authorize the landowner to kill or destroy a 

 specified number of animals doing the damage. 



Wild ferocious animals causing damage or endangering 

 life are exempt from this procedure, presumably to 

 allow the landowner an immediate response to that kind 

 of danger. 



Another provision, 87-1-226, MCA, in effect since 1957, 

 requires that all meat of animals killed under the 

 damage statute must be donated to state institutions, 

 school lunch programs, or the Department of Social and 

 Rehabilitation Services. The language in 87-1-304, 

 MCA, on special seasons for game damage was first 

 included in that statute in 1955. (See Appendix A.) 



Case Law on Wildlife Damage 



Two Montana Supreme Court cases have analyzed the 

 extent of a landowner's right to protect property from 

 damage by wildlife. 



In State v. Rathbone , 110 M. 225, 100 P . 2d 86, (1940), 

 the Supreme Court ruled that in certain instances a 

 property owner is entitled to resort to force in 

 protecting his property from wildlife damage. This is 

 seen as inherent in an individual's right to acquire 

 and hold property. The court found that, just as 

 individual property rights may validly be limited by 

 laws enacted for the protection of the state's wild- 

 life, the Constitution places limits on the permissible 

 scope of wildlife management regulations and the state 

 incurs some responsibility to assist a landowner in 

 protecting his property from extensive damage. 



