New landowner access program seeking applicants, deadline May 29

Currently, millions of public land acres in Montana are inaccessible. Fish Wildlife & Parks new Public Lands Access Land Agreement encourages landowners to help open up and improve access to these isolated parcels of state and federal land for hunting and fishing. In exchange, landowners can receive a payment and other negotiated improvements.

Landowners who enroll parcels, must also hold the lease for the public land if a lease exists.

Landowners, in collaboration with FWP, determine when, where, and how the public may access public land in accordance with program guidelines including the possibility of limiting travel to foot-traffic only. The agreement will be between private landowners and FWP for a minimum of one year up to 10 years, with payments made annually.

Potential agreements will be reviewed by the Private Land/Public Wildlife Advisory Committee for a recommendation to FWP. Applications are available year-round and must be received at least six weeks prior to the next upcoming Private Land/Public Wildlife Advisory Committee meeting to ensure adequate time to review the project. The deadline for applications before the July PL/PW meeting is May 29.

For more information and application materials, visit fwp.mt.gov/PALA.