Landowners and hunters benefit from 25 years of FWP's Block Management Program

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.

In Region 6, Seventy-seven landowners have been in the program for 25 or more years

In northeast Montana's Region 6, an amazing 77 cooperating landowners have been involved in the program for 25 or more years. The Region 6 program quickly climbed to over 1 million acres by the late 90s, and today Region 6 Block Management includes nearly 1.3 million private land acres. 

The program has been changing steadily since current hunting access coordinator Tim Potter took over in 2014.

"Our region has regularly been increasing in enrolled acres," says Potter. "Thanks to the willing landowners that enroll their property and hats off to the biologists, wardens and Block Management technicians that help keep this program growing."

Two landowners who have been involved with Block Management from the beginning are former Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Richard Stuker and Henry Gordon of Chinook. Both Stuker and Gordon are part of the North Blaine Block Management Area, which encompasses more than 85,000 acres. The area is a large mix of public and private land in northern Blaine County.

"We knew people were already hunting out there, and the mix of public and private land caused a lot of confusion for hunters," says Gordon. "Putting this property into block management made it easier for hunters to get around. Plus, we were worried about hunters starting and leaving campfires and not having anyone out there to keep watch."

 "The major reason we remain in the program is that we have FWP staff in our area during the hunting season keeping an eye on things," added Stuker.

"Block Management is a good way to get a few dollars back for when people drive off trails or break fences," says Gordon, "and we have wardens and seasonal Block Management technicians who can patrol and help enforce the rules of the BMA." 

Block management technician Tim Roth has been a "super person to work with," says Gordon. "He's stopped all kinds of people from driving off-road and finally has most of them educated."

"Tim does a great job, along with the wardens, in keeping most of the problems under control," added Stuker.

Both Stuker and Gordon enroll other portions of their property in Block Management, as well. According to Stuker, there are several advantages to enrolling land in Block Management as opposed to leasing or outfitting.

"I have a number of friends and family that I wanted to ensure had the ability to continue to hunt on my property," said Stuker. "Also, we have an abundant deer population on the ranch, and if you lease, it's tougher to control deer populations."

Leonard Swenson, the current president of the Silver Dollar and Whittmayer Grazing Associations in Valley County, was one of the original members of the associations that enrolled their collective deeded property in Block Management back in 1996. 

According to Swenson, the grazing associations are "part of the cow business, not the hunting business," but Block Management was a good way for the associations to gain a few extra dollars in impact payments for hunters that were already hunting on or near their land.

Both grazing associations have acres "with a lot of federal and state land and some deeded, and it seemed like an easy way to allow hunting," says Swenson.  "FWP marks the boundaries pretty well and has sign-in boxes at most access points. Although we still have some problems of people driving on muddy roads and leaving gates open, it has worked out pretty well."

Even though there are some issues with certain hunters abusing the rules, landowners know that most hunters appreciate the program. 

Swenson has some of his own property near his home place enrolled as a BMA, and has developed many positive relationships with hunters over the year. "I have had hunters come back year after year, and sometimes they'll bring homemade jelly or Wisconsin cheese." 

"One time, a guy left a $100 and an apology note in the sign-in box, that he said it was to help fix a fence post that he broke," added Gordon. "That was pretty neat, and I appreciated it." 

"I get a lot of repeat hunters and we exchange Christmas cards with some of them every year," said Stuker. "Also, hunters know the rules for my BMA, and if they see violations, they will tell FWP or myself. They know it's a privilege to hunt on my private property, not a right."

Hunters from Montana and other states know and appreciate the opportunity that Block Management provides.

"There just isn't anything like it in any other state that I've hunted," said Minnesota resident Bill Landgren, who has hunted a variety of Block Management properties for more than 10 years in Region 6. "I find the maps and rules easy to follow, and Block Management provides a great opportunity for me, especially for the agricultural land and bird hunting opportunities that I'm looking for."

"The ease of access to so many different kinds of properties are why I hunt Block Management," says Tim Zabrocki, a Montana resident hunter. "Compared to what I have experienced in other states, there is no comparison. To get the same kind of access in other states that landowners provide through Montana BMAs, you would likely have to pay large sums of money."

Not only is Potter the hunting access coordinator for Region 6, his family has had their own property enrolled in Block Management for the last 10 years or so. 

"I figured if I talk the talk, we better walk the walk," laughs Potter. "Being enrolled in Block Management allows me to experience the same things that our cooperators do. Yes, sometimes there are issues when hunters aren't following the rules. But for the most part, it's a great way to help continue the great tradition of hunting in Montana."

-FWP-