Chapter II - Review of Wildlife EIS Process 



Purpose of the Wildlife ^^ department's federal aid application gives some reasons for iising 



EIS an EIS including: 



The department's EISs at the time were more than 20 years old. 

 Changing public values toward wildlife. 

 Increasing demand for public involvement in decision-making. 

 Potential legal challenges to department actions. 



The appUcation stated: "The major reason for the proposed Wildlife 

 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) is to provide a 

 framework for integrating MEPA into (the department's) decision- 

 making process and aid the agency in evaluating the environmental 

 impacts of its wildhfe related activities." 



MEPA has two central requirements: 



Agencies must consider the effects of pending decisions on the 

 environment and on people prior to making each decision. 



Agencies must ensure that the public is informed of and 

 participates in the decision-making process. 



"A Guide to the Montana Environmental Pohcy Act" published by the 

 Legislative Environmental Policy Office describes when a programmatic 

 enviroimiental impact statement is appropriate. The guide states: "If an 

 agency is contemplating a series of agency-initiated actions, programs, 

 or policies that in part or in total may significantly impact the human 

 environment, the agency must prepare a (Programmatic Review) that 

 discusses the impacts of the series of actions." 



Interviews with department officials and reviews of department 

 documents indicated there were two main reasons for the Wildlife EIS. 

 The first related to concerns over potential legal challenges to the state's 

 himting practices with references to legal challenges and anti-hunting 

 sentiment occurring in other states. The second related to changing 



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