Montana prison dairy herd reduced after losing Darigold deal wiltonbulletin.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wiltonbulletin.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The state of Montana is trading Holsteins for hens at Montana State Prison, hopeful that a new pheasant rearing and release program will help recruit hunters and provide inmates continued work opportunities.
House Bill 637, a wide-ranging and hotly debated bill brought by Joliet Republican Rep. Seth Berglee, includes $1 million in funding for a new pheasant program at the Montana State Prison. Plans call for the birds to be released on state wildlife management areas ahead of youth hunting seasons â the first time in nearly four decades the state will be raising and stocking pheasants.
Recruitment, retention and reactivation, commonly called the âThree Rsâ of hunting, is part of a national push to bolster hunter numbers. Recognizing that hunting is not only about shooting a bird, FWP sees the pheasant releases as an opportunity for early success, especially as young people try hunting, said Quentin Kujala, FWPâs chief of staff.
Montana State News Bureau
Darigold ended its contract after one of its major customers â Costco â said last year it would begin to phase out all products made with legal prison labor. Costco s shifts in labor policies last year touched producers around the world, leading the company to even part ways with a Thai coconut milk producer accused of âforced monkey labor.â
Inmate Mark McGuire feeds a small group of Holstein cows at the Montana State Prison dairy operation in early May 2021. THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
The end of the prison programâs contract translates to a $1.5 million loss to the work program and a reduced work program for adult male inmates housed at the facility outside of Deer Lodge. A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said the entire effect of the loss of revenue won t be fully known for about a year as MCE adjusts to the lower capacity.
Montana agencies hope new pheasant program benefits inmates, hunters helenair.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from helenair.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.