Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission seeks comments

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approved several items for public comment at their June meeting. Comment on the following items will be accepted until 5 p.m. July 16. Final adoption of the proposed items will not be before the regular August commission meeting.

Furbearer and trapping regulations, seasons and quotas

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks proposes to establish a trapper education program and mandatory trapper education requirement for most people trapping furbearers, predators (coyote, weasel and skunk), wolves, fox, badger and racoon to start taking effect in 2018.

Additionally, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks proposes by the 2019 trapping season to require modifications to ground-set foothold traps set for the above species that include a center swivel, an additional chain swivel, and jaws with minimum offset and thickness.

Pesons trapping for purposes of livestock or property protection would be exempt from these requirements.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks also propose an increase to the Regions 1 and 2 otter per-person take and possession limit from 2 to 3.

Mandatory trapper education will ensure that new trappers have the basic knowledge and skills to trap safely, humanely and effectively. It will also provide peer-to-peer interaction that sets ethical standards even where regulations may not exist or provide clear guidance or may be difficult to enforce. The trapper education program will also cover wolf trapping so that in the future there will not be a separate wolf trapping class.

Trap modifications including center swivels, offset jaws and minimum thickness (lamination) are best management practices that have been shown to increase animal comfort and decrease injury. Today’s trappers consider these features necessary to trap ethically and humanely.

The proposed increase to the Regions 1 and 2 otter per-person take and possession limit from 2 to 3 is to better match opportunity with the distribution of trapping.

To comment, visit http://Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.mt.gov/hunting/publicComments/2017/furbearerTrappingProposals.html

Nongame check-off work plan

The Fish and Wildlife Commission annually reviews and approves the work plan for the non-game check-off program. While final 2016 tax year donations are unknown now, the average received by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks from the 2004-2015 tax years was $30,000 per year. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is anticipating this amount with some addition to the balance from previous years.

The work plan for the year includes $30,000 for inventory, monitoring and conservation work on Montana species of concern and species in need of inventory as determined through a formal ranking process; $15,000 for wildlife viewing and outreach projects that encourage more Montanans to appreciate Montana wildlife; $5,000 for competitive student stipend for non-game research.

To comment, visit http://Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/publicComments/2017/nongameCheckoff.html

For more information call 406-444-2612.