Many decades ago, an old Bitterrooter told me "Neither man nor beast is safe when the Montana Legislature is in session." Each bi-ennial session brings its own bi-partisan axes to swing at fish, wildlife, habitat, access, streams, and the environment. This session looks to be a doozy, but there are also some encouraging signs.

The short session is such a blur - there are so many bill requests, committee hearings, and caucuses, not to mention the smoke-filled maskless backrooms. Luckily, Montana Trout Unlimited has Clayton Elliott as its Conservation and Government Affairs Director. Clayton publishes Legislative updates and Action Alerts.

If you are not receiving these, you can contact Clayton or simply check the 2021 Montana Legislature button on the Montana TU website. If you go to the latter, you can see a tabulation of the bills that MTU is supporting, following or opposing.

Monitoring the legislature and alerting TU members of emerging issues is something that no individual chapter could do, so if you recognize how crucial this is, please consider a contribution to Montana TU!

For a flavor of what is going on, here is Clayton's Feb. 5 Legislative update.
Dear Trout Lovers,
 
The 2021 MT Legislative Session is underway and Montana Trout Unlimited is your voice in Helena, working with elected officials to further our shared mission: to conserve, protect, and restore Montana's coldwater fisheries and defend our best-in-the-nation stream access law. We're in the Capitol every day of the session, advocating for coldwater fisheries and the resources and funding on which they depend. 
 
Here are our Big Three Priority Issues and ACTION ALERT for the first week of February 2021:
 
Funding Conservation and Habitat Improvement
 
A priority every legislative session is making sure our state fisheries, water quality, and water quantity programs are fully funded. Recently we made progress on a number of budget and appropriations efforts. 
 
We are supporting DNRC budget categories that include funding for Conservation Districts, Water Resources Division, and forestry/trust lands. Similarly we’re seeing good progress on the budget bill (HB5) that funds Habitat Montana, all FAS, Future Fisheries Improvement Program, and State Parks capital improvements, to name a few. Last week we helped move forward HB6, HB7 and HB14, which include all state funding for the habitat restoration projects that TU does around the state.
 
Support for "Big Three" Agency Directors
 
Since our last update we offered support for Governor Gianforte’s appointments of Directors for the big three agencies – DNRC, FWP and DEQ. These appointees are all committed to scientific management of MT’s natural resources and continuing to support a robust public process in management decisions. We look forward to working with in-coming DEQ Director Chris Dorrington, FWP Director Henry ‘Hank’ Worsech, and DNRC Director Amanda Kaster to fulfill our mission to conserve, protect, and restore Montana's trout waters.
 
We are also pleased to see long-time MTU Stewardship Director K.C. Walsh as one of Gov. Gianforte’s new Fish & Wildlife Commission nominees. We will work with the MT Legislature to approve these nominations.
 
Licensing, licensing, licensing
 
Montanans take changes in hunting and angling licenses very seriously. When licensing changes potentially impact fisheries budgets and management, we do, too. That's why we support HB260, sponsored by Scott Berglee (R), to create a one-day fishing license for non-resident anglers. 
 
The fiscal note on this bill reveals that allowing non-residents to buy one-day licenses, which they can do in multiples for consecutive or non-consecutive days, will increase revenue for FWP to sustain and manage MT’s fisheries, especially the state’s world-renowned wild and native trout fishery. 
Do you know places where anglers would benefit from a new Fishing Access Site (FAS) or do you have a favorite FAS that could use some upgrades? If so, now’s the time to act!
 
We need your help to increase funding for FAS acquisition and maintenance. Please contact the members of the senate subcommittee listed below. They will be making important decisions on the amount of funding for maintaining and acquiring new FAS in the near future. Let them know what a critical investment this is. Direct links are included.
 
Members of the Joint Subcommittee on Long-Range Planning:
 
Senator Ellie Boldman (D), Missoula
Senator Mike Cuffe (R), Eureka
Senator Jim Hamilton (D), Bozeman
Senator Mike Hopkins (R), Missoula
Senator Cary Smith (R), Billings
Senator Sue Vinton (R), Billings
This year our MTU team makes it easier than ever for you to be informed and involved. MTU’s 2021 Legislature webpage now features BillTrack50 that allows you to follow the bills we are monitoring in real time. BillTrack50 provides up-to-the-minute status updates, including MTU’s position on each bill, links to full bill text and supporting documents, and contact information for your legislators. In short, this is your fast and easy way to help trout during the 2021 session.
 
We'll send another update in a few weeks to let you know how things are progressing. We'll reserve action alerts for only the most urgent legislative decisions and votes. 
 
We're always available if you have questions, so please keep in touch and we'll do our best to keep you well informed and energized to speak up for trout. You can reach me directly at clayton@montanatu.org.