Tourism industry debates woes of tax changes

HELENA - Tourists coming to Montana this year will feel the aftershocks of the 2003 Legislature, paying more to snowmobile, stay at a motel or private campground, and rent a car or boat.

They also may find one of the state's top attractions, the Montana Historical Society, locked up because of budget cuts.

But legislators also lent a hand to out-of-state visitors by making it easier to obtain hunting and fishing licenses, get onto state-owned land and fish for more than two days.

Those in the tourism industry have mixed feelings about the effect of the increased accommodations tax or the new c...