Montana News
DNRC plan would open state trust lands to residential development
With Montana News, I'm Elinor Smith. Montana officials want to allow housing development on state trust lands. The idea didn't get an endorsement from a legislative council this week, but it could resurface during the upcoming legislative session. Montana Public Radio's Ellis Julin reports. The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation asked lawmakers for a bill that would open up state trust lands to residential development, but half of the Environmental Quality Council voted to withhold their support from the proposal. DNRC's proposal expands on legislation from the 2023 session. That law directed the agency to evaluate the possibility of building affordable housing on state trust lands near cities and towns. Democratic Senator Willis Curty and other lawmakers were worried about changing the use of public land and the lack of details in DNRC's proposal. I'm really concerned that if we're going to make state trust lands available for residential development, that we really need to focus on affordability. While new for Montana, DNRC's proposed bill follows recent national trends promoting housing development on public land. Several Utah congressmen have introduced legislation to allow the federal government to sell public land for housing development, and the Biden administration has suggested building affordable housing on federal public lands in Nevada. In Missoula, I'm Ellis Julin.