Roosevelt County reported six active COVID cases as of Friday, April 14. There have been 4,092 total cases in the county. Daniels County had zero active cases as of Friday, April 14. The county has 491 cumulative cases. Valley County reported six active cases as of Friday, April 14. The county has 2,186 cumulative cases. In McCone County, there were two active case as of Friday, April 14.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking public comment on several proposals slated to go to the Fish and Wildlife Commission in June. Comment is open through May 11. After public comment, commissioners can offer amendments to the proposals as they see fit. The proposals and supporting documents, commissioner amendments and collected public comment are available on the commission

Producers have until April 28 to apply for Open Fields or other lease options administered through the Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program. Producers can submit their application now, even though they may not know the status of this year’s CRP bid. By getting applications in early, UGBEP can better prepare to work with producers who may learn of their CRP status later this summer. Funding

The Private Land/Public Wildlife Advisory Committee will meet Thursday, April 27, at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks headquarters and via Zoom from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The 13-member advisory committee, appointed by the governor, is charged with reviewing FWP’s access programs and offering recommendations to help achieve program goals and maintaining good relations between hunters and landowners.

Montana’s spring turkey season opened on Saturday, April 15. Southeast Montana’s turkey populations are relatively stable across the region and handled the drought conditions well, according to FWP Region 7 upland game bird biologist Justin Hughes. However, populations of turkeys that are more isolated on the plains in mediocre habitat will be impacted more by recent weather patterns than turkeys

Applications for the State Hail Insurance Program are now available through the Montana Department of Agriculture. Producers can insure crops against hail damage at the maximum coverage rate of $75 per acre for dryland and $114 per acre for irrigated land. Rates charged are a percentage of the insured amount and vary by county. A detailed list of rates by county and crop can be found online

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is proposing changes to the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Lease Program and is seeking public comment on a supplemental environmental assessment. A habitat conservation lease is a voluntary, incentive-based agreement between FWP and private landowners in which the landowner agrees to land management practices that protect wildlife habitat and FWP pays the landowner

Lee Enterprises, which owns four of the state’s major daily newspapers, cut at least 15 newsroom positions at its papers across Montana during the past week — a move employees said has shrunk already skeleton staffs and battered journalists’ morale. “Morale was already low, but it’s going to get lower,” said Victor Flores, Lee’s sportswriter covering Montana State University

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, including a provision from U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale (MT-02), the Restore Onshore Energy Production Act. This provision would require the Biden Administration immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales in compliance with the Mineral Leasing Act. “The Biden Administration’s attack on domestic energy