Mountain lion season structure proposal out for comment; online informational meetings planned

HELENA – At its Feb. 4 meeting, the Fish and Wildlife Commission identified a new season structure for mountain lions and asked Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to solicit public comment on specifics of the proposal. The proposal is out for comment through March 18, and FWP has scheduled two online meetings to provide information and answer questions. The Zoom meetings will be held March 14 and 15, from 6 to 8 p.m.

This season structure under consideration would allocate harvest between unlimited licenses that will end when a quota is reached and special limited licenses. The special limited license would allow a hunter to hunt throughout the season without limitation by quota.

Specifically, the commission is seeking public input regarding the percentage of harvest that should be allocated to the special limited license hunters, ranging from 10 to 30 percent. The commission is also seeking public input on whether the unlimited and limited licenses should be valid for an entire region or only for a subset of Lion Management Units.

The commission will consider public input and decide on lion season structure at its April 19 meeting, where it will also review FWP recommendations on harvest quotas and set tentative levels that will then go out for public comment before quotas are finalized in June.

Login information for the meetings will be available online at  fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/public-comment-opportunities.

The meetings are a chance to hear more about the season structure proposal and what is open for comment. Comments will not be taken at the meeting, but should be directed online at fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/public-comment-opportunities or by email to fwpwld@mt.gov until 5 p.m. on March 18, 2022.

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