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- SENTRYGRAM - |
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TWO MORE BILLS NEED YOUR HELP!SUPPORT
HOUSE BILL 510 |
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Dear Email Sentry: The session is beginning to heat up with two very important bills scheduled for committee hearings next week and so we are planning ahead. These two bills, HB 510 and HB 516, are on our list of priority efforts and are further explained below. House Bill 510 may only require messages to the Committee members but the committee members hearing HB 516 should be contacted personally with your presence in Helena, by phone messages, or by personal letters that MWF will deliver at the Hearing time. SUPPORT HOUSE BILL 510 HB 510, sponsored by Paul Clark, will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday February 7, 2004 at 9AM. Many phone calls come in to MWF asking about the legality of crossing at the corners of public land. This bill answers that question plainly; establishes in statute, that it is legal to cross from one corner to the other on checkerboard public land. If you can attend, it will be heard in room 137 on Monday at 9AM. Calls and emails to the committee members are also encouraged. HB 510 will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday February 7, 2005 at 9AM. HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Dianne Rice (R) Harrison Chair drice@3rivers.net
SUPPORT HOUSE BILL 516: VERY IMPORTANT - HIGH PRIORITY Once known to MWF members as the Harboring Act, HB 516, the Montana Wildlife Damage Mitigation Act, will reinforce current game damage statutes, striving to solve the problem of artificial concentrations of big game species on private land where they can't be hunted by the public. HB 516, sponsored by Ralph Lenhart of Glendive, will be heard in the House Fish Wildlife and Parks Committee Thursday, February 10, 2005 at 3PM and provides FWP the tools to keeps big game populations in balance with available habitat plus at the same time minimize or resolve game damage problems. We need to fill the room for this hearing. Increased privatization and commercialization is causing herd
management problems for FWP and diminishes public hunting opportunities.
Concentrations of big game animals can also cause considerable
damage to private and public lands and is becoming more prevalent
as Montana ranches are increasingly purchased for non-agriculture
purposes. Whether the concentration occurs because someone has
a philosophical objection to The Wildlife Damage Mitigation Act changes game damage statutes to define what concentration is, then determines whether a harboring situation exists. Active dispersal methods will be added to the toolbox of management options which already includes public hunting, adjusting hunting season length, increasing permit numbers or modifying the type and numbers of licenses for big game hunting. MWF has made alliances with members of the Ag community who plan to testify at Thursday's hearing. Committee members should see a room filled with the orange ribbons of hunters and anglers. Come early; try to get there by 2:30. Time may be limited but come, show your support even if time may run out before you get to speak. MWF will supply gas money for car pools, we want to see you there. If you can't get here, please call the Legislative Hot Line 406-444-4800 during business hours and leave a message for the Committee member closest to your location. We think messages will be more effective than emails on this bill, so please use the hot line to place a pile of messages on their desks! OR, if you can't attend but want your intentions known, please consider sending us a written statement so our lobbyist, Bob Throssell, can hand the committee a sheaf of letters to support our position. These seemingly simple gestures can have an enormous impact on the lawmakers. Consider including some of the following bullet points: Support HB 516 Outfitters and others may oppose this bill for economic reasons but we can certainly make the argument that these measures will improve landowner-sportsmen relationships and provide a solid biological base for our big game wildlife management. HB 516 will be heard in House FWP Committee on Thursday February 10 at 3PM The House FWP Committee: Rep. GEORGE GOLIE (D)--Chair ggolie07@msn.com
of Great Falls REMEMBER: Messages will have more impact than emails. Thank you for defending Montana's wildlife, habitat and our hunting/angling legacy. For more information: |
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This message is brought to you by the Montana Wildlife Federation ... Montana's largest, statewide wildlife conservation organization with over 7,000 members. |
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Thank
you once more for standing up for Montana's wildlife heritage. |
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| For More Info: | Larry Copenhaver, Conservation
Director Montana Wildlife Federation (406) 458-0227 • (800) 517-7256 Email: lcopenhaver@mtwf.org |
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