37-47-317. Criteria for board evaluation of NCHU expansion request -- public comments. (1) The criteria listed in subsection (2) must be applied by the board in evaluating and deciding whether to grant an NCHU expansion request. The criteria must be considered in light of the cumulative effect of the current expansion request and any previously approved expansion requests. The board may not approve an expansion request unless, by a preponderance of the evidence, a reasonable person would conclude that the criteria support an expansion request.
     (2) An NCHU expansion request may not be granted if any of the following criteria are established:
     (a) The request creates closure of a public right-of-way.
     (b) The requestor has current license restrictions imposed by the board or is currently subject to a disciplinary action imposed by the board.
     (c) The requestor has been convicted or pleaded guilty to a violation of Montana hunting or fishing statutes, rules, or regulations in the last 3 years.
     (d) Any information in the request is inaccurate or untrue.
     (e) The request does not cover adequate land to ensure the personal safety of hunters.
     (f) Sufficient wildlife is not available to support the proposed number of hunters covered under the request.
     (g) The proposed expansion would create or exacerbate a game damage situation.
     (h) The proposed expansion would restrict the current efforts of the department of fish, wildlife, and parks to manage area wildlife through permits issued to public hunters.
     (3) Failure by a requestor to provide all pertinent information and documentation will result in the expansion request being deferred without action until the subsequent meeting of the board. If the requestor fails to provide the pertinent information and documentation before the subsequent board meeting, the request must be denied.
     (4) Public comments concerning an NCHU expansion must be solicited and compiled by the department of fish, wildlife, and parks from affected recreationists and recreationist organizations, public land management agencies, affected landowners and landowner organizations, affected outfitters and outfitter organizations, and the general public. Public comment must be solicited through the issuance of press releases and by identification of proposed leased private land by its popular description. The department of fish, wildlife, and parks shall incorporate the public comments into the analysis of the expansion request required under subsection (5). In addition, the board shall consider the public comments separately from the department of fish, wildlife, and parks' analysis.
     (5) In considering an NCHU expansion request, the board shall also consider any analysis and comments submitted by the department of fish, wildlife, and parks. Departmental analysis may include but is not limited to the following criteria:
     (a) whether historic hunting data, such as the past occurrence of outfitting or public hunting, supports the request;
     (b) whether negative impacts to the wildlife population will occur, given documented wildlife trends in the geographical region encompassed by the expansion request;
     (c) whether public access or public hunting trends in the geographic region affected by the request will be negatively impacted;
     (d) whether there have been past substantiated conflicts between the hunting public and outfitters or between individual outfitters and their clients in the local geographic region affected by the request;
     (e) if the expansion will create a negative effect on wildlife habitat;
     (f) if the expansion will have negative implications on hunting on public land, hunting access, or outfitting;
     (g) whether analysis of existing data regarding wildlife, hunting access, or other relevant information supports the expansion request; and
     (h) whether there will be impacts on previously available hunting access in the local geographic region affected by the request, such as impact on the block management program.
     (6) The outfitter making the expansion request shall address the criteria outlined in subsection (5) to the best of the outfitter's knowledge. The analysis required in subsection (5) must be compiled using information supplied by the applicant, through public comment, and through any other available data.
     (7) In making its final decision regarding an expansion request, the board shall respond in the decision notice to comments received by outlining the comment and delineating how, if at all, the comment was incorporated into the final decision. The board shall also consider whether:
     (a) the expansion will open private or public lands to public hunting that did not previously exist;
     (b) the request addresses existing game damage by opening new public equivalent hunting opportunities for both outfitters and the public; and
     (c) the expansion would directly restrict public access to public lands.
     (8) For the purposes of this section, "right-of-way" means dedicated roads, such as county roads or forest service roads, or rights-of-way with historical use that have been established as legal public rights-of-way.

     History: En. Sec. 6, Ch. 543, L. 1999.