Andrew Posewitz

HB 635 is a near certainty following legislative executive action taken March 21, 2023.  HB 635 awards thousands of elk tags to non-resident landowners by virtue of their ownership of property.

In the hearing, Senator Fuller from Kalispell literally handed over ownership of Montana’s elk to non-resident landowners, and soon they will have the tags to prove it. This bill gives away something incredibly important in exchange for vague promises.

This bill hits at the very heart of hunters, our heritage and our values. While allocating this number of tags might feel small, the philosophy that underlies the bill is potentially disastrous and we should be eyes wide open about being led to this place and about who is leading us to this place. Hunters in Montana have an ignoble history of agreeing to give up something real in exchange for vague promises.  We should stop doing this.

My father, Jim Posewitz, wrote a book in 1999, titled “Inherit the Hunt.” This book contains many of the underpinnings that would lead to my dad’s collaboration with Dr. Valerius Geist in creating the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation a few years after Inherit the Hunt was published.  I was privileged to do research for this book as noted in the dedication.

Many have asked what my dad might think of HB 635 given the disagreement within the conservation community over this bill. The good news is we don’t have to guess since he has spoken directly to the issues raised.

For those who value my father, his philosophy and his relentless pursuit of the democracy of the wild, I point you to these quotes from Inherit the Hunt.

There are more serious threats to hunting than a handful of anti-hunters making a living off of their advocacy. The most ominous threat is carried by those who would create the equivalent of a new royalty of the hunt in North America.” and “To be true to our heritage, we must reject the notion of securing advantages in the hunt by denying opportunity to others.  If we have a cancer in our collective body, this is it.”

Speaking of political influence invading wildlife management – “Thus, it is no surprise when the allocation of hunting opportunity takes on a design to favor minority interests that have influence, when hunting permits are sold to the highest bidder, and when commercial interests are given privilege.  These actions undermine the principle of equal opportunity and equal treatment fundamental to our democracy and the public interest in wildlife.”

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. This bill brings directly advocates for what my father believed to be, “The most ominous threat to hunting.”

Please keep your eyes wide open as to what we are giving up, and those who are asking you to give it up. Today we are giving away our elk, tomorrow it may well be some other portion of the public trust.

Andrew Posewitz is a fourth-generation Montanan and a fierce public land and hunting advocate. He previously served as Chief of Staff in the State Auditor’s office and is one of the founders of the Montana Public Trust Coalition and a frequent speaker at conservation events throughout the west.

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