The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is partnering with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks on a proposal that would create a 5,677-acre new wildlife management area near Judith Gap, in central Montana. The proposed Big Snowy Mountains Wildlife Management Area received tentative Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approval on August 13, which allows FWP to further pursue and evaluate the project, and to offer opportunity to gather public comment.

Under the proposal, the Big Snowy Mountain Wildlife Management Area would be owned and managed by MT FWP for conservation and hunting access. From the FWP August 13 meeting agenda documents: The Big Snowy Mountains WMA would be one contiguous block adjacent to the BLM’s Twin Coulee Wilderness Area (6,936 acres), which abuts the USFS’s Big Snowies Wilderness Study Area (88,696 acres). This native foothill habitat provides for a diverse assemblage of species, including critical winter range (as well as year-round habitat) for elk, mule deer, and pronghorn, as well has habitat for black bear, white-tailed deer, and other native species.