Kerry White’s letter to the editor (April 30) extolling Greg Gianforte’s candidacy for governor exhibits his disdain for cooperative management of public-trust natural resources and his propensity to fabricate his own “facts.”
His support for elk “shoulder season” hunts neglects Fish, Wildlife & Parks data demonstrating that (1) shoulder seasons often have not achieved their original goal of moving elk from private lands; (2) shoulder seasons have been abused for private purposes; (3) there are other methods available to deal with legitimate game damages to private resources; and (4) a broad spectrum of Montanans, including hunters, opposes continuing with shoulder seasons.
White is even more off base in describing FWP’s policy regarding restoration of public, wild bison in Montana. He implies FWP supports “free-roaming” bison whereas FWP recognizes state law requiring that any new wild herd must be “contained.” He implies that restoring wild bison “is universally rejected” by Montanans and is promoted mostly by “out of state interests” whereas three independent polls indicate that 70% of Montana voters support restoring public bison on some public land, especially on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.
He states that the American Prairie Reserve is hostile towards “Montana values and agriculture.” Neither is correct. White says that FWP has run with little oversight for 16 years. In fact, FWP has, so far, spent 11 years obtaining abundant, diverse public input on bison restoration from all over Montana.
Readers of White’s letter should be motivated to question Greg Gianforte on his views regarding public management of natural resources, including wild bison, to benefit all Montanans.
Jim Bailey
Belgrade
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 5/6/20