Elk NetworkMontana’s Public Access Hunting Program Marks 25 Years

General | January 28, 2021

Below is a news release from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

2020 marked the 25th anniversary of Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Block Management Program.

This popular access program started locally across Montana in the mid-1980s. However, through HB195 in the 1995 Legislative Session, it created the program as it’s formally known today starting with the 1996 hunting season. Block Management provides public hunting opportunities on private land across the state and has created positive working relationships among landowners and hunters.

Funding for Block Management comes from the sale of various licenses, including a portion of the resident and nonresident base hunting license, nonresident upland gamebird licenses, nonresident combination deer/elk licenses and chances sold in the Supertag license lottery.

For the 2020 hunting season, nearly 1,300 landowners enrolled about 7.2 million acres of land in the program.

Go here to read more as FWP staff recently visited with landowners in the southeast, south central and northeast areas of Montana who have been involved with the Block Management program since its early days.

(Photo source: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks)