Montana bill to demand royalties from federal land sales advances

Does the federal government owe Montana for a century of public land sales? A bill brought by Senator Jennifer Fielder (R-Thompson Falls) and endorsed by the Senate Thursday says it does. Fielder says the law that made Montana a state, the Enabling Act, calls for the state to get five percent of any public land sales. That past and future money would benefit the permanent school trust. However, the U.S. Forest Service disagrees with that interpretation. The amount of money in question is not clear, but the Forest Service has sold some 70,000 acres in Montana since statehood, much of it to improve access to lands or resolve checkerboard ownership. Senator Pat Connell (R-Hamilton), opposing the measure, said that much of that transferred land could have been part of land exchanges and doesn't represent sales that could produce the royalty. The bill directs the Attorney General's office to look into the sales and demand the money, plus interest, from federal agencies. The Senate endorsed the measure on a 34-16 vote...more