Bill > HB763

This bill revises Montana's block management program, which provides public hunting access on private and public lands through voluntary cooperative agreements between landowners and the state's Fish and Wildlife Department. The bill specifically introduces new provisions for agreements that provide access to adjacent public lands, requiring the department to notify public land leaseholders, ensure proposed agreements do not interfere with existing lease terms, and incorporate relevant lease terms into access agreements. The Fish and Wildlife Commission is granted additional flexibility in creating simplified rules for these public land access agreements, including the ability to consider leaseholder input, exempt agreements from tracking hunting access days, and establish flat-rate payments instead of per-day compensation. The bill also modifies payment limits for landowners, setting a $50,000 annual cap for general agreements and a $25,000 cap for agreements solely providing access to public lands. These changes aim to streamline the block management program, make public land access more straightforward, and provide more administrative flexibility while maintaining landowner protections and incentives for participating in public hunting access programs.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://bills.legmt.gov/#/laws/bill/2/LC3872