Hello hunters and Senators,
I would like an invitation to speak with you during public comment.
Hunting feeds us, though I haven't pulled a trigger in several years. Dad was the first outfitter in Powder River Co and you may remember my son, Jaeger Held (his name is German for "Hunter Hero"). He went to Boys State and was both a Legi Aid and a Page. You may have seen him on the front of the Gazette on Veterans Day or heard him repeatedly speak at the legislature, since age 12, in support of the historical society. My kids are 5th generation Montanans and we have the longest running business by the same family in Broadus, the Broadus Motels. SB 143 will cut deeply into the 8% accommodations tax we collect for you.
I would like to voice opposition to SB 143. Hunting season is the only revenue producing season for many small Montana communities. Motels, restaurants, bars, gas stations, grocery stores, taxidermies and trespass fees directly to ranchers would again lose drastically under SB 143. Outfitters pay a piddling amount to harvest game. I never have and never will lease my ranch to an outfitter.
My dad, Cap Hough, was the first outfitter in Broadus and was also a motel owner. My kids grew up on our ranch south of Broadus and are the third generation who will take over the motels. I accommodate outfitters regularly, for example, when their wounded animals come on to us. Usually several big bulls and bucks a year. They provide a service for wealthy people who need help with their hunt. It's grossly unfair to favor one business over all others in distributing licenses and remove the high-quality DIY hunters. If this passes, outfitters can forget stepping foot on us, the animals can rot where they die and we'll collect the horns and skulls, turning communities into scavengers. We also work hand in hand with FW&P, with access to our cameras and customers. Another free help we give that will evaporate.
Just one example where it hurts: A party of 8 that comes here from Kentucky, grandpa Sheriff and his brothers, sons State Police Honor Guard, grandsons plan to be cops and preachers, and they save all year to rent the best accommodations in the region for 10 days, in order to hunt public lands. The large lodge has 25' ceilings, a huge fireplace with it's 8'2" longhorn, a full professional kitchen, laundry, 6 bathrooms for less than the price of one guy hiring an outfitter for the weekend who stays in a broken down old trailer house. This group of 8 regular guys comes out twice a year, also going to western MT for the archery elk season. Those 8 won't be back to Montana if SB 143 passes and neither will thousands of others who sustain us and these Montana towns. That one bunch pays more for the Lodge than an outfitter would pay to chase all the wildlife off my place and ruin the hunting for a whole season. That one bunch buys thousands of dollars of food, fuel, taxidermy across the state that will disappear. Outfitters here shop in Gillette at the box stores and their clients don't come to town. The majority of our yearly business will disappear with this bill that continues taking from the many and giving to the few. Half our staff is kept working all year to repair, maintain and clean for hunting season. SB 143 will suck millions out of small businesses, cut accommodation revenues to the state and hurt most Montana families directly or indirectly.
Kind regards,
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