The House Committe on Fish, Wildlife and Parks last week tabled a bill allowing some nontribal members to hunt deer and elk on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Under House Bill 216, residents of Flathead Indian Reservation would have been able to obtain a license to hunt deer and elk on their own land, regardless of their tribal affiliation. The bill challenged a long-standing agreement between the state and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes that allows nontribal members to hunt birds and fish on the reservation while preserving the exclusive right of tribal members to hunt big game. 

Rep. Tracy Sharp, R-Polson, introduced the bill under the argument that the restriction on nontribal hunters violates private property rights and the Montana Right to Harvest Act. 

“There's no asterisk here that says, ‘Except for you guys. You don’t get to hunt,’” said Sharp as he lofted a copy of the Montana Code Annotated at a Feb. 13 committee meeting. 

Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, disputed Sharp’s argument and asserted that passing the bill would result in legal challenges for the state. 

“This is one of those times where we need to be educated on Indian Law so that we’re not making determinations that can affect the state of Montana in a negative way,” Running Wolf said.  

State and tribal wildlife officials echoed Running Wolf’s concerns at a Jan. 28 hearing on the bill, during which several opponents referenced a 1990 lawsuit regarding nontribal fishing licenses. That lawsuit was eventually settled out of court when the state and tribes entered into their current fishing and hunting agreement. Opponents argued that HB 216 would have led to another arduous court case. 

Representatives from other Montana reservations also expressed concerns about the legal precedent the bill would set. While many other tribes permit big game hunting within reservation boundaries, tribal authorities said the bill threatened tribes’ status as sovereign nations. 

“You know they start off with just taking a little tiny crumb, which ends up to be a big, big crumb,” said Rep. Sidney “Chip” Fitzpatrick, D-Crow Agency.  

Fitzpatrick confirmed in the Feb. 13 hearing that his elders had urged him to vote against the bill because they worried it would lead to similar actions on their own reservation. 

The committee voted to table the bill after it failed to pass in a 9-11 vote.  

The head of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ National Resources Department Rich Janssen Jr. said the vote was good news, but he doubts the bill’s failure will quell the conflict between some nontribal residents and tribal wildlife officials.  

“It’s the same few that want to try to impede tribal sovereignty and hunting rights on the reservation,” said Janssen. “I fully expect they’ll try to find another way to try to bring this to the forefront.” 

The 2025 bill was preceded by a 2023 ballot initiative and a 2021 bill. Both failed to gain traction during the early stages of development, a fact Janssen partly attributes to the tribes’ successful collaboration with state wildlife officials. 

“The bottom line is, we work well with the state of Montana,” said Janssen.  

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at [email protected] or at 758-4433.