Month: October 2013

Oped: FWP should stop free-roaming bison plan

Written by upom-admin on October 25, 2013. Posted in Bison, Blog.

The Montana Department Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is on a strange mission to impose a free-roaming bison herd in Eastern Montana. It’s puzzling because it’s a plan that few Montanans want, and a large, diverse majority oppose. Yet, inexplicably, Governor Bullocks’ administration and FWP Director Jeff Hagener seem determined to give us a dose of a bitter medicine we don’t want or need.

The opposition to free-roaming couldn’t have been more evident at a recent FWP meeting on the issue in Lewistown. One after another, ranchers, sportsmen, farmers, local business owners, and others voiced their objections to FWP’s proposal to move bison from Yellowstone National Park to an undisclosed location in Eastern Montana.

They spoke loud and clear that free roaming bison would be an economic hardship; lead to the destruction of property, forage, and crops; and put pressure on other native species.

Oped: Court erodes foundation of state’s stream access

Written by upom-admin on October 16, 2013. Posted in Blog, Stream Access.

Professor James Huffman expalins how the United States Supreme Court’s PPL decision undermines the legal theory underlying Montana’s stream access law; click here for the full opinion in the Missoulian. Here’s an excerpt:

“The unanimous United States Supreme Court decision in PPL v. Montana was a judicial smackdown of Montana’s attempt at a massive land grab. The decision dismantled a legal theory that would have led to the state’s expropriation of thousands of miles of privately owned streambeds. At the same time, it called into question the legal underpinnings of Montana’s 30-year-old stream access law.