(1) Lands available for leasing or licensing under these rules include any state land under the jurisdiction of the
board.
(2) The department shall classify and reclassify land in accordance with its capability to support a particular use.
The following classes are established in accordance with 77-1-401,
MCA:
(a) class 1 shall be grazing land;
(b) class 2 shall be timber land;
(c) class 3 shall be agricultural land;
(d) class 4 shall be cabinsites and land
uses other than grazing, timber or agricultural.
(3) This rule shall not be construed to
prohibit multiple use management.
(4) In order to insure that any unleased or
unlicensed portion of state land is not made more difficult to lease or
license, lands shall be leased or licensed in compact bodies and an attempt
will be made not to separate parts of any tract from public highways and
available water supplies.
(5) Unsurveyed land, including islands,
shall be available for leasing or licensing provided that any applicant for a
lease or license on such lands shall supply the department with a legal and
sufficient description thereof, by courses and distances (metes and bounds) .
The department shall assume no liability or responsibility for the correctness,
completeness and validity of such description. The department shall issue all
leases or licenses including unsurveyed lands and islands only under such title
as the state of Montana then has or thereafter shall acquire. In the event it
is established that the state has less than a fee simple title, it shall not be
liable for any refunds or damages.
(6) The department does not guarantee that
fences or other boundary indicators on site are a true indication of legal
property boundaries. The lessee or licensee may be responsible for the cost of
any survey which is made necessary by a challenge to the proper boundary of
the state-owned land. Such costs may be considered an improvement on the
land.