Fish & Wildlife

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

The deadline landowners to enroll in Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ new Public Lands Access Land Agreement has been extended to June 19. The program encourages landowners to help open up and improve access to 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, roads or trails in the PALA program are eligible for an annual payment of up to $15,000 per agreement. Landowners and FWP may also negotiate improvements needed to facilitate access.

FWP may provide hunter management assistance dependent upon need, property rules and program availability as well as may provide and post signs with associated maps and rules for each property, road or trail enrolled in the program.

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. The deadline for applications before the July PL/PW meeting is June 19.

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