2021 Montana Legislature
_____________ joint resolution NO. _____________
INTRODUCED
BY _________________________________________________
By Request of the ****
A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA URGING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ESTABLISH WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FEES AT NATIONAL PARKS IN WYOMING AND MONTANA AND to TRANSFER THOSE FEES TO MONTANA, IDAHO, WYOMING, AND THE BLACKFEET TRIBAL NATION TO MANAGE WILDLIFE.
WHEREAS, Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park are rich in wildlife that attracts millions of visitors each year to the parks; and
WHEREAS, wildlife in Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park migrate throughout the year within and outside the wide boundaries of the parks and across Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and the Blackfeet Reservation; and
WHEREAS, a significant portion of the winter and transitional habitats of wildlife, and specifically habitats of big game animals, is provided by federal, state, private, and Tribal lands adjacent to Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park; and
WHEREAS, these states and the Blackfeet Tribal Government are financially responsible for managing wildlife, maintaining wildlife migration corridors and wildlife habitats, and mitigating impacts of diseases by wildlife that migrate to and from Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park; and
WHEREAS, these states and the Blackfeet Tribal Government are also financially responsible for improving human safety, reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions, and resolving conflicts with big game animals and large carnivores that move to and from Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park; and
WHEREAS, these states and the Blackfeet Tribal Government traditionally finance these responsibilities and manage wildlife through consumptive uses of wildlife; and
WHEREAS, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park visitors should pay a fee that will be transferred back to the states of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and the Blackfeet Tribal Government to conserve and manage wildlife outside the boundaries of the parks; and
WHEREAS, the collection of a wildlife conservation fee will directly support the benefits and services wildlife provides to visitors and would provide an opportunity for nonconsumptive users of wildlife to assist in addressing management responsibilities shouldered by landowners, these states, and the Blackfeet Tribal Government; and
WHEREAS, the wildlife conservation fees collected will be prioritized to address the responsibilities described above but will allow the states and the Blackfeet Tribal Government to utilize a portion of these dollars for general wildlife management in their states.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
(1) That the United States Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the National Park Service be urged to enter an agreement with Wyoming to collect a wildlife conservation fee at Grand Teton National Park; with Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho to collect a wildlife conservation fee at Yellowstone National Park; and with Montana and the Blackfeet Tribal Government to collect a wildlife conservation fee at Glacier National Park. The agreements must stipulate that revenue collected from the fee be transferred back to these states and the Blackfeet Tribal Government for wildlife conservation efforts.
(2) That the Secretary of State send a copy of this resolution to the Montana Congressional Delegation, to the United States Secretary of the Interior, to the Director of the National Park Service, to the Governors of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, to the Tribal Chair of the Blackfeet Tribal Government, and to the directors of the Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Blackfeet game and fish agencies.
NEW SECTION. Section 1. Notification to tribal governments. The secretary of state shall send a copy of [this act] to each federally recognized tribal government in Montana.