HELENA: This week I want to take a deeper dive into a couple proposals that myself and others have been working on this session. As of this past week both measures have been blended into one bill.
Senate Bill 442 from Senator Mike Lang (R-Malta) the idea to use marijuana revenue to create a long term and stable funding source to maintain County Roads, was amended in our Senate Finance and Claims on March 30th to also restore funding for Montana’s premier conservation program, Habitat Montana, as well as expand the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program passed in 2017. The amendment also supports the HEART fund, which helps people and communities deal with drug addiction issues, provides increased benefits for veterans and their spouses, increases funding for criminal justice programs and provides a new, stable source of funding for county roads, which arguably are more stressed, with our ever increasing outdoor using public. This bill as currently amended is worthy of broad support and should be recognized as an important bipartisan compromise. SB 442 brings Montanans together to keep our communities whole, improves the condition of the land, protects our hunting and fishing opportunities for future generations and offers support and recognition to the heroes and their spouses who served America in the armed services.
This is a once in a generation bill that meets the needs of many Montanans. This concept is two worthwhile ideas that come together, I appreciate a bi-partisan willingness to work with all sides to arrive at a legislative fix that invests in rural Montana, and the people who call it home For our own purposes, the restoration of the Habitat Montana funding through a new Habitat Legacy Account is both innovative and critical for Montana’s hunting and angling traditions. It shows that hunting organizations are just as invested in the ongoing maintenance, stewardship, and restoration of private and public lands as we are invested in creating new opportunities to hunt and fish. SB 442 provides a new funding tool to improve landowner tolerance of wildlife and help landowners respond to the challenges of prolonged drought, invasive weeds and other environmental changes.
I believe SB 442 is an opportunity for hunters and rural landowners to collectively improve our land stewardship and showcase Montana’s strong land ethic. It protects funding for traditional habitat tools and establishes new tools to improve the condition of the land, improve the distribution of wildlife across public land, reduce conflicts between wildlife and livestock and help ensure better outcomes for hunters, anglers and landowners. Historically, the Habitat Montana program used big game license fees for habitat conservation and to protect public access, safeguarding hundreds of thousands of acres in Montana since it was established four decades ago. Most recently, it enabled the purchase of the Big Snowy Mountains Wildlife Management Area, protecting critical winter range for elk and deer while unlocking access for hunters by acquiring easements. It has also created more fishing access sites on rivers and lakes. The amended version of SB 442 unanimously passed out of the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on March 30.
Again, I think we’ve made some pretty smart changes here that are intended to invest in rural Montana’s roads, lands and hunting opportunities while providing support for our veterans and a growing need for drug treatment, At the end of the day we want to give our local counties and local people the tools and resources they need to improve the conditions of the land and be good stewards of Montana.
In the span of 24 hours, the list of proponents advocating on behalf of SB 442 has grown rapidly to include a diverse coalition of more than two-dozen hunting, fishing and conservation groups, livestock and general ag organizations, who are now poised to square off against another measure gaining momentum in the Legislature that completely dismantles the intended funding created through marijuana revenue. Time will tell. In Closing, we will be taking up HB2, then State’s Budget Bill, as it comes over from the House, as we start deliberating in Senate Finance & Claims. I will have a more comprehensive report as we work our way through that. Have a great week.
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