Montana's Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will meet in the FWP Helena office, 1420 East Sixth Ave., Nov. 9, at 8:30 a.m. The meeting is expected to end late in the afternoon. The Commission will take final action on these items: Approval of two new Fishing Access Sites on the Beaverhead River south of Dillon and a minor addition to the Poindexter Slough Fishing Access Site. The Fluss conservation easement on the Powder River east of Miles City.
(Headlines - November 01, 2000)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, in cooperation with the Montana Trappers Association, will conduct two, one-day trapper education courses this fall and winter. The courses, which are free of charge, include trapping ethics, equipment, furbearer regulations and identification, trapping skills and other information useful to the first-time trapper or as a review for the experienced trapper. Attendees of all ages will receive a certificate of completion and a trapper handbook and workbook.
(Headlines - October 27, 2000)

Governor Marc Racicot recently recognized three Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks employees in a group of state employees honored by the governor for outstanding performance in public service. Harley Sorrells, Mike Moore and Randy Arnold received the Governor's Award for Excellence in Performance and were recognized during a luncheon with the FWP Commission on Oct. 6 in Helena.
(Headlines - October 27, 2000)

Montana's Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will meet in the FWP Helena office, 1420 East Sixth Ave., Nov. 9, at 8:30 a.m. The meeting is expected to end late in the afternoon. The Commission will take final action on these items: Approval of two new Fishing Access Sites on the Beaverhead River south of Dillon and a minor addition to the Poindexter Slough Fishing Access Site resulting from a land exchange. The Fluss conservation easement on the Powder River east of Miles City.
(Headlines - October 27, 2000)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on a proposed land exchange that would enable the agency to acquire the cliffs and the land between the jump and the visitor center at Ulm Pishkun State Park and a section of land within Makoshika State Park near Glendive from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. FWP is offering, in exchange, FWP-owned rangelands at Ulm Pishkun and lands just outside the boundary of Makoshika State Park.
(Headlines - October 27, 2000)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on a proposed conservation easement in northeastern Montana on 4,489 acres of land associated with the Cowell Ranch, 50 miles south of Malta. The easement, which ensures the property remains a working ranch, seeks to conserve and improve the grasslands for wildlife and livestock and increase available public hunting access.
(Headlines - October 27, 2000)

TIP-MONT, the "crime stoppers" program managed by Montana, Fish, Wildlife & Parks offers substantial rewards to callers who report valuable information on natural resource crimes. If the information leads to an arrest and conviction, the caller may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000. Callers who observe a crime involving big game, fish and vandalism in parks may call 1-800-TIP-MONT telephone line to make a report.
(Headlines - October 27, 2000)

The hunting of all mountain lions during the fall season in western Montana hunting districts 213 and 214, in portions of Granite, Powell and Deer Lodge counties, will close at one-half hour after sunset on Thursday, October 26, 2000. The order halting the hunt came shortly after Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials received word that the pre-established harvest sub-quota for the districts combined had been met. The winter season will open on December 1, 2000.
(Headlines - October 25, 2000)

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission, at its Oct. 6 meeting, directed FWP to seek public comment on three tentative proposals that would limit the number of nonresident upland game bird licenses and create additional hunting opportunities for resident hunters.
(Headlines - October 23, 2000)

For the third consecutive hunting season Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is asking hunters to assist in an effort to determine if chronic wasting disease (CWD) is present in Montana's wild deer and elk herds. CWD, which is fatal to deer and elk, has become a concern to western state wildlife managers. Since 1998, FWP biologists have asked hunters at game check stations for permission to take the heads of harvested game for CWD testing.
(Headlines - October 20, 2000)

Autumn's cooler temperatures and better water flows prompted Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials to reopen today the entire 125-mile-long Smith River to all fishing under the river's normal fishing regulations. The Smith River was initially closed to fishing in August to reduce drought and angling stress on the river's wild trout populations.
(Headlines - October 17, 2000)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is requesting public comment on the draft Bannack State Park Management Plan. A planning team of 24, made up of FWP employees and citizens from a variety of backgrounds, gathered public feedback and created the plan over the course of the past year.
(Headlines - October 13, 2000)

Blood tests of two elk recently captured by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks from the upper Dearborn River basin north of Helena--and later killed to be tested for disease and suspected hybridization with red deer--show both animals were pure Rocky Mountain elk. The Wyoming State Vet Laboratory in Laramie conducted the tests. "It's a great relief to know that these elk were not red-deer hybrids," said FWP spokesman Ron Aasheim.
(Headlines - October 13, 2000)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks announced today that whirling disease has been detected at mostly low infection levels in trout placed in several smaller creeks and spring creeks in western Montana. FWP officials note that whirling disease has not expanded to any new river drainage and that the appearance of whirling disease in smaller tributaries is not unexpected.
(Headlines - October 13, 2000)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wants to hear from hunters who are finding it difficult to access, find or identify Montana's public lands. To help hunters communicate with FWP, the agency's Access Montana Program is offering the new Public Land Access Problem Identification Form. Information collected through this form will help FWP work with other state and federal land-management agencies to resolve access conflicts.
(Headlines - October 13, 2000)

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission has adopted final boating rules which will apply to all western Montana public lakes and reservoirs (any lake with legal public access) and to all lakes surrounded by Plum Creek Timber Company lands in western Montana (FWP Regions 1 and 2). The new rules, which go into effect May 15, 2001, include: No-Wake Distance From Shore: The rule states that all watercraft must maintain no-wake speeds within 200 feet of the shoreline of all lakes.
(Headlines - October 13, 2000)

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission is seeking public comment on draft recreational-use plans for the Beaverhead and Big Hole rivers. "These plans aim to resolve some complex social issues and represent a tremendous amount of time and energy on the part of the citizen advisory committees who created them," said FWP Commission Chairman Stan Meyer.
(Headlines - October 11, 2000)

The middle and upper reaches of the Big Hole River, 47 miles in length, closed to angling since this summer, were reopened today by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' Director Pat Graham, acting with authority delegated to him by the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission. The reopening of the middle and upper reaches of the river is effective immediately. The 73.7 mile lower reach of the Big Hole River reopened to fishing Sept. 27.
(Headlines - October 10, 2000)

The Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission is seeking public comment on the proposed annual rule that will set the prices for nonresident elk and deer hunting licenses in 2001. Commissioners tentatively adopted the rule in September. An advisory committee of hunters, outfitters and landowners made recommendations to the Commission regarding sale of nonresident elk and deer licenses for the 2001 big game season.
(Headlines - October 05, 2000)