BOZEMAN — A trailhead off Mount Ellis Lane a few miles outside Bozeman may look like any other across Montana, but it’s on a very particular class of public lands that are managed in a very specific way.
The trailhead is located on what the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation calls the Bear Canyon Block, about 6,200 acres of what are known as state trust lands.
“We have the absolute privilege of having these lands, especially close to an urban center like Bozeman, and taking care of them is absolutely our highest priority,” said Kara Huyser, DNRC’s Bozeman unit manager.
Like many trust lands, the Bear Canyon Block is managed for multiple uses. There’s currently a commercial logging project removing about 250,000 board feet of timber, the area is regularly leased for livestock grazing and – especially in recent years – there’s been growing recreational use.
Huyser said, since the COVID pandemic, they’ve seen about 140 recreational users a day in the area.
“It's really a pretty glorious area, and I know that people really like to be out here,” she said.
Altogether, there are more than 5.2 million acres of state trust lands across Montana.
When Montana was admitted to the United States in 1889, the federal government granted two one-square-mile sections of every 36-square-mile township to the state in order to provide support for public schools.
Since then, the state has bought, sold, and exchanged lands, but it still manages them for the benefit of schools and other public institutions.
“It's somewhat of a unique management challenge to think that our time horizon isn't just the next ten or 25 years, it's in perpetuity,” said Ryan Weiss, DNRC’s deputy trust lands administrator.
The responsibility for managing trust lands belongs to the state land board – made up of the governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, and superintendent of public instruction. DNRC oversees everyday management operations.
The department describes trust lands as “working lands.” A primary objective is creating revenue – now more than $50 million a year, supporting not only K-12 schools but also state universities, Montana State Hospital and other facilities.
Much of the revenue comes from things like timber permits and grazing and mineral leases, but they’re not the only sources. In some areas, the trust lands are used for real estate development. Weiss said other non-traditional uses are also growing, including renewable energy leases and recreation.
Most trust lands are open to recreation, though it’s limited to non-motorized and lower-impact activities, including hunting, hiking and biking. Anyone recreating on these lands needs a conservation license, which costs $8 for residents and $10 for non-residents but is included in the purchase of a hunting or fishing license.
Jessica Hoag, DNRC’s recreational use and public access coordinator for trust lands, said managers are seeing increasing impacts from recreational users, including concerns like littering and conflicts with primary users. She encouraged everyone using trust lands to recreate responsibly.
“We're definitely interested in educating more of the public, so that they have that better understanding and can take that responsibility personally and seriously – tending to that trust land in the state and making sure that it's available for future generations,” said Hoag.
DNRC has put together a full guide on the rules for recreational use on trust lands on their website. The department plans to release an updated map of public access opportunities later this year.
