UPOM Lawsuit, Fergus County, Montana
UPOM Lawsuit Summary
Keeping Elk Management & Hunting in Public Hands
“PLWA values, recognizes, and appreciates the contributions private lands and landowners continue to make to ensure Montana is home to robust, viable, and huntable populations of elk and other wildlife statewide. Central to this is the legal and social construct of elk and other wildlife to be held in the public trust for the benefit of all – elk are not to be owned and sold by private interests. The UPOM lawsuit challenges this very essence and what has served Montana well for more than one hundred years. We believe in and uphold the principles of public participation, science-based management, equity in opportunity, and the duty to hold our elected and appointed officials responsible and accountable.”
Glenn Elison, PLWA Board Member, Elk Hunter, & Conservationist
On June 1st, 2022 PLWA joined with multiple other non-profits from across Montana to intervene in a UPOM lawsuit that would drastically interfere with elk management and hunting in Montana.
Read the press release here.
Visit the coalition website here to learn more and to donate towards the effort to keep scientific elk management and our wildlife publicly held for all.
Coalition filings are here and here.
UPOM filing is here.
FWP Response filing is here.
UPDATE: September, 2022
A Fergus County District Judge rightly decided to grant the conservation coalition standing in the UPOM case. Read the article here and below.
UPDATE July, 2022 :
The Coalition has filed our response to UPOM & FWP/Fish & Wildlife Commission’s opposition to our intervention. We firmly believe that we meet the requirements for standing and intervention in this case, and that without our presence, the public’s interest will not be adequately represented.
The Coalition response brief is here.
If you would like to donate to help with the fees in this case, you may do so at the Coalition website here. Currently all members are pooling donations here and paying legal fees directly, with individual organizations covering fees in excess. If donations go over the legal fee total in the future, excess donations will go directly to support Habitat Montana and Block Management programming in the state.