The application season for the prized Smith River float permits is now open, and things look a little different this year. 1) Non-residents are now limited to 10% of the launch permits, which start and end at Montana State Parks. This constitutes a big shift in permit allocations from previous years. Take last year for example, when 14,497 people applied for 1,470 launch permits; 39% of these were awarded to non-residents. In theory, this 10% cap change should give Montana resident ...

Here's a quick(ish) recap of what Montana BHA was able to accomplish in 2023, and what's on our minds as we head into the new year:   Policy Efforts Every other year, Montana’s legislature is in session for a fast and furious 90 days. 2023 was one of those years. There were a whopping 1,698 bills introduced, and of those, Montana BHA went on the record and influenced more than 50 pieces of legislation. One of these bills, HB 486, was led by Montana BHA, and increased the fine for ...

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission voted this week to scrap quota ranges in trophy-hunting districts, a decision that drew criticism from hunters concerned about politics steering the allocation of tags.  The commission’s unanimous decision came during the latter half of an eight-hour meeting on Thursday where the commission adopted regulations to guide Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ management of big game species over the next two years. Quotas are a tool game managers use to ...

The US Forest Service is proposing to increase guiding and outfitting use days 153 percent on our public lands found within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The comment deadline is December 18th.  Montana BHA is not anti-public land and water guiding or outfitting. On the contrary, we feel that, done appropriately, public land and water guiding and outfitting provides a valuable service to public land owners and can create new and strengthen existing public land and water advocates. ...