Harvests were down across the northwest region, at least in terms of what passed through FWP check stations. At check stations in west-central Montana the numbers were about the same as recent years.
Protecting the nation’s gems
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was conceived on a float trip on the Middle Fork Flathead River in the 1950s. Thanks in part to the Act, the Middle Fork remains wild, and scenic.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly
Happy Thanksgiving!
Caribou sighting in Montana
Montana FWP officials have received reports from folks in the far northwest corner of the state that rare woodland caribou have been wandering across the border from Canada.
Woodland caribou were once permanent residents of Montana, Idaho and Washington, but changes in the old-growth forests that are the animal's preferred habitat have rendered caribou just occasional visitors today.
The Godfather never asks for a second favor, once refused
An Anaconda couple found two severed cow heads, one from rustled cattle, another from an elk, on a road near their ranch.
Anaconda police and the Montana Department of Livestock are investigating.
FWP commission approves Big Belt land purchase
The FWP commission has given its approval to purchasing 5,000 acres in the Big Belt Mountains near Helena. The purchase could provide public access in a hunt unit where the elk population is over objective.
The purchase still has a long way to go, including appraisals and, finally, State Land Board approval. The the approval process for state land purchases has been cast in turmoil recently with the governor taking the attorney general to court regarding a legal opinion on conservation easement.
FWP commission OK’s conservation easements
Decision sets up a fight between Gov. Steve Bullock, who says State Land Board approval isn't needed when the state purchases conservation easements, and Attorney General Tim Fox, who says it is.
FWP cuts deal for access to Phillips County ranch
Elk hunters will be able to access the 9,665 Blue Ridge Ranch in Hunt District 622 on the north shore of Fort Peck Lake. Hunters need to get permission from the ranch owner first.
In exchange, the landowner Will Carlson will receive a single either-sex elk tag to use on his ranch.
AG says Gov’s easement approval ignores law
Attorney General Tim Fox has issued an opinion that Gov. Steve Bullock ignored the law when he approved a conservation easement on an eastern Montana ranch after the State Land Board had voted 3-2 against the deal.
According to the AG's opinion, the state must secure Land Board approval for any conversation easement of more than 100 acres or $100,000. The opinion carries the force of law unless it is overturned in court, but does not hove direct impact on the already approved easement.
Bullock allowed FWP to move ahead with the $6.1 million easement purchase on the 15,000-acre Horse Creek Conservation Easement near Wibaux.
Montana sends new lion plan out for review
New strategies for counting the state's biggest cat part of the proposal.