BILLINGS, Mont. - State wildlife officials are proposing doubling the number of licenses to 100 in the second winter of Montana's hunt of bison that leave Yellowstone National Park, an official with the state wildlife agency said Thursday.

Don Childress, administrator for the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks' wildlife division, said the increase in licenses is just one of the changes state wildlife commissioners will be asked to consider at their meeting next month. The agency also is proposing distinct hunting districts be established near the park's northern and western borders, with the overall, three-month season divided into two time periods near Gardiner and three near West Yellowstone, he said.

The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission has the ultimate say on how any hunt will look, and the public will have a chance to provide comment, said Kurt Alt, a regional wildlife manager for the agency. Final action by the commission is expected later, this summer.

Last November, the state opened its first bison hunt in 15 years. The season, which ran from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15, was split in two sessions, with hunters allowed to kill as many as 25 bison during each of those. Hunters received either-sex licenses and got to choose where they wanted to hunt.

Under the new proposal, the number of licenses would be divided between hunting areas, with 30 allocated for the area north of the park and 70 near the west, Childress said. The split takes into account where bison typically are in the fall and winter, he added. The department also is recommending the issuance of some cow-calf licenses.

Sixteen of the 100 licenses again would be allocated to American Indian tribes. The overall season would remain the same.

Childress said the agency is working into the hunt slowly and that officials feel confident the proposal provides for "structured participation" by hunters.

Thirty-two bison were killed in the northern hunting area during the last season, according to the department, and all but one of the 40 bison killed during the season were bulls.

Craig Sharpe, executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation, said his group has been "very trusting of moving forward, as much as possible, with a fair-chase hunt." He declined comment on the current proposal because he hadn't seen it.

Stephany Seay, a spokeswoman for the Buffalo Field Campaign, said the activist group believed the agency would propose more licenses. But, she said, "It's still 100 too many, until buffalo have year-round habitat in Montana."