MOVING FORWARD RESPONSIBLY WITH THE MADISON RIVER RECREATION RULES

FWP Commission will be considering whether to adopt all, portions of, or none of the proposed language within the administrative rules and environmental assessment (EA) regarding the recreation management on the Madison River.

With the pending election and possible change in administration the FWP Commission seems to be fast tracking the comment period and clearly wants to act before a new Commission gets appointed.

Facts
• There is no biological crisis documented on the Madison River
• Surveys of Angler Satisfaction clearly show that the issue is crowding at FAS sites and not on the river
• Commercial Use is 15% of the annual use and is targeted for 100% of the regulation
• Outfitted tourism is the backbone of the Ennis community and the single largest economic driver for Madison County tourism

Due to the complexity of the proposed EA this petition breaks the proposed rules and EA in an easy to read and understand format. By signing this petition you will:


1. STRONGLY OPPOSE NEW RULE 1: COMMERCIAL CAP
This rule will essentially create a commercial cap that will mirror the Big Hole/Beaverhead (BH2) plan. Since the beginning, MOGA and many others have sought to create something superior to what exists for BH2 and adopting this rule would simply be repeating the same mistakes of the past.

2. STRONGLY OPPOSE NEW RULE 2: REST AND ROTATION
This rule is a 2-day rest and rotation schedule from June 15-September 30. Commercial use would be prohibited from Varney-Ennis on Saturdays and Lyons-Palisades on Sunday. This rule was also taken from the GGTU et. al. petition.
The Madison River is simply too short of a river for rest and rotation to work; and will only create more crowding by putting commercial users into a smaller box. Rest and rotation will not solve any problems, it only creates bigger ones and MOGA has worked tirelessly to demonstrate this to FWP by providing direct evidence using FWP sourced data. Yet, rest and rotation is still being considered, mostly because of the viewpoint of sportsmen's groups from Butte who recognize it as more opportunities for them (non-commercial users) at the expensive of others (commercial users). "FWP leadership has plainly stated that no one knows what rest and rotation will look like on the Madison, yet their own numbers can be used as a crystal ball to tell us exactly what it will look like", said Scott Vollmer, MOGA Director at Large.

3. STRONGLY OPPOSE NEW RULE 3: GGTU WALK-WADE SECTIONS
Yet again from the GGTU et. al. petition, this rule is a 3-day closure to gaining access to wade fishing via watercraft on the existing walk/wade sections from June 15-September 30.
• On Friday-Sunday, no watercraft can be used to gain access from Quake-Lyon and from Ennis-Ennis Lake
• On Monday-Thursday, the status quo remains, and watercraft can be used to gain access to these sections.
Any reduction in access in the existing walk/wade sections, and not allowing the use of boats to gain access to fishing is, by definition, a reduction of public access to public lands and waters. Furthermore, last January, MOGA leadership entered into an agreement with GGTU, FOAM, the Department, and the Commission to provide a common-sense alternative for the walk/wade sections, allowing wade access and access by fishing from boats. This would allow users to spread out to the furthest extent and not close off access to portions of the river that are virtually impossible to get to by wading. This agreement can be found nowhere in the rule package and the above new rule is a complete reversal of the stance of GGTU, the Department, and the Commission from the January consensus.
This rule differs from NEW RULE V, which is the walk/wade plan from the FOAM petition.

4. APPROVE NEW RULE 4: GREYCLIFF-HEADWATERS
This rule limits new site development below Greycliff to access via carry-in only, allowing a more primitive experience. This will preserve and protect the Madison River. This rule is also from the GGTU et. al. petition.

5. APPROVE NEW RULE 5: FOAM WALK-WADE SECTIONS
This rule varies from NEW RULE III, from the GGTU et. al. petition.
From the FOAM petition, this rule allows fishing from a boat from Raynolds-Lyon on 4 days of the week.
• Sunday-Wednesday fishing from a boat and gaining access to fishing with a boat is permitted from Raynolds-Lyons
• Thursday-Saturday is status quo from Raynolds-Lyons; boats can be used to gain access to fishing
• Status quo for Ennis-Lake; boats can be used to gain access to fishing
This rule will serve to spread out float users on 4 days of the week, while still allowing the ability to get out of the boat and wade fish. It provides more access, not less like what is found in NEW RULE III. Allowing people to fish from a boat will cause them to stop and wade fish less in the upper wade section, helping to eliminate "conflicts" between wade and float users (i.e stopping to fish too close to someone who is already wade fishing).

6. OPPOSE THE FOLLOWING RULES:
Commercial Use is 15% of the annual use and is targeted for 100% of the regulation. Outfitted tourism is the backbone of the Ennis community and the single largest economic driver for Madison County tourism. Commercial use restrictions should not be used as a bargaining tool in regulating the Madison. This will have consequences for the economic viability of the Ennis community. There needs to be a carrying capacity set for the Madison River. EVERY USER should share the responsibility of protecting of Madison River, not just the commercial industry. When a carrying capacity is set and is distributed equally among users a Commercial Use Plan that allows for controlled growth while protecting the resource will be supported.

FOAM COMMERCIAL USE PLAN
FOAM developed this plan only for the Madison River, without concerns for its applicability for future commercial use plans on other rivers. MOGA believes whatever is adopted by the Commission regarding the monetization of permits will have broad statewide application and must therefore be crafted with that in mind. Unfortunately, the FOAM plan is far too complicated, convoluted, and costly to support. In addition, while there is board support for a commercial cap These proposed rules differ from NEW RULE I, from the GGTU et. al. petition.
NEW RULE 6: COMMERCIAL CAP
This rule allows those with a valid Madison SRP permit before June 15, 2020 to choose either 2019 or 2020 as their basis of historic use for the number of trips they receive under the cap. This rule also does not allow any form of rest and rotation until after the 3rd year evaluation. We approve this rule if the commission insists on a cap.
NEW RULE 7: TRANSFER OF PERMITS
This rule, as written, only states that each outfitter can only hold a maximum of 2 permits at one time and that no one outfitter can hold more than 10% of the aggregate commercial cap. It does not speak directly to transferring river use days, and there is an admission that transferring river use days for pay conflicts with MCA 47-37-310(4). This statute would need change through legislative action in order for this rule to apply. Additionally, this rule allows new permit holders to operate up to 10 trips if they did not buy an existing permit.
NEW RULE 8: FLEX TRIPS
This is part of a commercial use plan and therefore opposed at this time.
NEW RULE 9: TRANSFER OF TRIPS
This rule conflicts with MCA 47-37-310(4), requiring a change legislatively. Transferability is cornerstone to a solid and sustainable commercial use plan. If statutory change is needed, then that must address that BEFORE we adopt a plan. To do otherwise is to force fit a profoundly serious plan into a model that will fail to serve the industry.
NEW RULE 10: TIERS- USE IT OR LOSE IT
This is part of a commercial use plan and therefore opposed at this time.
I do not approve of rules 7-10 due to the unnecessary complexity of this plan, instead what needs to happen first is the legislative change that will allow transferability of trips. After this change, specifics about a commercial cap can be discussed and implemented.

7. APPROVE NEW RULE 11 PERMIT APPLICATION AND FEES
This rule sets the annual application fee for Madison permit holders at $110.

8. APPROVE NEW RULE 12 REPORTING AND USE FEES
This rule simply requires the reporting of annual logs with no differentiation between historic trips and flex trips and a fee structure of 3% of gross revenue.

9. OPPOSE NEW RULE 13 EVALUATION
This is part of a commercial use plan and therefore opposed at this time.

10. OPPOSE NEW RULE 14 COMMERCIAL USE WORKING GROUP
This is part of a commercial use plan and therefore opposed at this time.

11. OPPOSE NEW RULE 15 TRIP DISTRIBUTION POOL
This is part of a commercial use plan and therefore opposed at this time.

12. OPPOSE NEW RULE 16 MADISON RIVER USE STAMP
Oppose the way that it is written. SUPPORT the requirement of this stamp for non-commercial users while commercial users are exempt as they already report to FWP annually.