Wildlife should not be commercially exploited

For many Montanans, our state’s attraction is its abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities, especially hunting and fishing. These resources have traditionally been managed according to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, which holds that wildlife is a public resource held in trust by the state, should be allocated democratically, and should not be commercially exploited. These principles have allowed Montanans of ordinary means to enjoy our outdoors.

Now the scales have started to tip in favor of wealthy out-of-state interests, with two homegrown organizations contributing to these changes.

Based in Bozeman but funded largely by out-of-state money, the Property and Environmental Research Council (PERC) presents itself as a conservation organization driven by free market principles, which sounds innocuous.

A closer look reveals otherwise, as recorded in its own words. A 2020 PERC position paper on elk management advocated offering “priority or transferable elk tags” (emphasis added) to private landowners. Elsewhere, PERC called for “selling off millions of acres of (public) grazing lands.”

The underlying agenda – commercializing and reserving wildlife for the benefit of the wealthy – should be obvious.

While purporting to represent Montana agriculture, the United Property Owners of Montana (UPOM), like PERC, receives most of its funding out of state. While no one disputes the basic principles of private property rights, UPOM has adamantly opposed Montana’s Stream Access Law and the right to step from one parcel of public land to another at property intersections (“corner crossing”). These positions are intended to reserve the right to enjoy Montana’s outdoors for the wealthy at the expense of Montanans of ordinary means.

In 2022, UPOM filed a suit against the state arguing that elk populations above established objectives should be addressed by giving private landowners authority to manage elk on their property, including access to transferable elk tags that could be sold for profit.

Excess elk numbers do place undue burden on some ranchers. However, managing over-populated elk is a complex problem compounded by wealthy landowners creating safe havens for elk while managing their property for limited trophy hunting. Privatizing the resource for profit will not solve the problem.

A coalition of Montana hunting and conservation groups intervened in support of the state. In a major victory for Montana resident hunters, District Court Judge Gregory Todd recently dismissed UPOM’s complaint.

John Sullivan, chair of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers’ Montana chapter, noted “We are grateful the court has acknowledged the public’s role in wildlife management.”

PERC and UPOM are adept at cloaking their goals in terms like “private property rights” and “free market principles.” However, their hidden agenda really isn’t that hard to see.

These organizations may be based in Montana, but their funding comes from out of state, which should raise an automatic red flag. They have the time, money and lawyers to realize their agenda. They also have some politicians.

An election is almost upon us. Montana citizens who care about their future ability to enjoy our outdoors should press their candidates about their relationships with PERC and UPOM.

Park City resident JW Westman is a founding member of the Montana Sportsmen Alliance.