Conservation districts are units of local government designed to help citizens conserve their soil, water, and other renewable natural resources. They were organized in the 1930s as a response to the “Dust Bowl” days. In 1937, President Roosevelt encouraged Montana to adopt legislation enabling the creation of local soil conservation districts. Today, there are almost 3000 conservation districts nationwide, and their conservation activities encompass a wide spectrum of natural resource issues. The state of Montana passed legislation creating its conservation districts in 1939 to provide for local control of natural resource management programs and activities. Montana’s 58 conservation districts cover all counties and include more than 70 municipalities included within district boundaries.
Montana’s CDs are political subdivisions of the state and are governed by a board of five to seven supervisors elected by local voters in a general election. This combination of officials representing diverse views has a relatively broad scope of authorities.
Because of their unique characteristics and proven track record, CDs have been entrusted by the state with mandated activities such as implementation of the 310 Law, water reservations, stream access portage routes, county planning board participation, and local Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) consultation. Also, CDs serve as the local point of contact for numerous federal programs. This is all in addition to the long-standing CD roles such as educating landowners about sound conservation practices, tree planting and organizing outdoor classroom educational activities for school children.
More information can be found at: https://macdnet.org/about-us/district-info/
Local funding for the operation and conservation activities of each district comes from mills levied on real property within the boundaries of the district.

The Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act of 1975: Montana Code Annotated (MCA) 75-7-1
Montana CD Law Book: Collective List of MCAs Applicable to CDs
Stream Permitting Guide for Supervisors: Stream Permitting Guidance
BCD Adopted Rules (310): BCD Adopted 310 Rules