Claims FWP and UM were led astray by Y2Y

We the citizens of Montana are opposed to any new funding for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Legislation will likely be drafted this year to add new funding to FWP, which sees itself as going broke. If FWP has gone from self-sustaining to in the tank, it is for one reason only — the inner replacement of its lawful mission for a progressive environmental agenda that has nothing to do with fish and wildlife preservation and everything to do with furthering environmentalist political goals.      

Not long ago, Montana had some of the finest elk and deer herds in America, paid for by the fine conservation efforts made possible by hunter fees. We encourage FWP to return to their initial management policies and responsibilities of protecting our ungulate herds instead of adding to their rapid decline.

The state agency’s duties are clearly defined in their legislative mission, per Montana Code Annotated, 87-1-201. In particular, “the department shall supervise all the wildlife, fish, game, game and nongame birds, waterfowl and the game and fur-bearing animals of the state and may implement voluntary programs that encourage hunting access on private lands and that promote harmonious relations between landowners and the hunting public. The department possesses all powers necessary to fulfill the duties prescribed by law and to bring actions in the proper courts of this state for the enforcement of the fish and game laws and the rules adopted by the department.”

In addition, the code notes that “the department has the exclusive power to spend for the protection, preservation, management and propagation of fish, game, fur-bearing animals, and game and non-game birds all state funds collected or acquired for that purpose, whether arising from state appropriation, licenses, fines, gifts or otherwise.”

It is our collective view that the sole purpose of FWP is to perform the constitutional duties with which it is charged. It is clear that the agency has been led down the garden path, along with the University of Montana, another taxpayer entity gone wild, for the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative, and that responsibilities to all taxpayers and residents of Montana, as well as to non-resident hunters and fishers who have paid out-of-state fees, have literally been fed to the wolves.

We citizens are fed up with FWP management policies, their active participation with the anti-human organization Y2Y Conservation Initiative and their failure to follow Montana Code Annotated and the Montana Constitution.

In this election year, I encourage everyone to vote in the best interests of the citizens of Montana and not for furthering the very misguided alliances of current FWP personnel with people and organizations directly opposing the desires of Montana citizens to whom FWP is legislatively obligated to serve.

Russell Kilpatrick lives in Coram.