Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will draft a new elk management plan by fall, so some hunters question the need to pass such drastic season changes now.

FWP leadership spent two days this week explaining to the Legislative Environmental Quality Council all the big changes they’ve been making in the department, from managing elk and recreation to budgetary considerations. But elk issues dominated the discussion.

FWP administrator Ken McDonald said the department was still developing an elk plan, and he anticipated a draft plan would be out by this fall. The previous elk plan was published in 2005 and uses elk population objectives – manmade numbers based on habitat and public tolerance – to guide what hunters are allowed to do in each district.

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