Software can bombard lawmakers with different messages from same individual

BY: DARRELL EHRLICK – MARCH 26, 2023 10:13 AM

https://dailymontanan.com/2023/03/26/wildlife-advocates-concerned-about-public-relations-tactics-related-to-hunting-trapping-amendment/

Hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-related recreation in the United States is estimated to contribute $122 billion to our nation’s economy annually (Photo by Ryan Hagarty | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

An out-of-state group that is lobbying for the constitutional effort that purports to protect hunting interests via a ballot measure for the Montana Constitution may seem much more popular than it is.

HOWL for Wildlife, an advocacy group that supports the measure, boasts on its website that it has sent more than 40,000 messages to Montana legislators in order to get House Bill 372 passed. HB 372 is a constitutional proposal that would classify hunting, trapping and fishing as the primary preferred method of wildlife management in Montana.

A sophisticated marketing and lobbying campaign pushed through its website allows…