Archives West Finding Aid

"Helping to ensure that Montana's land and water resources provide benefits for present and future generations" is the mission of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC). First established in 1971 as a result of the Executive Reorganization Act of 1971, the DNRC provides leadership in managing the state's natural resources. It is presently responsible for promoting the stewardship of Montana's water, soil, forest, and rangeland resources; for regulating forest practices and oil and gas exploration and production. The department is organized into seven divisions: Director's Office, Conservation and Resource Development, Forestry, Oil and Gas Conservation, Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission, Trust Land Management, and Water Resources.

The goal of the DNRC Trust Land Management Division is to manage the State of Montana's trust land resources to produce revenue for the trust beneficiaries while considering environmental factors and protecting the future income-generating capacity of the land. By the Enabling Act approved February 22, 1889, the Congress of the United States granted to the State of Montana, for common school support, sections sixteen and thirty-six in every township within the state. Some of these sections had been homesteaded, some were within the boundaries of Indian reservations, and yet others had been otherwise disposed of before passage of the Enabling Act. To make up for this loss, and in lieu thereof, other lands were selected by the State of Montana.

The Tongue River Dam is located on the Tongue River in Big Horn County, five miles north of Decker. Originally built in 1940 by the State Water Conservation Board, the dam provides a portion of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe’s federally reserved water right; the reservoir created by the dam is bordered by Tongue River State Park. The dam has been owned by DNRC and managed by the Tongue River Water Users Association since 1938. From 1996-1999, the DNRC completed a major rehabilitation of the dam; rehabilitation costs were shared between the DNRC, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Prior to the rehabilitation project, the DNRC commissioned Ethnoscience, Inc. of Billings, MT to conduct an archaeological survey on the site.

As of 2024, the Trust Land Management Division has been superceeded by the Forestry-Trust Lands Division. This Division is broken into two sections, Forestry and Trust Lands, each responsible for various Bureaus, Units, and Offices.