Fur farm OK’d in Montana’s Fergus County

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has approved a license for a commercial bobcat fur farm six miles southwest of Roy in Fergus County that attracted worldwide interest.

“FWP has determined that this action will not have a significant effect on the human or physical environment,” Gary Bertellotti, FWP Region 4 supervisor, said in a statement.

The license will allow the Schultz Fur Farm to possess captive-raised bobcats, lawfully obtained from a licensed dealer for propagation and for sale of the pelts in the commercial fur industry.

FWP received 21,185 comments during the comment period, which ended Aug. 29.

Multiple comments were received from the same individuals. The farm was opposed by PETA and The Humane Society of the United States, according to FWP’s decision notice.

Of the total comments received, 20 comments supported the proposal, the decision notice says. The rest were opposed based on objections to the fur farm industry in general.

“However, there was no substantive opposition to the laws or regulations in Montana that reflect opposition to the permit,” the decision notice said.

Comments in support of the proposal said it would be good for economic development.

Those against it said fur farms are inhumane. In response to comments such as those, FWP said fur farms are a legal business and controlled and monitored under state law.

Others said bobcats are wild animals and should be respected as wild animals.

In response, FWP said the bobcats at the farm will be captive bred and raised and are not wild under Montana law. They are considered private property.

A petition in opposition to the project with 900 signatures was submitted through a web link and address called “Cats are not Crops — Don’t allow Bobcat Fur Farming in Montana.”

Comments came from people indicating home residences from all over the world and every state in the country, the decision notice says.

There were 20 letters sent via postal service.

Larry Schultz, owner of the farm, offered little comment.

“They have no reason not to give me one,” he said of the permit approval.

Previously, Schultz has said he’s been in the fur farm business since 1982 and currently owns a farm in Arnegard in western North Dakota.

But noise and dust from activity associated with oil drilling is causing the bobcats to kill their babies, which is prompting the move to new location, he said.

Arnegard is located within the Bakken oil patch.

Bobcat fur is sold worldwide and used in trim, hats and coats in cold-weather countries such as Russia, he said.

“It’s a necessity,” Schultz said in July.

Ranch-raised bobcats, he said, produce better furs than wild animals because they are fed and watered every day and vaccinated against disease, Schultz said.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Karl Puckett at 406-791-1471, 800-438-6600 or kpuckett

@greatfallstribune.com. Twitter: @GFTrib_KPuckett.

For more info

A summary of the comments with FWP responses, as well as the entire decision notice, is on the FWP website, http://fwp.mt.gov/ under the public notices link.