87-5-910. Grants -- eligibility. (1) Subject to the provisions of 87-5-912, to be eligible to receive funds pursuant to this part, a proposed project must maintain, enhance, restore, expand, or benefit sage grouse habitat and populations for the heritage of Montana and its people through voluntary, incentive-based efforts, including:

(a) reduction of conifer encroachment;

(b) reduction of the spread of invasive weeds that harm sagebrush health or sage grouse habitat;

(c) maintenance, restoration, or improvement of sagebrush health or quality;

(d) purchase or acquisition of leases, term conservation easements, or permanent conservation easements that conserve or maintain sage grouse habitat, protect grazing lands, or conserve sage grouse populations;

(e) incentives to reduce the conversion of grazing land to cropland;

(f) restoration of cropland to grazing land;

(g) modification of fire management to conserve sage grouse habitat and populations;

(h) demarcation of fences to reduce sage grouse collisions;

(i) reduction of unnatural perching platforms for raptors;

(j) reduction of unnatural safe havens for predators;

(k) sage grouse habitat enhancement that provides project developers the ability to use improved habitat for compensatory mitigation under 87-5-911;

(l) establishment of a habitat exchange to develop and market credits consistent with the purposes of this part. The habitat exchange must be authorized by the United States fish and wildlife service and must use the habitat quantification tool to quantify and calculate the value of credits and debits. Funds may be allocated to a habitat exchange:

(i) if the funds are used:

(A) to create and market credits in a manner consistent with the habitat quantification tool;

(B) for operational purposes, including monitoring the effectiveness of projects; or

(C) for costs associated with establishing the habitat exchange; and

(ii) if the habitat exchange reimburses the state for its proportionate share of proceeds generated from the sale of credits created with funds distributed pursuant to this part. Any proceeds received by the state pursuant to this subsection (1)(l)(ii) must be deposited in the sage grouse stewardship account established in 87-5-909 and must be used only to acquire additional credits or for operational purposes, including monitoring the long-term effectiveness of compensatory mitigation projects.

(m) other project proposals that the oversight team determines are consistent with the purposes of this part.

(2) Projects proposed by grant applicants may involve land owned by multiple landowners, including state and federal land, provided that the majority of the involved acres are privately held and that the proposed project benefits sage grouse across all of the land included in the project.

(3) Grants may be awarded only to organizations and agencies that hold and maintain conservation easements or leases or that are directly involved in sage grouse habitat mitigation and enhancement activities approved by the oversight team.

(4) Grants may not be used to supplement or replace the operating budget of an agency or organization except for budget items that directly relate to the purposes of the grant.

(5) If a grant is awarded to a proposed project that uses matching funds from a source that prohibits the generation of credits for compensatory mitigation, the oversight team, when possible, shall allocate the credits generated by the proposed project on a pro rata basis and make available for compensatory mitigation under 87-5-911 only those credits attributable to funds awarded pursuant to this section and any unrestricted matching funds.