July 18 Missoula Meeting will Detail State Fish and Wildlife Assessment

Print

Public meetings around the state in July and August will give Montanans a chance to comment on Montana’s Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CFWCS), an in-depth assessment of the state’s fish and wildlife species and their distribution.  

South-central Montana’s meeting will be held at the Fish, Wildlife & Parks building in Missoula at 3201 Spurgin Rd., from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on July 18.

The draft assessment, released for public review July 6, represents two years of work to compile and develop fish, wildlife and habitat conservation needs identified by government agencies, private groups, universities and others in the state.  

The document identifies the state’s 636 species of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, crayfish and mussels and their habitats. It also identifies those species in the greatest need of conservation—those for which biological information is lacking, whose populations are in decline, or that are at risk of decline .

Current funding provided by hunters and anglers helps manage about 80 of the 623 fish and wildlife species in Montana.    The assessment will bring the state a step closer to securing long-term federal funding needed to conserve and manage the hundreds of species that fall in the conservation gap between the state’s major game animals and those that are threatened or endangered.

State Wildlife Grants (SWG), the pilot federal funding source created by Congress in 2001, is currently the nation’s core program to fund fish and wildlife programs for species in the greatest need of conservation. The federal government is requiring states to develop documents like Montana’s draft assessment to ensure that state SWG funds are being used efficiently and so the states remain eligible for future SWG allocations.

The assessment is available for public review on FWP’s web site, www.fwp.mt.gov , by clicking on the “Draft CFWCS” link under Hot Topics, or at the Missoula office after July 15.   Comments may be submitted online, or by mail to MT FWP, P.O. Box 200701; Helena, MT 59620, through August 14.

  After collecting public input, the document will be sent to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for approval, and eventual funding.   Call FWP in Missoula at 542-5500 for more information on the Region 2 public meeting.