FWP open house on hunting regs

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will hold a meeting on the tentative hunting regulations for 2012-2013 at the Red Lion Hotel, in Kalispell, on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, with an open house at 9 a.m. and a hearing at 10 a.m.

FWP biologists and managers will be on hand to talk about wildlife populations and proposed regulations. Each member of the public who wishes to speak will have a time allotment for each tentative regulation.

Proposed regulations for Northwest Montana, Region 1, include:

• White-tailed deer - no change - remaining in a restrictive season package but maintaining the youth opportunity

• Mule Deer - no change, remaining in a restrictive season package.

• Elk - no change, remaining in a restrictive season but maintaining youth opportunity.

• Moose - regionwide, change from "either sex" license to "antlered bull only."

• Bighorn sheep - no change except boundary adjustment for hunting districts 121 and 122.

• Mountain goat - no change.

• Black bear - regionwide, eliminate spring validation requirement.

• Mountain lion - no change. in spring FWP anticipates raising limited licenses regionwide based on Garnet Mountain lion research.

• Upland bird - no change except extending mountain grouse closure to Jan. 1, similar to other grouse Montana species.

• Turkey - change to all general licenses for both spring and fall for all of Region 1.

Hunters can also comment online about other proposals around Montana, such as antelope and bison.

There is a statewide proposal to remove the general license antlerless elk valid for individuals holding a Permit To Hunt From a Vehicle (PTHFV) unless that general license antlerless elk is also valid for general public not holding a PTHFV. If adopted, this statewide proposal would override other area-specific proposals on this same topic.

The FWP Commission approved tentative hunting regulations on Dec. 8-9. Text of the regulations is available online at http://fwp.mt.gov. Follow the "2012-13 Hunting Season Comments" link under "For Hunters."

Printed copies will be available at the public meetings. Comments gathered at the meetings will be submitted to the commission before regulations are finalized. People also may submit comments online by following the link to "2012-13 Hunting Season Comments" on http://fwp.mt.gov and filling out a form.

All comments are due by 5 p.m. on Jan. 23. The commission will adopt final regulations at its Feb. 16, 2012, meeting in Helena.