Public land managers want to make it easier to develop and sell state trust lands. They say it will help address housing shortages but lawmakers are divided on supporting it. MTPR’s Austin Amestoy sat down with reporter Ellis Juhlin to discuss this proposed legislation, and how it fits into national trends of public land use.
Austin Amestoy: So Ellis, several agencies recently gave lawmakers proposals for bills they’d like to see prioritized in the 2025 session. The Environmental Quality Council was divided on one about state public land, why was that?
Ellis Juhlin: This proposal would create a new option for what the state does with state trust lands. These are lands owned by the state and make up about 5% of land in Montana.
As it now stands, the state can sell undeveloped trust land or lease it for things like agricultural use or development. Either option generates revenue for the state, which is then used to fund public schools.
Now, the agency that’s responsible for those lands wants to expand how they can be used. The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) is putting these ideas forward. The agency wants to allow a lease of state trust lands to a developer, who could build residential or commercial buildings. Then, once it had been developed, the land could be sold with the structures a developer had built.
Austin Amestoy: So why does the agency say this is needed?
Ellis Juhlin: Well, there’s a bit of backstory here.
Last session lawmakers passed a massive bill trying to address the issue of housing availability in the state. In it, they directed the DNRC to evaluate the potential for building affordable workforce housing on state lands that are close to cities and towns.
We now know that DNRC has done those evaluations for some areas — Billings, Kalispell, Whitefish, Missoula, and the Gallatin Valley. There are maps of these areas that identify where the agency thinks development on state trust lands could happen.
And this new proposal goes one step further. When presenting it to that interim committee a few weeks ago, DNRC’s Director Amanda Kaster told committee members that these evaluations have prompted increased interest from developers and the executive branch.
Amanda Kaster: This concept would allow us to offer a new type of commercial development lease on trust lands that would allow us to facilitate residential development and capture increased property values when lots are sold. It's creating another avenue in order to be able to explore adding residential opportunities on state trust land.
DNRC spokesperson Moira Davin also told me that the agency sees this proposal as beneficial for residential properties because it would reduce upfront costs for housing development, and generate more income for the state than just selling raw land.
Austin Amestoy: What did the Environmental Quality Council have to say?
Ellis Juhlin: Several Democratic lawmakers, like Missoula Representative Jonathan Karlen voiced concerns over how this bill proposal goes much broader than that 2023 law, and it seems to be moving away from specific language for developing affordable housing.
Jonathan Karlen: I guess I do have some concerns when it comes to, you know, potential uses of state lands and this commercial-residential realm. You know, what sorts of, kind of, sideboards are going to be in place? What sorts of public process?
Some lawmakers also said the language of this proposal was vague.
But this policy really gets at views of how to manage state public lands and what role they should or shouldn’t play in the fix for the affordable housing crisis in Montana.
Austin Amestoy: You know, this has me thinking about proposals I’ve heard about in other states and at the federal level. I know former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have both floated using federal land to develop housing. Is this Montana proposal part of a broader trend?
Ellis Juhlin: Great question Austin, and yeah, it is. Director Kaster told lawmakers this proposal is modeled after something being done in Utah. And like you mentioned there’s been interest in taking federal public lands, especially in Western states and using them to build housing. And it’s getting bipartisan traction. Just this summer we saw the Biden Administration authorize the sale of federal public lands in Nevada to build affordable housing near Las Vegas.
Austin Amestoy: We’re still a few months out from the 2025 session, and about a month from elections, what’s next for this Ellis?
Ellis Juhlin: A committee of lawmakers and public representatives didn’t endorse this proposed bill draft but that doesn’t mean it’s dead. Any lawmaker could pick it up once they’re elected next month and it could still be up for debate early next year when lawmakers convene.
