Kelvin Johnson and Robert A. Garrott

The Block Management Program is a high profile program that receives attention from several entities, including state legislation, other state conservation departments, landowners, hunters, and outfitters. Since the enhanced program went into effect in 1996, there have been waiting lists of landowners wanting to get into the program, and it has gained popularity with hunters alike. It has been successful in providing free public access to a wide array of hunting opportunities on private land, and popularity and support for the program continues to grow. Conversely, the program has been criticized for focusing attention on "quantity" and not "quality" hunting opportunities, and thus can fall short of its goal in some cases. Thus, current management strategies need to be reviewed and studied so that the program can address these problems in the future.

BMA sign in box at sunset, near Culbertson, Montana.

The "Future Direction of Montana’s Block Management Program" project will serve as a tool to help FWP assess management strategy success, and provide recommendations for future direction for program management. This project will develop this tool by measuring the attitudes and opinions of program users. Landowners and hunters will be surveyed to assess their preferences, satisfaction levels, and success factors. Data analysis from these surveys will help identify trends and future expectations with regards to different management strategies, identify successful and unsuccessful strategies, and provide a better understanding of landowner and hunter values and needs.

Funding:  Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks