Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 76. LAND RESOURCES AND USE

CHAPTER 16. GRAZING DISTRICTS

Part 3. Organization, Administration, and Operation

Permit Required To Run Livestock In State District

76-16-310. Permit required to run livestock in state district. (1) An owner or person in control of livestock may not permit livestock to run at large or under herd within the exterior boundaries of a state district unless the owner or person in control of the livestock first obtains a grazing permit from the state district.

(2) The owner or person in control of livestock running at large or under herd within a state district without a permit from the state district or in excess of the permit is liable for all damages sustained by any member, permittee, or state district that are a result of the person's unpermitted use of the state district. If livestock wrongfully enter a state district, the owner or person in control of the trespassing livestock, who willfully or negligently permits livestock to run at large within the state district without first obtaining a permit from the state district, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine in an amount not less than $10 or more than $500. In addition to a fine, the owner or person is liable for all damages that are caused by the trespassing livestock.

(3) This provision does not require any person to obtain a grazing permit to graze livestock on land that the person owns or controls within a state district if the stock being grazed are restrained from running at large within the state district and from grazing on any other lands within the state district.

History: En. Sec. 26, Ch. 208, L. 1939; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 199, L. 1945; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 257, L. 1955; R.C.M. 1947, 46-2326(1); amd. Sec. 25, Ch. 31, L. 2001.