Report Summary 



Introduction 



An audit of the Wildlife Management Program at the Department of 

 Fish, Wildhfe and Parks was approved by the Legislative Audit 

 Committee for the 1999 biennium. Concerns were raised by legislators, 

 sportsmen groups, and members of the public about management 

 practices within the program, and about delays in issuing a 

 programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) report. The 

 Wildlife Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is to provide a 

 framework for integrating the Montana Environmental Policy Act 

 (MEPA) into the department's decision-making process and aid the 

 agency in evaluating the environmental impacts of its wildlife related 

 activities. The Legislative Audit Division chose to perform a separate 

 review of the process used by the department to complete its EIS 

 project. This report presents the fmdings from our review. Separate 

 performance audits of the department's Wildlife Program and Block 

 Management Program will be completed in 1999. 



Our audit focused on examining and documenting the timeline for the 

 project including major steps followed and changes made in the 

 approach. We did not determine if the Wildlife EIS was necessary, or if 

 the project complied with all provisions of MEPA. 



EIS Project Costs 



The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) provides over 70 

 percent of the fimding for the Wildlife Program through grants that 

 normally cover six-year periods. The USFWS agreed to provide for 

 federal participation in the Wildlife EIS project. In the department's 

 application for federal assistance covering fiscal years 1993-94 through 

 1998-99, the estimated cost for the project was set at approximately 

 $920,000. The actual costs of the project totaled approximately 

 $570,000 based on the department's accoimting records. 



Purpose of the Wildlife 

 EIS 



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 

 hunting practices with references to legal challenges and anti-hunting 

 sentiment occurring in other states. The second related to changing 

 public attitudes and the need to consider pubhc values and expectations 

 for wildlife species other than game and fiirbearer species. 



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