Montana § 77-2-203 - Exchange For Nongovernment, State Government, And Other State And Local Public Entity Land

§ 77-2-203. Exchange For Nongovernment, State Government, And Other State And Local Public Entity Land

Exchange for nongovernment, state government, and other state and local public entity land. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the board is authorized to exchange state land for land owned by: (a) the state or an agency of the state; (b) a political subdivision of the state, including a county, city, town, public corporation, or district created pursuant to state law; (c) any other public body of the state; or (d) a nongovernmental entity, including but not limited to an individual, association, partnership, or corporation. (2) The board may exchange the land described in subsection (1) if the land is of equal or greater value, as determined by the board after appraisal by a qualified land appraiser, than the state land and as closely as possible equal in area. The contents of the appraisal must be made available to any person who makes a written request to the board. The board shall place priority on exchanges that result in consolidation of state lands into more compact bodies. This section does not apply to exchanges undertaken under 76-12-107 . (3) If the requirements of 77-2-204 and subsections (1) and (2) of this section are met, state lands bordering on navigable lakes and streams or other bodies of water with significant public use value may be exchanged for nongovernment-owned land if the nongovernment-owned land borders on similar navigable lakes, streams, or other bodies of water.