I-161 impacts under debate

A voter-passed initiative that changes the way out-of-state hunting licenses are issued could have repercussions in the outfitting business here, a local outfitter warns.

Initiative I-161 abolished 5,500 outfitter sponsored big game and deer combination licenses with 5,500 additional general nonresident big game licenses.

The initiative had its genesis in eastern Montana, where hunter Kurt Kephart spearheaded a drive to get current state laws changed.

Under the old mid-1990s law, outfitter-sponsored licenses were guaranteed. The thought process at the time was to guarantee a set number of hunting licenses to outfitters so they could plan their business, instead of hoping their clients would secure a license through a drawing.

But the system got turned on its head, Kephart argued in an interview this week, when outfitters teamed up with large landowners. The outfitters would secure the licenses for friends and clients of the large landowners, and the landowners would lock everyone else out. The problem was particularly prevalent in eastern Montana, which has large ranches and less public land.

“It came to a boiling point where something had to be done,” Kephart said.

Columbia Falls outfitter Mark Moss said the initiative will do nothing to open up more land to the public and it will make his business more difficult to operate.

Moss owns Salmon Forks Outfitters and his guides take about 20 clients each year on elk and deer hunts in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Under the old system, Moss said he knew each spring how many hunting clients he would have that fall. He’d take their deposit and the income was part of his business plan. After all, outfitting has set costs. He uses a lot of stock in his operation and horses don’t feed themselves through the winter months. They need hay and pasture.

Now, Moss won’t know if prospective clients can go on one of his hunts unless they’re successful in drawing tags. That causes problems in a variety of ways. For one, Moss said he’ll have to take smaller deposits, because if a hunter is unsuccessful in the license drawing, Moss has to return the client’s money.

In addition, it makes it harder to book larger groups. For example, a hunter might successfully draw a tag, but the friends who were going on the hunt, might not. If the friends can’t come, there’s a likelihood he’ll lose business.

Moss said with the current economic situation, drawing a tag might not be that difficult, simply because demand is lower.

But there have been years when competition for out-of-state tags was much higher.

Moss the changes could also hamper the way he hires guides. In the past, guides could be almost assured clients could get a license. Now, maybe not.

But Kephart notes the outfitter-sponsored license system has only been around for 15 years.

“Outfitters survived 100 years before they had guaranteed licenses,” he said. “Good outfitters will stay in business.”

Moss claimed the change would not likely improve public access on private lands.

“I don’t think ranchers are going to open up their lands just because of this,” Moss said.

I-161 is supposed to increase state revenues over the next four years by an estimated $700,000 annually for hunting access and an estimated $1.5 million annually for habitat preservation and restoration, assuming that all non-resident hunting licenses are sold. It also increases general non-resident hunting license revenues by inflation.

Kephart said it will take some time, but he thought increase in monies to provide public access would work in the long run.

Moss said the bulk of his business is guiding fishing trips in the Bob Marshall. Still, the new law will allow out-of-state hunters to roam wherever they please on public lands, whenever they want. Hunting pressure could increase under the new law. In the old provision, hunters had to stay with their guides, who oversaw them during a hunt, Moss claimed.

While it won statewide approval, I-161 did not gain favor in Flathead County, where it lost.