HB 568 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Provide for the Montana Hunters First Act

HB 568, known as the "Montana Hunters First Act," requires the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to conduct a comprehensive study. This study will examine the impacts of nonresident hunters on deer and elk hunting across Montana and its administrative regions. The department must utilize various data, including hunter days, harvest reports, and population trends, to inform its findings. Upon completion by December 1, 2026, a public report will be published, assessing the data, detailing study methods, and identifying issues for consideration by the legislature and the Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
May 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Signed May 13, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 6 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0568_X(1).pdf HB0568_X(2).pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to correct a grammatical error in the hunting impact study section by adding the word 'and' to properly connect the list of hunting types and administrative regions. Additionally, the document was cleaned up by removing redundant closing markers and duplicate text at the end.
TECHNICAL

Added the word 'and' to the study scope to fix a sentence structure error regarding nonresident hunting impacts.

Deleted redundant closing markers and duplicate text at the end of the document.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 7, 2025 · House Apr 16, 2025

How they voted

481
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 50
Apr 7, 2025
D Democratic18
17 Yea 1
94% Yea
R Republican32
31 Yea 1 Nay
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
52
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Amendments
1
May 8, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
May 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 16, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (97-1-2)
house
Apr 7, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (48-1-1)
senate
Apr 7, 2025
Introduced
(S) Returned to House with Amendments
upper
Apr 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Fish and Game
upper
Apr 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Fish and Game
upper
Mar 6, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Fish and Game
upper
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 19, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Courtenay Sprunger
Courtenay Sprunger
RRepublican
MT
7