Montana legislation · 2025 Regular Session
Montana HB417: Provide for the Montana hunters first act to create a hunting impact study and mandatory hunter reporting
Status: Chaptered, May 13, 2025
What the bill says
A bill for an act creating a study of impacts on montana's hunting seasons related to block management, season structure, and resident and nonresident license allocation; assigning responsibility for the study to the department of fish, wildlife, and parks; defining the scope of the study; requiring a published report that includes recommendations; requiring mandatory reporting of hunting activity by hunters of game animals; providing rulemaking authority; and providing effective dates and a termination date.".
From the engrossed text:
A BILL FOR AN ACT CREATING A STUDY OF IMPACTS ON MONTANA'S HUNTING SEASONS RELATED TO BLOCK MANAGEMENT, SEASON STRUCTURE, AND RESIDENT AND NONRESIDENT LICENSE ALLOCATION; ASSIGNING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE STUDY TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FISH, WILDLIFE, AND PARKS; DEFINING THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY; REQUIRING A PUBLISHED REPORT THAT INCLUDES RECOMMENDATIONS; REQUIRING MANDATORY REPORTING OF HUNTING ACTIVITY BY HUNTERS OF GAME ANIMALS; PROVIDING RULEMAKING AUTHORITY; AND PROVIDING EFFECTIVE DATES AND A TERMINATION DATE." WHEREAS, there has been a steady growth in nonresident hunting license sales and hunting pressure on publicly accessible lands; and WHEREAS, Montana's significant population growth necessitates a detailed assessment of hunting season structure after 40 years; and WHEREAS, there has been a decline of roughly 1 million acres in the amount of private land enrolled in the block management program over the past 10 years, concentrating hunters on smaller amounts of publicly accessible lands; and WHEREAS, hunter success rates have been steadily falling, while hunter use days have been steadily increasing; and WHEREAS, public sentiment indicates that Montana's wildlife resources are being strained by a variety of factors; and WHEREAS, landowner fatigue with the current hunting season structure relative to elk hunting opportunities is setting in; and - 1 - Authorized Print Version - HB **** 69th Legislature 2025 HB 417.1 WHEREAS, the wildlife of Montana …