wildlife

Western Montana has several wildlife crossing structures, thanks to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and a Legislative bill that would leverage federal funds could help add a few more.

Harold Johns writes, "It’s yet another step in a direction towards privatization of Montana’s wildlife, a path that Montanans don’t want to be going down."

Jaedin Medicine Elk writes, "The 'hunt' has been, and continues to be, an irresponsible slaughter that disregards the very survival of the population."

Andrew Posewitz writes, "There are very few promises that should cause hunters to abandon the writings of my father, and the vague promises of HB 635 certainly don’t rise to that threshold."

The resort expansion has been mired in controversy after missteps by the Forest Service.

Decades of overfishing, dam building, water diversion, and other human actions have set the Lahontan cutthroat trout up for unrelenting population decline.

William Geer writes, "This process will help prioritize sections of highways that would benefit most from wildlife crossing infrastructure that improves public safety, saves money and allows our abundant wildlife to complete seasonal migrations."

The groups oppose the project because all but 1,200 acres of the project lies within core habitat of the Cabinet-Yaak Grizzly Bear Recovery Area.

As the threatened grizzly bear population grows, interactions with ranchers and cattle have prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to sign off on up to 72 bear kills over the next decade.

Montana hunters agree on many things, but a bill to give elk tags to nonresident landowners isn’t one of them.