State Lands Legislation Round-Up

The December 2006 edition of Focus on Montana State Lands (see "State Lands Legislation Coming Your Way") took a comprehensive look at more than two dozen proposed bills that could potentially impact the future management of Montana's more than 5 million acres of publicly-owned state lands.  Two additional bills were introduced after publication: SB 452 by Sen. Carol Williams (D-Missoula), to establish a "working forest, ranches and watersheds program," and SB 534 by Sen. David Wanzenried (D-Missoula), to "redirect state trust land assets," both of which were topics of a lengthy discussion at the March meeting of the State Land Board.  Of the twenty-one bills that did get officially introduced, eight bills will become law, including three affecting the state's land banking program. 

See Land Banking Legislation, in of this issue, for bills specifically affecting the state's program to buy and sell state trust lands. 

State lands bills that passed:

• Conservation easements on state land.  After the failure of SB 391, conservationists endorsed HJ 57, introduced by Rep. Mike Jopek (D-Whitefish) to conduct an interim study of conservation easements on state lands.  Montana Audubon and MEIC worked diligently to pass SB 391, sponsored by Sen. Dan Weinberg, D-Whitefish, that would have altered legislation passed in 2001 restricting where conservation easements can be placed on school trust lands. SB 391 sought to allow conservation easements on all school trust land, regardless of the location (and management) of the property, but after passing the Senate, the House Federal Relations, Energy, and Telecommunications Committee tabled the bill.  Alternatively, HJ 57 designates an interim committee to, among other things, evaluate the benefits to the various trusts of granting easements and explore opportunities for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) to partner with other organizations to acquire state trust lands that have restricted development rights, which would lower land acquisition costs while also perpetuating traditional uses of the land.
• Weed control on state land.  Several years ago, an investigation by the Legislative Audit office found serious non-compliance with weed control on leased state lands (see Focus on Montana State Lands, Spring 2003).  HB 37, sponsored by Rep. Michele Reinhart (D-Missoula) makes it mandatory to control noxious weeds on state lands, and provides DNRC the legal authority to control weeds if the lessee/permit holder does not and to charge the lessee/permit holder for costs of the weed control plus a penalty. Janet Ellis of Montana Audubon called this bill a "very positive step" for state lands management. 
• Revise contract timber harvest laws.  In addition to the current practice of leasing forested state lands for timber harvesting, SB 25, introduced by Sen. Lane Larson (D-Billings), will allow the use of contract logging to improve forest health.  The measure allows the state to contract for logging, sorting, and processing of trees into merchantable forest products such as saw logs, pulp wood, and house logs, which it then sells through a competitive bidding process. The bill limits the use of contract logging to no more than 10 percent of the annual sustained yield.  The Montana Wildlife Federation and Montana Audubon supported the bill with the conference committee amendments.

Other bills that passed:  Two related bills dealing with trust land administration, funding and management will also become law, both relating to the University system's long-standing contention that diversion of Morrill Act trust land revenue for the administrative costs of DNRC is illegal (see Focus on Montana State Lands, Fall 2006 and December 2005).

• HB 19, introduced by Rep. Walter McNutt (R-Sidney) prohibits use of Morrill Act trust land revenues for administrative costs and instead sets up a statutory appropriation of $80,000 per year to DNRC with provisions for any carryover funds.
• HB 160, sponsored by Rep. Ron Stoker (R-Darby) and by request of the Legislative Finance Committee, appropriates over one million dollars from the state general fund to repay land trusts and trust beneficiaries (such as units of the University System and the public school fund) for past diversions of funds for administrative costs.

State lands bills supported by the conservation community that failed:

* HB 631, introduced by Rep. Mike Jopek (D-Whitefish), proposed requiring corner posts on state trust lands to be painted blue so the public can discern public lands from private lands.

* SB 391 (see HJ 57 description, above).

* SB 452, sponsored by Sen. Carol Williams (D-Missoula), would have set up a commission to oversee the administration of funds that come from the state through matching loans and grants to local communities who want to maintain their working landscapes (forests, ranches and watersheds).