LEGISLATIVE SNAPSHOT

Land

Montana’s management of lands and natural resources has a significant influence on our environment, economy, and our quality of life

Highlights

  • Nearly 65% of land in Montana is privately owned; over 18% is owned by the U.S. Forest Service.
  • Of the acres in private agricultural use, 64% or 38,787,058 acres are used for grazing; 3% are irrigated crops.
  • Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has over 450,000 acres of wildlife management areas, over 41,000 acres of state parks, and over 21,000 acres of fishing access sites.
  • The Montana Land Reliance holds over 910,000 acres in conservation easements; a total of over 2.2 million acres are in easements across the state.
  • There are over 7,000 miles of energy pipeline.
  • 17,095 active energy wells (coal bed methane, gas, oil, etc.) exist in the state.

Featured Maps

Land Ownership (Square Miles)

Statewide
Local governmentMontana Fish, Wildlife, and ParksOther federal landOther state landPrivateState trust landUS Bureau of Land ManagementUS Fish and Wildlife ServiceUS Forest ServiceUS National Park Service
MT
212
709
344
188
94,929
8,140
12,665
1,452
26,677
1,854
Selected Senate/House Districts
All Senate/House Districts

Land in Agricultural Use (Acres)

Statewide
Continuously croppedFallowForestGrazingHay (non-irrigated)Irrigated (hay or crop)Noncommercial forest
MT
27,358
12,818,539
5,762,551
38,787,058
1,190,471
1,852,018
302,247
Selected Senate/House Districts
All Senate/House Districts

Conservation Easements

For more information on conservation easements and other Land Management visit the Montana Natural Heritage Program Land Management tool.

Statewide
Conservation Easements in Area Acres
Bitter Root Land Trust 3,736
City Government 602
Clark Fork- Pend Oreille Conservancy 208
County Government 523
Ducks Unlimited 16,998
Five Valleys Land Trust 50,014
Flathead Land Trust 9,683
Gallatin Valley Land Trust 42,119
Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust 445
Kaniksu Land Trust, Inc. 100
Montana Conservation Trust 736
Montana Department of Transportation 1,067
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks 456,298
Montana Land Reliance 910,336
Mule Deer Foundation 155
National Wildlife Federation 20
Prickly Pear Land Trust 3,433
Rattlesnake Land Trust 190
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation 50,932
Salish and Kootenai Tribal Lands 287
The Bighorn Institute 1,443
The Conservation Fund 15,062
The Nature Conservancy 348,040
The Vital Ground Foundation 1,189
US Bureau of Reclamation 42
US Department of Agriculture 34,368
US Fish and Wildlife Service 274,630
US Forest Service 20,032
US Government 9,940
Total 2,252,628

Note: Conservation easement acres are calculated through a geographic information system and do not necessarily represent the acreage filed in the applicable deed.

Selected Senate/House Districts
All Senate/House Districts

Land Cover Map

Montana Digital Atlas

Additional mapping and data capabilities are available through the Montana Digital Atlas. The Montana Digital Atlas allows users to identify a place of interest and view an atlas of information about that place that includes a broad range of data categories such as land ownership and use, census data, water information and biological data.

State Park Total Annual Visitation

Statewide
Year Total Visits
2009 2,031,121
2010 1,976,196
2011 1,875,803
2012 2,003,875
2013 2,112,045

Montana Cadastral Application

The Montana Cadastral Mapping Application is a robust mapping tool that provides access to selected Montana Spatial Data Infrastructure layers, including information on public and private land ownership.

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