77-1-901. Declaration of policy and purpose. (1) Pursuant to Article X of the Montana constitution, the legislature declares that it is the policy of the state that state trust land is to be treated as a sacred trust and is subject to fiduciary principles in its management. It is the intent of the legislature that state trust land be managed in the best financial interest of current and future individual beneficiaries for whom this land is managed and held.

(2) A purpose of this chapter is to implement Article X of the Montana constitution. To fulfill its commitment to the management of state trust land in the best long-term financial interests of the beneficiaries, the Montana legislature finds that the state can prudently maximize the long-term revenue accruing to the beneficiaries by issuing commercial leases on land where the chief value exists in its use for commercial purposes.