House joint resolution NO. 8
INTRODUCED
BY T. France
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 wyoming, MONTANA, IDAHO, AND THE BLACKFEET TRIBAL government TO MANAGE WILDLIFE."
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 the 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, migrating wildlife create potentially negative impacts on the operations of surrounding landowners and their livestock that should be mitigated by the National Park Service; 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 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 they will also allow the states and the Blackfeet tribal government to utilize a portion of these dollars for general wildlife management.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
That the 68th Legislature of the State of Montana urges the United States Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the National Park Service to enter into agreements 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.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the agreements stipulate that revenue collected from wildlife conservation fee agreements be transferred back to the appropriate state and Blackfeet tribal government entities, including the Montana Department of Livestock and the Montana Livestock Loss Board, for wildlife conservation and mitigation efforts.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State send a copy of this resolution to the Director of the National Park Service, the Governors of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, the Presiding Officer of the Blackfeet Tribal Council, the state fish and wildlife agencies, agriculture agencies, and livestock agencies of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, other federally recognized tribal governments in Montana, each member of the Montana Congressional Delegation, and the United States Secretary of the Interior.