— a block management program to relieve the private 

 landowner of the burden of administering the 

 hunting season, thereby offering an incentive to 

 keep some private lands open to hunting which 

 would otherwise be closed; 



— to increase the Department's capability to respond 

 to game damage problems; 



-- to properly recognize the importance of private 

 land and landowners in the production and utili- 

 zation of Montana's wildlife resources; and 



-- to pursue financial incentives for wildlife 

 habitat preservation and/or enhancement. 



The November/December 1985 issue of Montana Outdoors 

 presented an indepth discussion of the biological 

 aspects of game damage, the Department's game 



management policies, and the various damage prevention 



12 

 measures that have been explored. 



1982 Agriculture Department Gtudy of Wildlife 

 on Private Agricultural Lands 



In 1982, the Department of Agriculture surveyed 676 

 operators of farms and ranches on which species of 

 wildlife were causing damage to agricultural crops and 



property, what types of damage occurred, and what the 



13 

 producers' attitudes were toward damage. Of those 



responding, 79% reported mule deer damage, 77% reported 



whitetail deer damage, and 60% reported antelope 



damage. Forty-nine percent said they had experienced 



"significant" damage, mostly by deer. Forty-six 



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