Montana Code 76-5-105. Authority to enter and investigate lands or waters
76-5-105. Authority to enter and investigate lands or waters. (1) The department or the responsible political subdivision may make reasonable entry upon any lands and waters in the state for the purpose of making an investigation, survey, removal, or repair contemplated by parts 1 through 4 of this chapter. Unless written consent is obtained, however, the department or the responsible political subdivision shall provide written notice of its entry by personal delivery to the owner, owner’s agent, lessee, or lessee’s agent whose lands will be entered. If none of these persons can be found, the department or the responsible political subdivision shall affix a copy of the notice to one or more conspicuous places on the property.
Terms Used In Montana Code 76-5-105
- Artificial obstruction: means any obstruction that is not a natural obstruction and includes any dam, wall, riprap, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, projection, revetment, excavation, channel rectification, bridge, conduit, culvert, building, refuse, automobile body, fill, or other analogous structure or matter in, along, across, or projecting into any flood plain or floodway that may impede, retard, or change the direction of the flow of water, either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by the water, or that is placed where the natural flow of the water would carry the same downstream to the damage or detriment of either life or property. See Montana Code 76-5-103
- Department: means the department of natural resources and conservation provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 33. See Montana Code 76-5-103
- Drainway: means any depression 2 feet or more below the surrounding land serving to give direction to a current of water less than 9 months of the year and having a bed and well-defined banks. See Montana Code 76-5-103
- Owner: means any person who has dominion over, control of, or title to an obstruction. See Montana Code 76-5-103
- Political subdivision: means any incorporated city or town or any county organized and having authority to adopt and enforce land use regulations. See Montana Code 76-5-103
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- Responsible political subdivision: means a political subdivision that has enacted land use regulations in accordance with parts 1 through 4. See Montana Code 76-5-103
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Watercourse: means any depression 2 feet or more below the surrounding land serving to give direction to a current of water at least 9 months of the year and having a bed and well-defined banks. See Montana Code 76-5-103
(2)An investigation of a natural or artificial obstruction or nonconforming use shall be made by the department or the responsible political subdivision either on its own initiative, on the written request of three titleholders of land abutting the watercourse or drainway involved, or on the written request of a political subdivision. Upon the request of an owner, owner’s agent, lessee, or lessee’s agent whose lands will be entered to undertake the investigation, the department or the responsible political subdivision shall release the names and addresses of the persons or political subdivision requesting the investigation.