FWP recognizes Block Management Program cooperators

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 7 took the opportunity in February to recognize the important contribution that area landowners make through their participation in the Block Management Program.

FWP hosted appreciation dinners in Miles City on Feb. 25 and in Glendive Feb. 27. Invitations were extended to more than 300 landowners and their families. In Miles City, 178 people attended, and 101 came in Glendive.

“We had two more nice evenings of getting folks together, having great meals and enjoying conversation,” said Travis Muscha, hunting access coordinator for FWP Region 7.

The Block Management Program provides public hunting access to more than two million acres of private and public land in southeastern Montana. In 2019, FWP worked with 323 cooperators in the region to enroll 2,138,356 million acres. Statewide, Block Management secures access to more than seven million acres enrolled by 1,270 cooperators.

In the period from 2015-2019, southeastern Montana saw 46,180 hunters – 30,017 of those residents and 16,163 non-residents. In the same period, sportsmen and women logged 82,480 hunter days in Region 7. Of those days afield, 53,612 were spent by residents, and 28,868 by non-residents.

Of those hunters who utilized Block Management Areas and returned comment cards, 75 percent observed game, slightly up from last year, and 28 percent harvested animals. Ninety-two percent reported being satisfied with their hunts.

Landowners also weigh in on their experience with the program, and 99 percent who responded are satisfied with it over the past year. Ninety-seven percent reported good experiences with hunters.

Door prizes for the evening were donated by the Colstrip Sportsman Club and Tongue River Chapter of Pheasants Forever. At the Miles City dinner, a portable calf shelter was donated by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Eastern Montana Ag Repair and Star Structures. At the Glendive dinner, a portable calf shelter was donated by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Protec Diesel.