Who Really Owns Montana? The State’s Largest Private Landowners

Big Sky, Big Buyers: The Power Of Private Land Ownership

Land and who owns it has become a big talking point here in Montana in recent years.

While the federal government owns almost 30% of public lands in Montana, who is the biggest private landowner under the Big Sky?

Could Montanans Lose Access To Public Land?

Right now in Washington, D.C., Congress is debating the "Big Beautiful Bill." Inside it there is a section in which we could see the federal government selling off acres of public land by the millions.

This could mean anyone from anywhere could buy some of the land we currently enjoy access to here in the Treasure State.

Plenty of states have recently toyed with the idea of preventing people living outside of their state or America from buying up their land.

How Much Montana Land Is Owned By Outsiders?

As for Montana, we've already got some people who own huge tracts of land here.

We're talking each one on our list owns at minimum a total of 200,000 acres of land.

Also, of the 5 we list below, only 1 is owned by people who claim Montana as their primary residence.

People are allowed to buy land, but most Montana residents are hoping that that the land we've had access to and gone hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking on for years will still be here for future generations to enjoy.