HB 554 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Remove FWP requirement to regulate wolves as furbearers or game animals

HB 554 changes how the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) manages wolves after they are removed from endangered species lists. It removes a previous requirement that mandated FWP to classify and regulate wolves as either game animals or furbearers. Under the amended law, the Fish and Wildlife Commission now has the discretion to declare wolves as game animals or furbearers, allowing for regulated hunting or trapping, but it is no longer a mandatory classification. The bill also retains provisions for controlling wolves to protect livestock, consistent with an approved wolf management plan.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Feb 18, 2025 Signed May 8, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0554_X(2).pdf HB0554_X(3).pdf · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill text shows minor formatting adjustments to the title and footer sections, specifically the removal of extra blank lines and the standardization of capitalization for the section amendment description. These changes do not alter the substantive policy, scope, or legal requirements of the legislation.
TECHNICAL

Removed unnecessary blank lines from the document footer and standardized the capitalization of the phrase 'AMENDING SECTION 87-5-131, MCA' to match the rest of the title.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 15, 2025 · House Mar 6, 2025

How they voted

2921
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 15, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Nay
100% Nay
R Republican32
29 Yea 3 Nay
90% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
40
Key actions
9
Committee
6
May 5, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 15, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (29-21)
senate
Apr 9, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Fish and Game
upper
Apr 8, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Fish and Game
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Fish and Game
upper
Mar 6, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (57-42-1)
house
Feb 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Fish, Wildlife and Parks
lower
Feb 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Fish, Wildlife and Parks
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Fish, Wildlife and Parks
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Brandon Ler
Brandon Ler
RRepublican
MT
33