“Montana’s growing and changing, and now’s the time to invest in our outdoor way of life.”
By Amanda Eggert, Montana Free Press
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) announced on Friday that he had recently signed House Bill 932, a proposal that would expand uses for the conservation-dedicated tax revenues the state collects on recreational marijuana sales.
Under HB 932, the scope of wildlife habitat protection and improvement supported with marijuana taxes will broaden to include projects implemented on private land. The law is slated to take effect July 1.
Before the latest legislative reform, Habitat Montana was the sole beneficiary of the roughly $10 million of habitat-conservation-dedicated funding that marijuana revenues support. In recent years, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) has used Habitat Montana to purchase new Wildlife Management Areas and secure both perpetual conservation easements and 40-year conservation leases.
With HB 932 in play this summer, that $10 million of conservation funding will all go into a new account: the “habitat legacy account.”
From there, it will be further divided into three separate funding buckets.
Most of the money, 75 percent, will support Habitat Montana and state water projects. Roughly 20 percent of the remainder will be funneled into an existing program called the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program, or WHIP, and 5 percent will be directed toward the newly established wildlife crossings account that seeks to reduce the wildlife-vehicle collisions that plague the state’s highways and interstates.
In a May interview with MTFP, HB 932 sponsor, Rep. Ken Walsh (R-Twin Bridges), highlighted the bill’s support for state-owned water projects, public-private habitat improvement partnerships under an expanded umbrella for WHIP, and efforts to mitigate wildlife-vehicle collisions, which he described as a “becoming a bigger and bigger deal.” During the legislative session, Walsh also praised HB 932’s effort to “get rid of some of the bureaucracy” associated with implementing conservation projects.
HB 932 emerged toward the end of the 2025 session, garnering bipartisan support and amassing a long list of conservation organization proponents, ranging from Wild Montana and the Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
“This is a long-overdue win for conservation, access, landowners and wildlife,” Wild Montana political and state policy director Noah Marion wrote in a Friday press release about Gianforte’s endorsement of HB 932. “Montana’s growing and changing, and now’s the time to invest in our outdoor way of life.”
Jake Schwaller, chair of the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, described HB 932 as a “big win” for hunters, anglers and wildlife in a written statement.
“By funding projects that protect migration corridors, improve habitat and expand public access, this bill invests directly in the future of our outdoor heritage. These are real, lasting benefits that will be felt on the ground—across trailheads, stream crossings and the critical landscapes where wildlife move and thrive,” Schwaller said Friday.
With HB 932 in place, individual landowners, tribal governments, conservation districts and other entities could apply for funding to support invasive species mitigation, fence modification or removal, riparian restoration, soil conservation, conifer removal and other projects geared toward habitat improvement.
FWP’s chief financial officer testified in support of HB 932 during the bill’s committee hearings. But Gianforte generally declined to speak about his stance on HB 932 versus a competing measure, Senate Bill 537.
SB 537, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov (R-Billings), would also create a habitat legacy account with marijuana money but differs from HB 932 in that it doesn’t include water storage-specific funding and redistributes other portions of the tax revenue.
Both measures garnered widespread support among lawmakers, though Senate GOP leaders had questioned whether Gianforte would cast a wary eye toward the approximately $30 million hit the state General Fund would take under SB 537, which includes new or expanded allocations for law enforcement, substance use disorder treatment and homelessness initiatives.
During an April press conference, Gianforte did not specify which measure he supported, saying only that when lawmakers “encumber specific revenue streams for certain purposes, it really ties the hands of future Legislatures and administrations.”
SB 537, which passed its final vote in the Legislature on the same day as HB 932, had not been transmitted to the governor by Friday evening, according to the Legislature’s bill tracking website. A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to MTFP’s request for comment about his plans for SB 537 before publication.
Speaking to MTFP on Friday, Zolnikov emphasized that SB 537 remains a live proposal.
“Hopefully [Gianforte] signs 537 as well, so we can get the bulk of the marijuana tax dollars back into local communities every year to address impacts,” Zolnikov said. “This would include over $17 million going to local law enforcement, over $7 million going toward behavioral health, and the rest going to addiction, prevention, funding rape kits and drug testing. All of these services are severely underfunded and most would argue these are critical to both rural and urban communities across the state.”
Walsh noted that Gianforte’s signature improves HB 932’s prospects, but that other twists in the bill’s path are still possible. SB 537 has a provision directing it to take precedence if both it and HB 932 are approved, meaning that a successful legislative veto override of Zolnikov’s bill could nullify his proposal.
Both measures passed with broad margins. HB 932 was ultimately approved by 126 of the state’s 150 lawmakers, with SB 537 gaining affirmative votes from 116 lawmakers. A two-thirds majority is required to override a gubernatorial veto.
This story was originally published by Montana Free Press at montanafreepress.org.
Montana Lawmakers Pass Bill Allowing Cannabis Compacts Between Indian Tribes And The Governor
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.
