Montana

Fish and Wildlife Commission sued over open-meeting law, black bear quotas

Published

1 year ago

January 18, 2025

Fish and Wildlife Commission sued over open-meeting law, black bear quotas

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission was sued Friday for allegedly ignoring state open meeting laws when it approved eliminating some black bear hunting quotas in December.

The seven-member commission unanimously agreed at its Dec. 19 meeting to drop a rule that closed black bear hunting in certain hunting districts of northwest Montana if hunters killed more than 37% of the estimated female bear population there. The lawsuit, filed by wildlife and conservation group members from across the state, claims the commissioners failed to publish the proposal before the meeting and then took action on it without proper notice or public comment.

“I personally care a lot about black bears,” said Denise Boggs, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit and a former Fish, Wildlife & Parks wildlife division employee. “But we are litigating this because the public process and open meeting laws were violated.”

During a discussion of “corrections and amendments to black bear, antelope, deer bighorn sheep and boundary descriptions/clarifications” listed on the agenda during the December meeting, Region 2 Commissioner Jeff Burrows of Hamilton proposed the black bear rule change. It had not been included in the published agenda before the meeting, according to the lawsuit.

In the online recording of the meeting, Commission Chair Lesley Robinson said Burrow’s proposal was “one the public has not seen, which is perfectly fine. This is completely fine for the amendments to come at the meeting.”

Requests for comment to Robinson and Montana FWP spokesman Greg Lemon were not returned by Friday afternoon.

The change affected FWP Region 1 efforts to sustain black bear populations in northwest Montana. Region 1 Wildlife Manager Neil Anderson told the commissioners in December that hunters were particularly successful in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, killing about 1,500 black bears combined. But through 2023 and 2024, they only took about 900.

Region 1 Commissioner Pat Tabor of Whitefish said hunters were telling him that deer and elk populations were down in northwest Montana and they believed black bears were partly responsible.

“A slight decline in black bears is in order until we get stabilization in ungulates,” Tabor said during the December meeting. “I got a tremendous amount of traffic on this. We need to be more aggressive in predator management in Region 1.”

Region 3 Commissioner Susan Kirby Brooke of Bozeman added she thought over-large populations of black bears were the reason more residents in Kalispell and Columbia Falls were having bear conflicts at their homes.

“If the population is stable, they wouldn’t be coming into neighborhoods,” she said. However, FWP staff said those two things were not related.

“The challenges we have managing altercations with bears is largely independent of population size and hunting,” FWP game management Bureau Chief Brian Wakeling told the commissioners. “Hunting is not the primary method we use to address human conflict that arises from bear interactions or altercations.”

Anderson added that bear-human conflicts in neighborhoods had more to do with food supplies. In dry years when huckleberry crops are small, bears seek out human foods like unsecured garbage, bird feeders and dog food.

“It’s a little more complicated than just black bear numbers,” Anderson told the commissioners. “All the [residential] development is occurring in the valleys and riparian areas [that bears used to frequent]. People want to live there.”

Region 1 wildlife managers suggested the 37% female kill quota in January 2024. The move came in response to the recent extension of black bear hunting seasons, along with new opportunities to chase black bears with hounds. That likely meant more females getting killed, which raised the potential for a population downturn.

“We wanted to use this method for a couple years, and then come back to next year’s biennial season-setting with hard quotas, rather than this 37%,” Wakeling told the commissioners.

But Tabor, who recently retired from an hunter outfitting and guide company in northwest Montana, said he thought the 37% female kill quota was “uber-conservative,” and asked if a limit of 40% or 45% was possible.

Anderson replied that killing 40% of the females in a bear management unit was the expected threshold where populations could start crashing. The 37% point was chosen to avoid reaching that tipping point.

Mike Bader, a Missoula-based wildlife consultant and plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the divergences between what the commissioners proposed and what their FWP staff research showed was part of the reason why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to delist grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act last week. Federally protected grizzlies are often killed in encounters with black-bear hunters, and the FWS decision cited inadequate state regulatory controls on those hunters as a serious risk to grizzly survival.

“They just don’t seem ready to manage the species,” Bader said Friday. “They can’t just say ‘we’ll make adjustments and fix it next year.’”

A group of 40 wildlife experts made a similar point in a letter to the Fish and Wildlife Commission after the December meeting.

“This is management based on the whimsy of commissioners rather than on data, analysis and consultation with biologists on the ground,” the letter stated. “A particular irony in this case is that FWP recently initiated research to update our understanding of both black bear abundance and elk population dynamics in northwestern Montana. Rather than awaiting the results from FWP staff tasked with providing objective information, the commission moved forward based on some anecdotes they heard and their obvious personal bias against predators.”

During a public comment session later in the meeting, several speakers supported removal of the black bear quota. Two hunting outfitters noted it was difficult for hunters in the backcountry to know if their district black bear season had been closed early because the quota had been reached. They also said it was hard to book late-season hunting clients not knowing if the district might be closed before the regular season ended.

Mike Mershon, of the Montana Wildlife Federation, praised a different rule change involving bighorn sheep, but then added a warning about the commission’s process.

“These agenda amendments make it difficult to get it out to the public,” Mershon said, “so they can respond to developing amendments.”

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Montana

Montana Supreme Court allows ballot measure on initiative process to move forward

Published

5 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Montana Supreme Court allows ballot measure on initiative process to move forward

HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a proposed ballot measure intended to simplify the process for introducing ballot measures in the future.

Justices ruled 5-2 that the measure, currently called Ballot Issue #8, did not violate state requirements that a single constitutional amendment can’t make multiple separate changes to the Montana Constitution.

“We’re very grateful to the Montana Supreme Court for agreeing with us that the attorney general’s finding of legal insufficiency for Ballot Issue #8 was incorrect,” said SK Rossi, a spokesperson for Montanans Decide, the group sponsoring the measure.

Montanans Decide argues the Montana Legislature has passed laws making it harder for the public to propose and pass ballot issues. The Montana Constitution already guarantees the people the right to pass laws and amendments through ballot measures, but Ballot Issue #8 would expand that to include a right to “impartial, predictable, transparent, and expeditious processes” for proposing those measures. It would seek to prevent “interference from the government or the use of government resources to support or oppose the ballot issue.”

Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office argued the measure “implicitly amended” multiple provisions in the state constitution, including by limiting the “power and authority of public officials to speak officially on ballot issues that affect those officials’ public duties” and by putting restrictions on judges and on the Legislature. Montanans Decide, the group sponsoring Ballot Issue #8, disagreed – and the majority of justices sided with them.

“Its provisions operate together to define and protect a single constitutional right—the people’s exercise of initiative and referendum,” wrote Justice Katherine Bidegaray in the majority opinion. “They are closely related components of one constitutional design.”

Bidegaray’s majority opinion was joined by Justices Jim Shea, Laurie McKinnon, Beth Baker and Ingrid Gustafson.

Chief Justice Cory Swanson and Justice Jim Rice each wrote dissenting opinions, saying they would have upheld Knudsen’s decision to disallow Ballot Issue #8. Rice said the language restricting government interference with a ballot issue was not closely related and should have been a separate vote. Swanson agreed with Rice and said the measure’s attempt to fix a timeline for legal cases surrounding ballot measures was also a separate substantial change.

In a statement, Chase Scheuer, a spokesperson for Knudsen’s office, reacted to the decision.

“This decision only further muddies the courts’ jurisprudence on ballot issue questions,” he said. “This initiative would violate the separate vote requirement by amending multiple parts of the Montana Constitution, but the court contradicted its prior rulings. Attorney General Knudsen will continue to neutrally apply the separate vote requirement in his review of ballot initiatives.”

The court’s decision means that Knudsen’s office will now need to approve ballot language for Ballot Issue #8. Once that language is finalized, Montanans Decide could begin gathering signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

However, last year, sponsors of another initiative went to the Supreme Court to argue that the ballot statements Knudsen prepared were misleading. If Montanans Decide object to their ballot statements, that could further delay signature gathering while the case plays out in court.

“Regardless, we’re going to push as hard as we can to get those petitions into the hands of voters and let them sign and support if they so choose,” said Rossi.

Rossi said the legal battle this measure has gone through – and the possibility of more to come – shows why Ballot Issue #8 is needed.

“The state Legislature, and also statewide elected officials, have taken every opportunity to create burdens and hurdles and rigamarole for campaigns to get through in order to just get to the signature gathering phase, and then to get through the signature gathering phase onto the ballot, and then get through the election phase,” said Rossi. “The reason we filed this initiative is just to make sure that the process is simple, that the timeline is clear, and that Montanans can have their will heard when they want to propose and pass laws that they deem worthy.”

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Montana

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

Published

17 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

HELENA, Mont. — Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is running for Montana’s Western Congressional District seat, entering the race a day after U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke announced he would not seek reelection.

Jacobsen’s announcement sets up a new contest for the open seat after Zinke, a Republican, said he would seek reelection.

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“As your Secretary of State, I’ve stood up to Washington overreach, defended election integrity, and delivered real results for Montanans. In 2020, voters gave me a mandate to clean up our elections, grow Montana business, and push back against radical liberal special interests. I delivered. Now it’s time to take that same results-driven, America First leadership to Congress.”

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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