Montanans should demand better for our wildlife and our democracy

I am a 70-year-old, retired farmer. I am a 4th generation Montanan and a lifelong avid hunter, angler and conservationist. I have a degree in Wildlife Biology and research experience on large predators.

I started farming in 1977. I own Circle S Ranch in eastern Montana and pay property taxes in five counties. I have always shared the bounty of the ranch with sportsmen, sportswomen and conservationists for free. No one has ever paid a dime for access.

I have been engaged in conservation, habitat improvement, and fish and wildlife management for a lifetime. I don’t hold myself out as a Republican or a Democrat. However, I write this letter as hunting season begins to urge all Montana hunters to start paying attention to how you vote, and which party is helping local Montana hunters, and which one is not.

Just when we think our Fish, Wildlife & Parks couldn’t go lower, bam! More news about the manipulative internal workings of Dustin Temple and his inner circle cohorts has come to light. Word on the street is certain reporters and news outlets are being shunned by FWP upper management.

The freedom of the press was considered important enough to put into the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to guarantee that right along with freedom to redress government, freedom of religion, and free speech. Some state government leaders believe they can circumvent those freedoms by intimidating employees to keep them from revealing the agency's workings.

This news comes from sources inside the agency, but they can't be named because surviving FWP employees are scared of Temple’s retribution. One can’t blame those employees for not being as transparent as they once were, considering the numerous employees that have been shown the door because they dared to stand up.

But news flash here, folks: We're still supposed to have freedom of the press.

Volumes are spoken of our FWP leaders working in the shadows. Decisions that in the past would have been freely reported by reporters are now often only revealed by whistleblowers or court documents. The agency is being about as secretive and deceiving of our Montanans as any time in the past.

In a campaign speech a few years ago, Governor Gianforte claimed that FWP was extorting landowners and he was going to do something about that. Turns out, he wasn’t kidding. But what he did was enable large landowners to take over wildlife management.

Furthermore, he also campaigned with outfitters, saying he was inviting them to the table. He did that too, and now Montana's wildlife is increasingly for sale.

Governor Gianforte is true to his twisted beliefs. After election, his administration immediately began tearing apart a revered wildlife agency. He and Lt. Governor Kristin Juras are still on that same mission, and now, Dustin Temple is the Governor’s tool, doing his best to keep the public in the dark.

Montanans should demand better for our wildlife and our democracy.

– Joe Perry, Conrad