The Montana State Shooting Facilities and Improvements Development and Oversight Task Force will hold its first meeting on Thursday, Dec. 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The meeting will be held at Montana WILD in Helena; it will also be streamed live on Zoom.

The task force is responsible for identifying shooting facility needs in Montana, which may include improving existing facilities or developing new ones. The task force will meet over the next couple of years to come up with a list of recommendations to present to Gov. Greg Gianforte; the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Transportation; the Joint Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee; and the Economic Affairs Interim Committee. The deadline for the recommendations is June 30, 2027.

The Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Transportation, which is made up of both House and Senate members, reviews budgets for state agencies like the Department of Natural Resources Conservation; Fish, Wildlife & Parks; and the Department of Transportation during legislative sessions.

The Joint Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee, which is made up of the House and Senate committees and the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee, reviews legislation dealing with FWP issues.

The Economic Affairs Interim Committee is a joint bipartisan committee that is responsible for conducting studies and oversight on issues related to business, labor and economic development during the legislative interims.

The task force was created during this year’s legislative session through House Bill 899. FWP will coordinate and facilitate the task force’s meetings.

Montana WILD is located at 2668 Broadwater Ave. in Helena. For the Zoom link and to see the draft agenda and more information about the task force, click here.