf hunting season in Montana is prohibited.

Wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains were removed from federal protection in March 2009, a decision that was almost immediately challenged by a coalition of 13 groups seeking to put wolves back on the endangered species list.

The recovery of the wolf in the northern Rockies is one of the fastest endangered species comebacks on record. In the mid 1990s, to hasten the overall pace of wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies, more than 60 wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho.

The minimum recovery goal for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains was set at a minimum of 30 breeding pairs—successfully reproducing wolf packs—and a minimum of 300 individual wolves for at least three consecutive years. This goal was achieved in 2002, and the wolf population has increased every year since.

The wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountain Recovery Area, which comprises parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, was estimated to be at least 1,706, with 242 packs, and 115 breeding pairs at the end of last year. About 525 wolves were estimated to inhabit Montana, in 100 packs and 34 breeding pairs.

http://biggameforever.org

As a judge in Montana considers whether to permit Montana and Idaho to continue hunts to manage mushrooming wolf populations that have decimated big game herds, Defenders of Wildlife has sought to triple the number of wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming and the Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned Interior Secretary Salazar and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide for expansion of wolf populations across the entire United States.

In response to these actions and the strong grassroots desire of sportsmen, outfitters, ranchers, and many others all across the US to insure that wolves are de-listed from the Endangered Species List and managed by all states where they are found, Big Game Forever, a political action arm of nationally-respected organization Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, has drafted legislation to remove wolves from the Endangered Species List. Big Game Forever is now working with a growing number of Congressmen and Senators to have the bill introduced early in 2011. The bill will allow needed wolf management measures to stop the decline of some of the West’s and upper Midwest’s most important herds of elk, moose and deer and help rebuild those herds.

“The decision to remove wolves, one of North America’s most abundant and successful predators, from the endangered species list by both the Bush and Obama administrations will not be respected by animal rights and a handful of environmental groups, even though excessive predation on big game has caused at least $100 million damage to the economies of states where wolves are found,” says Ryan Benson, National Director for Big Game Forever.

“Wolves are being exploited in an attempt to remove the rights of sportsmen to have access to and use of renewable wildlife resources. Notwithstanding the experimental nature of wolf reintroductions and repeated declarations that wolf populations have expanded far beyond recovery objectives, these groups continue to make millions of dollars suing the federal government on technicalities within the Endangered Species Act. It has become clear that there will be no end to the litigation despite the unprecedented damage to wildlife, surplus killing of livestock, and attacks on pets and guard dogs in the West and Upper Midwest. Ultimately those most affected by the ongoing litigation continue to be Sportsmen and wildlife, including the very wolves the anti-sporting groups proclaim to protect,” Benson says.

The federal government is currently spending $3.7 million dollars yearly to remove problem wolves that kill domestic livestock in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. This is money that should be used for wildlife conservation, including restoration of elk, moose, wild sheep and deer that have been decimated by rapidly-expanding wolf populations in many areas, Big Game Forever asserts.

The proposed legislation will provide assurances of agreed upon wolf population numbers in states where experimental reintroductions have reached sustainable populations spelled out in original enabling mandates. “State wildlife managers can either manage for abundance or scarcity,” explains Benson. “In the last 10 years, sportsmen have contributed $20 Billion in federal wildlife funding in an attempt to restore healthy big game populations and waterfowl populations. In addition to federal funding, State wildlife agencies, which are largely if not exclusively funded by sportsmen’s dollars, spend hundreds of millions annually in the West to restore and protect habitat, and manage wildlife populations.”

Sportsmen have worked tirelessly and put their money where their mouth is in an effort to restore healthy wildlife herds to the West,” says Don Peay founder of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife http://www.sfwsfh.org/. “Decades-long recovery efforts by states and sportsmen’s groups are being erased in herd after herd. We will not stand by and watch our efforts wasted by an anti-management agenda that has proved to be a failure for elk, moose and even the wolves they proclaim to protect.”

Congressional intervention provides a mechanism to ensure that states can fulfill their mandate to manage all wildlife populations for the use of its citizens. Benson explains, “Wolves are here to stay. The same state agencies that successfully manage balanced numbers of mountain lions, bears and other large predators are well-positioned to maintain balanced numbers of gray wolves while protecting abundant prey populations.”

To document the groundswell of support for wolf de-listing, Big game Forever has launched an online petition at http://biggameforever.org that has already drawn thousands of signers. Some of the early supporters of the petition include entertainer Jeff Foxworthy, former NBA all-star player Karl Malone, Hall of Fame baseball player Wade Boggs, President of Hoyt Archery Randy Walk, Randy and Coni Brooks of Barnes Bullets, and David Allen, CEO of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

ABOUT BIG GAME FOREVER.org
For the last 15 years, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife has endeavored to restore abundant wildlife populations in the West. SFW has worked tirelessly to reintroduce Bison, Big Horn Sheep, Elk and Mountain Goats to their original habitat while also putting millions of dollars on the ground across the West to restore almost 1,000,000 acres of habitat. Big Game Forever was created in 2010 to facilitate political action. Big Game Forever and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife believe that protecting the western way of life can only be accomplished through the involvement of American Sportsmen in the political and legal process.

The unique head gear (www.bughat.com) will not only protect clean-up workers from biting insects, but also the sun, explained Altus Brands, LLC president Gary Lemanski, in announcing the donation this week.

“Following news about the spill caused us to think about what a small company could do,” explained Lemanski. “And though large corporations and government are ramping efforts, we decided to do something quickly that might help a little. We’re in this together and need to help each other.”

Two groups will be receiving the free bughats, a $25,000 value, this week: the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program. Both are active in the coalition to restore coastal Louisiana.

“Our biologists are on the water and in the coastal marshes daily supporting the wildlife rescue mission,” said LDWF Secretary Robert Barham. “The department greatly appreciates this offer which serves our personnel well during the hottest months of our south Louisiana summer.”

The novel boonie style bughats use a fine mesh netting to protect the face and neck from biting and pesty insects. They have a secret pocket to store the netting when not needed, while also providing protection from the sun.

CHALLENGE TO OTHER SMALL BUSINESS
The Altus Group president is hoping his company’s example will inspire other small businesses with products that can be used in the oil spill clean-up effort to make similar donations.

“The Louisiana coastline is a national treasure,” said Lemanski. “What happens to it affects the entire country. If a small company like ours can make even a bit of difference, then just think what can happen as the momentum grows.”

In that vein, the Altus Group will also be donating 10% of all future online sales of bughats to support ongoing wildlife rescue in the Gulf Coast region. The special offer appears on the www. bughat.com website.

ABOUT ALTUS BRANDS, LLC
A private company with headquarters in Traverse City, Michigan, Altus Brands LLC (www.altusbrands.com) owns a diverse platform of companies that manufacture various types of outdoor recreational products.

It’s doubtful that the loosely knit statewide assemblage of grassroots doers that worked together in 1935, the Montana Wildlife Conservation Association could have imagined that the alliance would be continuing its work 75 years later. In May 1936, this group including many new concerns met in Helena and formally became Montana Wildlife Federation, the largest statewide advocacy organization of conservation minded people who share a mission to protect and enhance Montana ‘s public wildlife, lands, waters, and fair chase hunting and fishing heritage.

On April 17, 2010, MWF will launch its 75th year as Montana wildlife conservation, hunting and fishing leaders that have contributed so much to Montana gather together at MWF’s Annual Meeting in Helena .

During its 75 year history, MWF members have passionately volunteered tens of thousands of hours to ensure Montana’s fish, wildlife, and hunting and fishing future, established state management strategies, influenced the Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission directions, and a lengthy list of state policies related to our wildlife and habitat legacy and our hunting and angling heritage. .

The open to the public event this year will be bigger than ever and include the prestigious statewide Conservation Awards Program luncheon, special dignitaries’, a public forum on the most challenge issues facing Montana wildlife, hunting and fishing, youth education displays and activities. A fun-filled Saturday evening Banquet is filled with various raffles, door prizes, live and silent auction items, rods, firearms, ‘commemorative’ items including a Sweetgrass fly rod, special hats, a Bison bronze, a Winston fly rod, a rifle, custom made knives and much more. Several notable Montana wildlife artists have contributed originals and unique limited edition high caliber wildlife art.

Join MWF, hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts at the 75th Annual Meeting
Sign-up today – seating is limited – for the 75th Annual Meeting Fundraising Banquet April 17, 2010 at Best Western Helena Great Northern. Afternoon meeting sessions will focus on Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Controversies, The Future of Wildlife Management and Public Opportunities.
For more information or to reserve your seating – Email mwf@mtwf.org or call 1-800-517-7256 — Reduced price Partnership Tables are available for up to 8; the number of Partnership Tables is limited!

Wildlife, however, doesn’t have that option. Antelope and members of the deer family in Montana have to tough it out. Most do through a variety of methods. But severe winter weather can tax even the hardiest critters.

Big game survive winter through four main adaptations: an insulated coat, reducing their metabolism (up to one-third of what they need to meet basic life functions), remaining bedded for long periods during bad weather and relying on stored body fat.

Up to 30 percent of a deer’s winter energy requirements can be met through body fat. By the way, don’t believe the old hunter’s tale of predicting a winter’s severity by the amount of body fat on a deer, or elk. The amount of fat says more about the animal’s ability to find adequate food in the late summer and fall than the upcoming winter.

“For deer, their condition going into winter is important,” says Tom Stivers, Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist. “East of the Divide, elk will go to where ever they can find some grass. And antelope, if it gets really tough, they’ll move to try to find sage and forbs.”

Both mule deer and whitetails will move to find food, too, often to winter habitats the species has used for a millennium. When winter hits the Rocky Mountain Front, for example, mule deer will move down in elevation to ridges and foothills along the front.

The same holds true in the Missouri River Breaks, Stivers says.

Winter represents a downhill slide for big game, even with migrational movements.

“Mule deer on core winter range and habitat will do okay,” Stivers says, “but deer have evolved to lose weight in the winter.”

One scientist likened a deer’s year to sledding on a brushy hill. Through summer and fall the animal climbs the hill, adding body fat. The winter and early spring are the downhill slide. Grass, shrubs and plants can slow the descent, but if the bottom of the hill is reached before spring plant growth starts, the animal dies.

“Elk are big body animals,” Stivers says. “They can eat grass in the winter and get that internal engine running and produce a lot of heat, like cattle. But deer have to process higher nutritional food. So they seek tips of browse.”

Of course plants need to be in good shape going into winter, too, or browse, like willows and chokecherry, won’t have the necessary nutrition.

Deer and antelope and elk do die each winter. Sometimes it’s from age, sometimes it’s malnutrition, and sometimes it’s predators. More than likely death comes from stress caused by a combination of factors rather than just weather.

In fact, an early winter may have little consequence on animals because most have fat reserves to draw on. But as an animal’s energy supply dwindles, usually later in winter, stress factors will start to kill the young, the old and the weak.

One remedy suggested periodically is to feed the deer or elk. It almost always doesn’t work for several reasons. But that’s a topic for another day.

Now it’s time to put another log on the fire.

This critical part of the hunting season cycle provides the information that wildlife biologists and managers need to estimate the annual wild game harvest and to recommend quotas for upcoming hunting seasons.

FWP biometrician Robin Russell in Bozeman said that about 80,000 Montana households are generally contacted over the course of the survey. Survey interviewers collect information on big and small game — including deer, elk, antelope, moose, turkey and upland game birds.

This year the survey calls will be made from calling centers in Bozeman and Helena. The simple telephone survey generally takes about five minutes to complete.

Council members will meet Monday, Feb. 1, at 1 p.m. to determine priorities and begin to work on identified issues. The meeting will continue Tuesday from 8 a.m.- noon.

The 15-member council, made up of landowners, outfitters, hunters, anglers, legislators, and an FWP Commissioner, is appointed by the Governor and charged with reviewing FWP hunting and fishing access programs, offering recommendations to help achieve program goals, and addressing issues related to private land and public wildlife.

Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting and observe council proceedings. A public comment period is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 1.

For more information about the PL/PW Council, contact Alan Charles, FWP Coordinator of Landowner/Sportsman Relations, by phone: 406- 444-3798, or by email: acharles@mt.gov . Or, visit the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov on the Hunting page under hunter access

State agencies, cities, counties, angler groups and others interested in sponsoring a project may apply.

Grant applicants must provide a minimum of 30 percent of the costs associated with the project and may match the grant funds with in-kind contributions such as heavy equipment time, construction materials, labor, engineering services, and more.

The Community Pond Program has provided funding since 2003 for projects that benefit young anglers and their families and that provide locations to teach angling skills to those of all ages.

For a fact sheet and grant applications form, go to the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov and look on the Habitat tab for the Fish Habitat page, or call FWP at 406-444-2449.

Applications are accepted annually and must be submitted by Feb. 1. All applicants are encouraged to work with a local FWP fishery biologist on planning the project.

Anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the poachings of the two bull moose along the Jefferson River near Cardwell could receive up to $5,000.

Both moose were trophy class animals (40- and 48-inches) that were shot and left to rot in the vicinity of Cemetery Road and the Jefferson River south of Cardwell.

“I believe someone out there knows what happened to these moose,” said Boulder-Whitehall Warden Justin Gibson. “Those responsible may have bragged about it or let it slip out in conversation. I’m asking anyone with knowledge of these crimes to report to FWP.”

FWP received generous donations totaling $4,000 from an anonymous private citizen, the Jefferson Valley Sportsmen’s Association, and the Whitehall Ledger newspaper and local citizens and businesses. These donations will supplement any TIP-MONT reward.

Anyone with any information about these incidents is encouraged to call FWP Warden Justin Gibson at 406-439-4017 or 1-800-TIP-MONT (1-800- 847-6668 ). Callers can remain anonymous or confidential and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1000 from TIP-MONT, plus the additional donated funds, upon conviction of the individual(s) responsible for this crime.

Council members will meet Monday, Feb. 1, at 1 p.m. to determine priorities and begin to work on identified issues. The meeting will continue Tuesday from 8 a.m.- noon.

The 15-member council, made up of landowners, outfitters, hunters, anglers, legislators, and an FWP Commissioner, is appointed by the Governor and charged with reviewing FWP hunting and fishing access programs, offering recommendations to help achieve program goals, and addressing issues related to private land and public wildlife.

Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting and observe council proceedings. A public comment period is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 1.

For more information about the PL/PW Council, contact Alan Charles, FWP Coordinator of Landowner/Sportsman Relations, by phone: 406- 444-3798, or by email: acharles@mt.gov . Or, visit the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov on the Hunting page under hunter access.

Ashley Beyer, 26, will serve as the Miles City-based upland game bird biologist in Region 7, and Drew Henry, also 26, will serve in a similar Region 6 position based in the Plentywood area. Each of the employees started their new jobs on Jan. 4.

Beyer, originally from Ulm, Mont., earned a master’s degree in animal and range science from Montana State University-Bozeman in 2008. Beyer’s area of responsibility primarily includes Dawson, Prairie, Custer and Rosebud counties and parts of Richland County.

Henry, who grew up in Glasgow, Mont., earned a master’s degree in animal ecology from Iowa State University’s Department of Natural Resources, Ecology and Management in 2009. His main area of responsibility includes Daniels, Sheridan and Roosevelt counties, Valley County east of Opheim, and portions of Richland County.

The two new positions – plus another similar position that will be based in Conrad — were created by the 2009 Legislature as part of a broader effort to improve and expand services and accountability in MTFWP’s Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program.

Henry and Beyer’s duties will include working with landowners, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and MTFWP field personnel in promoting, locating, designing, coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating upland and wetland habitat enhancement and conservation projects — primarily on private land.

Habitat conservation projects will be funded primarily with Upland Game Bird Enhancement and Migratory Bird programs individually or in partnership with existing NRCS programs and the USFWS’ Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program. The biologists will also work cooperatively with Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, among others.

Both Beyer and Henry say they plan to establish and expand working relationships with landowners in their areas, as well as maintain regular communication with legislators, county commissioners, the user-public, environmental and sportsperson organizations, and other private groups and public land-managing agencies.

Beyer can be reached at (406) 234-0900 or at abeyer@mt.gov by e-mail; Henry can be contacted at (406) 385-7033 or at dhenry@mt.gov by email.

Hunting Fishing State Parks Recreation Wild Things Habitat Education Enforcement Doing Business News

The 12-member Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program Council is leading an effort to advise Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks on a 10-year strategic plan for the Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program. The group is specifically seeking to devise ways to more effectively carry out the program and to recommend rules for FWP to consider.

The public is invited to provide comments to the council on Jan. 20 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Comments also can be submitted at fwp.mt.gov. Click Upland Game Bird Council. Then click “online survey.”

For more information call Debbie Hohler at 406-444-5674, or e-mail to dhohler@mt.gov.

The FWP Commission will make final decisions on:

acquiring bighorn sheep habitat near Anaconda and a right-of-way for a fishing access site 24 miles west of Bozeman on the Madison River;
Montana’s bighorn sheep conservation strategy; and
waterfowl hunting on Mitchell Slough near Missoula.
The commission will also consider proposals on the FWP budget and legislative priorities; the peregrine falcon take for falconry in 2010; antler-shed hunting on wildlife management areas; two conservation easements for upland game birds, and clarification of the no-wake zone rule on Echo and Swan lakes.

Commissioners will also discuss bison management in Montana.

A morning work session beginning at 8:30 a.m. will include a joint meeting with the Board of Livestock, and discussions on hunter/landowner stewardship and conservation management along the Rocky Mountain Front.

FWP ensures its meetings are fully accessible to those with a disability. Individuals with special needs may request arrangements by contacting FWP at: 406-444-3186.

The full agenda and additional information on the scheduled topics may be found on the FWP web site at fwp.mt.gov under the heading FWP Commission.

In FWP Region 6, hearings to discuss the proposed hunting regulations are scheduled in the Antique Room of the Duck Inn in Havre on Jan. 11, at the Jubilee Room of the Sheridan County Library in Plentywood on Jan. 14, at the Cottonwood Inn in Glasgow on Jan. 19, and at the Malta High School cafeteria in Malta on Jan. 20. Each of the hearings will run from 7 – 9 p.m.

The full statewide hearing schedule is available on the FWP Web site at “fwp.mt.gov” under the “2010-2011 Hunting Season Comments” section.

In addition, open houses designed for members of the public to meet informally with FWP Region 6 staff to discuss any other items of interest are scheduled on Jan. 11 at the Antique Room at the Duck Inn in Havre and on Jan 14 at the Main Bistro in Plentywood. Each of the open houses will run from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

FWP held seven summer meetings across the state and received more than 370 comments that led to several hunting season proposals. In years past, FWP would propose “tentative” seasons and season structures, from general regulations to types of special permits offered in specific areas, and then ask for comment on the proposals without a formal scoping session.

Among the proposed changes for the 2010 -11 hunting seasons are: moving the general deer and elk season opener to Saturday, instead of Sunday and the antelope opener to the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend; issuing antlerless elk licenses instead of antlerless elk permits; adopting a new four-year waiting period for those who obtain some either-sex elk permits; implementing party applications for deer and elk permits and licenses; regrouping the 23 elk-archery districts outside the Missouri River Breaks into one “bundle” of limited either-sex archery permits; allowing bow hunters to pursue bears and mountain lions during the archery season; creating a two-day deer season for youth to run on the third Thursday and Friday in October; and requiring nontoxic shot for all bird hunting on wildlife management areas across the state.

Details on these and other proposed hunting regulation changes are available on FWP’s Web site. The proposed regulations cover all hunting in Montana except for furbearers and migratory waterfowl.

Comments, which are due by 5 p.m. on Jan. 22, may be submitted at the public meetings or electronically on the FWP Web page. Written comments also may be sent to: FWP—Wildlife Bureau, Attn: Public Comment, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701.

The schedule calls for an open house to be held from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. FWP biologists and managers will be on hand to explain information on wildlife populations and proposed regulations. The actual hearing will begin at 10 a.m. Each member of the public who wishes to speak will have a time allotment for each tentative regulation.

Proposed changes include a Saturday opener for deer, elk, and antelope seasons, a youth deer hunting opportunity just prior to the general opener, and an antlerless elk “B-tag” system. No changes are proposed for deer hunting regulations in northwest Montana because major restrictive changes were made last winter in anticipation of declining whitetail deer numbers. These tentatives don’t address the wolf-hunting season; those comments will be collected this spring.

The Commission approved the tentative regulations Dec. 10. Text of the regulations is available online at http://fwp.mt.gov and follow the “2010-11 Hunting Season Comments” link under “For Hunters.” Printed copies will be available at the public meetings. Comments gathered at the meetings will be submitted to the Commission before regulations are finalized. People also may submit comments online by following the link to “2010-11 Hunting Season Comments” on http://fwp.mt.gov and filling out a form. All comments are due by 5 p.m. January 22. The FWP Commission will adopt final regulations at its Feb. 11, 2010 meeting in Helena.

For the 2010 hunting season some of the proposed changes affecting FWP Region 4 include:

ELK

· Create five either sex permits valid throughout the hunting district (HD) 425.

· Adjust the A9/B12 antlerless elk license to be valid on private and DNRC lands in all Region 4 HDs except 401, 410, 417, 420 and 455. Currently not valid in 12 HDs.

· The addition of general license opportunity during the last nine days of general firearm season in HD 448.

DEER

· Convert any general A license from either sex mule deer to antlered buck only mule deer for both archery and firearm seasons.

· Combine unlimited resident and nonresident single region antlerless whitetail license.

STATEWIDE ISSUES

· Statewide deer and elk opener one day earlier than traditional Sunday for firearm season.

· Statewide create youth deer hunting season on third Thursday and Friday of October.

· Move opening day of the general firearm season for antelope to Saturday of Columbus Day weekend and adjust the antelope archery only season to end the day before this opener.

All of the proposed changes are on the FWP web site under recent public notices: request for public comment – 2010-2011 hunting season proposals – interested persons letter.

Here are the R4 season setting meeting dates & places. Everything starts at 7PM.

· Jan. 5, Fort Benton, city hall;

· Jan. 7, Wolf Creek, elementary school;

· Jan. 11, Chester, high school auditorium;

· Jan. 11, White Sulphur Springs, city hall;

· Jan. 12, Augusta, Catholic church;

· Jan. 12, Shelby, Marias River Electric Coop;

· Jan. 13, Stanford, city hall;

· Jan. 14, Conrad, Pondera shooting sports club;

· Jan. 14, Lewistown, FWP office;

· Jan. 19, Great Falls, MSU-COT Heritage Hall.

STONEWALL, Colo. – The Colorado Division of Wildlife has reached an agreement with the Torres family of Las Animas County to protect 2,387 acres of valuable wildlife habitat.  Five parcels southwest of Stonewall have been placed in conservation easements that will permanently protect the land from being sub-divided and fragmented.

The Torres Conservation Easements will protect critical habitat for deer, elk, bear, turkey, and a multitude of other wildlife species.  The land includes elk calving areas, deer winter range, denning sites for bears, strutting grounds for wild turkey, and habitat for dozens of species of birds and other wildlife.

The Torres parcels are located in a transition zone between alpine, aspen, and Ponderosa Pine habitat; and will ensure preservation of an important elk migration corridor.

“This land is a prime area for wildlife.  We are pleased to know it won’t be chopped up by buildings and roads,” said Marvin ‘Glen’ Torres of Trinidad.  “Conservation easements are a great way to keep the land the way it is,” he said.

“The Torres family should be commended for the legacy they will leave to future generations,” said Bob Holder of the Division of Wildlife.  “It is particularly satisfying to know that JL (Louie), Kelly, Glen, and Robert Torres had the strength, courage, and foresight to establish these conservation easements.  Their efforts are a shining example to other small landowners that conservation easements are a viable option to protect their land and legacy.”

By combining funds collected from habitat stamp sales with grants from Great Outdoors Colorado and other sources, the DOW has permanently preserved approximately 75,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat since 2007 – including nearly 21,000 acres opened to public access for hunting and fishing.

DOW acquisitions and easements have protected critical habitats for sensitive species like sage-grouse, and preserved important winter range and migration corridors for deer and elk.

Conservation easements allow people to continue to use the land they own for existing practices like farming or ranching, but in the event the landowner sells, the new owners are bound by the stipulations of the conservation easement as well.

A nine-member citizen’s committee appointed by the Governor oversees the DOW habitat stamp program.  Proposals are reviewed and ranked according to wildlife benefits, public access, and cost.

####

Division of Wildlife

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Headlines – Region 5

BILLINGS — Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has scheduled six public meetings in south central Montana for people to comment on tentative 2010-2011 hunting regulations. The proposed regulations cover all hunting in Montana except for furbearers and migratory waterfowl.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission approved the tentative regulations Dec. 10. Text of the regulations is available online at http://fwp.mt.gov and follow the “2010-11 Hunting Season Comments” link under “For Hunters.” Printed copies will be available at the public meetings.

In south central Montana, all meetings will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. They are set for:

· Red Lodge, middle school cafeteria, Monday, Jan. 11

· Columbus, high school cafeteria, Tuesday, Jan. 12

· Big Timber, high school cafeteria, Wednesday, Jan. 13

· Harlowton, Kiwanis Youth Center, Thursday, Jan. 14

· Billings, Holiday Inn, Monday, Jan. 18

· Roundup, ambulance barn, Tuesday, Jan. 19

Comments gathered at the meetings will be submitted to the commission before regulations are finalized. People also may submit comments online by following the link to “2010-11 Hunting Season Comments” on http://fwp.mt.gov and filling out a form. All comments are due by 5 p.m. Jan. 22.

A list of other public meetings in the state, proposed quota ranges and the 2009 regulations also are available on the FWP Web site.

-FWP-