Habitat and Influencing Policy with MT FWP Commissioner Ian Wargo | Episode 284

Hunt Talk Radio

Randy Newberg

Sports, Wilderness, Education, How To

4.9 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2026

⏱️ 107 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Leupold's Hunt Talk Radio, Randy and Ian Wargo (Montana FWP Fish and Wildlife Commissioner) talk about the challenges of wildlife management, particularly declining elk populations in northwest Montana. A major topic is how habitat quality, largely influenced by federal land policies, is one of the most critical factors in population dynamics. The conversation highlights how complex and interconnected conservation issues are, including the importance of understanding decision-making roles. They also talk about the ability of hunters to engage more effectively in official processes, and how this can result in meaningful differences in management policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The title sponsor of Hunt Talk Radio is Louispold.
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0:19.9	go to loopholed.com to learn more and look for these fine Leopold products at your high-quality
0:26.0	retailers.
0:29.4	Hey folks, Randy Newberg here.
0:32.4	Welcome to Leopold's Hunt Talk Radio.
0:35.2	Is I've been walking, I saw sand bay. Luke Oldt's Hunt Talk Radio. Didn't say nothing. Well, that's how it's made for you and me.
1:00.2	Hey, folks, Randy Newberg here with another episode of Lupold's Hunt Talk Radio.
1:05.9	I hope you're doing great on this late February morning.
1:10.5	Uh, this podcast has got a repeat guest.
1:15.0	Ian Wargo, who now, as of the time we're doing this,
1:21.1	he's a Fish Wildlife and Parks Commissioner in Montana.
1:26.2	Back when he and I did a podcast, I think it was three or four years ago, it was Ian as
1:32.4	just a citizen, a concerned advocate who has raised his hand and volunteered for pretty
1:39.7	much everything you can think of when it comes to wildlife and management plans and advisory committees.
1:48.0	And now he is in this role as a commissioner. So he and I still text back and forth a lot, get on phone, talk a lot about things that we're seeing. And sometimes we
2:05.2	read or look at the same data and we come to different conclusions. And our conversation here
2:13.7	probably won't have any of those, Randy, you're an idiot. Ian, you don't know what
2:19.5	you're talking about, kind of things that our private conversations have. But one of the things
2:25.8	that really struck me, if you go back and listen to the first podcast we did, Ian said something
	...

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