Montana Drone Laws 2026: The Complete Pilot's Guide

A lot of state-by-state roundups will tell you Montana barely regulates drones at all — a big, empty state where you can launch from anywhere and chase the mountains. That picture is out of date. In 2025 Montana did something only a handful of states have done: it made flying a drone low over someone else's land a crime. Under a new statute, knowingly flying a drone 200 feet or lower over another person's property or residence, without their permission, is criminal trespass, and a conviction comes with a flat $500 fine. The law has already jumped from the statute book into one of Montana's loudest public-land fights — the corner-crossing debate over how hunters reach checkerboarded public sections — where the state's Lt. Governor cited it to argue that landowners own a 200-foot column of airspace above their ground.

So Montana is not a no-rules state. It is a state with a real, modern stack of drone rules: the 2025 trespass law, one of the country's earliest drone-surveillance warrant statutes, a criminal penalty for getting in the way of wildfire aircraft, restrictions on using a drone around game, a permit rule for state parks, and the outright drone bans at Glacier and Yellowstone. A wheat scout over the Golden Triangle, a powerline inspection in eastern Montana, a real-estate fly-around in Bozeman, a sunset clip near Flathead Lake, and a Sunday hobby flight in a Billings backyard all sit inside the same three layers of law. This guide walks through each one with citations to the Montana Code Annotated, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and the FAA, so a Montana flight stays legal from pre-takeoff to landing.

What governs drone flight in Montana?

Three layers, in this order:

The rest of this article works through each layer in that order.

Federal baseline: what applies everywhere

Before any Montana rule kicks in, you are bound by FAA rules. Here is the short version.

• Part 107Covers commercial operation. If you fly for anything that benefits a business — real-estate listings, ranch and crop imagery, roof and tower inspections, paid video — you need the FAA Remote Pilot Certificate.
• TRUSTThe Recreational UAS Safety Test covers non-commercial flight. Free, online, and you cannot fail it. Carry the completion certificate when you fly. No Montana drone license exists on top of it.
• FAA registrationFive dollars, every drone heavier than 0.55 lb (250 g). The registration number has to be visible on the aircraft.
• Remote IDMandatory since March 16, 2024 — Standard Remote ID, a broadcast module, or operation inside a FRIA.
• Altitude cap400 ft AGL for most flights.
• Visual Line of SightDaylight or civil twilight unless waivered.
• Controlled airspaceClass C (BIL) and Class D (MSO, BZN, GTF, HLN, FCA) require LAANC authorization before launch.

Montana adds a wrinkle the FAA does not: summer wildfire TFRs. The state burns a lot of acreage, and temporary flight restrictions pop up fast around active fires. Check before every flight. Everything that follows is what Montana layers on top.

Montana state-level drone laws

The 2025 drone-trespass law: MCA 45-6-210

This is the newest and most important change for everyday pilots. Enacted in 2025, MCA 45-6-210 creates the offense of criminal trespass by unmanned aerial vehicle. You commit it if you knowingly fly a drone 200 feet or lower over another person's property or residence without the owner's or resident's authorization. A conviction carries a $500 fine.

The statute has five carve-outs, and they matter. It does not apply to government or public-safety operations (firefighting, law enforcement, emergency response, by an agency or its contractor); to a peace officer acting under the drone-surveillance statute below; to flight within an easement with the easement owner's permission; to a utility or broadband provider inspecting property or infrastructure, including cell towers and wireless equipment; or to an operator who holds an active FAA license and is flying for legitimate business purposes consistent with FAA rules. That last exception is the one commercial pilots should read twice: a Part 107 operator doing real, FAA-compliant commercial work is carved out of the trespass crime. The law is aimed at low, lingering, nonconsensual overflight of someone's home or land — not lawful commercial flight, and not high overflight.

One caveat worth flagging. The 200-foot trigger has become a flashpoint in Montana's corner-crossing fight, with state officials citing it to argue landowners control a 200-foot airspace column. Treat the statute itself as settled law. Treat the broader question of exactly how high private-property rights extend as unsettled and actively litigated.

The drone-surveillance warrant law: MCA 46-5-109

If you have read other states' guides, you may have seen claims that a state requires a warrant before police use a drone. In most states that "law" turns out to be a bill that never passed. In Montana it is real. Under MCA 46-5-109, enacted in 2013 and amended in 2019, information gathered by a drone is not admissible in any Montana prosecution or proceeding unless it was obtained under a search warrant, under a judicially recognized exception to the warrant requirement, or while investigating a motor-vehicle crash scene on a public roadway. The same information also cannot be used to build the probable cause for a warrant unless it came from one of those sources. Satellites are expressly excluded from the definition. This statute governs how the government can use drone-gathered evidence; it does not regulate your ordinary hobby or commercial flying. It is one of the earliest laws of its kind in the country, and the new trespass statute cross-references it when it carves out peace officers.

Wildfire: do not fly near firefighting aircraft (MCA 76-13-214)

In a fire-prone state, this is one of the most consequential rules to know. MCA 76-13-214 makes it illegal to obstruct, impede, or interfere with lawful aerial wildfire suppression by any means, and the statute names unmanned aircraft systems specifically. A violation is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,500, and the penalty does not limit a separate claim for the suppression costs your interference caused. A drone in the airspace forces firefighting aircraft to ground until it clears, which can cost a containment line — a wind-driven 2022 fire on Mount Helena reportedly grounded air operations for about ten minutes because of an unauthorized drone. When you see smoke, assume a temporary flight restriction is in place and keep your drone on the ground. Government and public-safety drone operations are exempt.

Hunting and wildlife: MCA 87-6-208

Montana's "unlawful use of aircraft" statute applies to drones, because the fish-and-wildlife code defines aircraft to include unmanned ones. You cannot use a drone to spot or locate a game animal for hunting within 24 hours of using the aircraft; to concentrate, pursue, drive, rally, or stir up game; to intentionally interfere with someone's hunt by disturbing animal behavior; or to spot an animal and radio its location to a hunter while flying or within 24 hours after. The Fish and Wildlife Commission, by a December 2018 vote, has layered on rules that also bar using a drone to film a hunt, to scout on the same day you hunt, or to move animals; scouting on a non-hunting day is allowed. Penalties run from $300 to $1,000 for most violations and climb to $500 to $2,000 with a mandatory 30-month license forfeiture for using an aircraft to take big game like elk, deer, moose, or bear. There are narrow exceptions for emergencies, search and rescue, predator control by the Department of Livestock, and supporting an agricultural operation.

Police and weaponized drones

Two small points round out the state picture. Beyond the warrant law above, Montana bars local law enforcement from acquiring armored or weaponized drones through military-surplus programs (MCA 7-32-401). And while the state does not broadly preempt local drone rules, it carves out one subject for itself: a local government may not pass an ordinance governing the private use of a drone in relation to a wildfire (MCA 7-1-111). Wildfire drone rules are a statewide matter.

Commercial versus recreational operation

Montana does not require a state-level drone license, registration, or business permit beyond what the FAA already requires. Commercial operators need FAA registration and Part 107. Recreational operators need FAA registration and TRUST. Ordinary Montana business and tax rules apply to a commercial drone operator like any other business. And as noted above, the new trespass statute specifically exempts FAA-licensed operators flying for legitimate business purposes. The one place state paperwork enters is land access — a permit for a state park, and permission for city park property, covered below.

Penalties at a glance

Local ordinances to watch in Montana

Montana has no broad state law preempting local drone rules (except for wildfire), but in practice very few Montana cities have standalone civilian drone ordinances. Most local touchpoints are park-department rules governing takeoff and landing on city property, plus the airspace overlay, which stays federal. Always check the local code and the airspace before flying somewhere new.

Where to fly legally in Montana

Looking for places to fly that do not require chasing a permit?

• Private property with the owner's permission — and remember the 200-foot trespass rule applies over your neighbors, not just over you.
• AMA-recognized club fields listed at modelaircraft.org. Membership includes insurance and a vetted list of fields.
• FAA-Recognized Identification Areas (FRIAs), updated at faa.gov.
• National forest and BLM land, which is generally more permissive than the national parks — though designated Wilderness areas like the Bob Marshall and Absaroka-Beartooth prohibit motorized equipment, and fire closures and TFRs still apply. Check the specific unit.
• The B4UFLY app before every flight. It surfaces controlled airspace, active TFRs (including the summer wildfire restrictions), and security exclusions in real time.

Two reminders that trip people up. Montana's state parks (FWP) need a permit or a designated area, so they are not on the free-fly list. And the National Park Service units — Glacier National Park, the Montana portion of Yellowstone, Little Bighorn Battlefield, and the rest — are off the list entirely.

Who enforces drone laws in Montana?

Federal rules are enforced by the FAA, with civil-penalty ceilings that can reach five figures for serious safety or TFR violations, including wildfire-TFR busts. State charges under the trespass, wildfire, and hunting statutes are filed by county attorneys after investigation by local police, county sheriffs, or the Montana Highway Patrol, with Fish, Wildlife & Parks game wardens enforcing the hunting and wildlife rules. State-park staff enforce the park drone rule, and the drone-surveillance statute is enforced through the courts when the government tries to use drone-gathered evidence. National Park Service rangers enforce the federal drone ban at Glacier, Yellowstone, and the other Montana NPS units, with citations filed in federal court. Civil liability for a privacy intrusion or property damage can run alongside any criminal exposure.

How to fly legally in Montana — quick checklist

Commercial drone work in Montana

Montana's commercial drone demand runs across a big, resource-driven economy. Agriculture and ranching come first — crop and rangeland scouting, livestock and fence monitoring, and spray support across the Golden Triangle wheat country and the eastern ranchlands. Energy and utilities are close behind: oil and gas in the east, wind farms, and transmission and distribution inspection, which is exactly why the legislature wrote utilities into the trespass-law carve-outs. Forestry and wildfire mapping, open-pit and reclamation surveying for mining, topographic survey and construction monitoring for engineering firms, and a growing set of county sheriff and search-and-rescue programs round it out. Across a state this large and rugged, aerial coverage saves time and risk, and the entry credential for nearly all of that work is the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.

How USI helps you fly legally

Knowing the rules is half the work. The other half is the credential — and the path looks different depending on who you are. Three audiences, three doors.

Montana drone law FAQ