Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 23 > Chapter 2 - Recreation

• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Board: means the state parks and recreation board established in 2-15-3406. See Montana Code 23-2-403
• Cave: means any geologically formed void or cavity beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge, including but not limited to natural subsurface water and drainage systems, whether or not a natural entrance is present. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• Cave life: means any life form that occurs in, uses, visits, or inhabits a cave. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• Certificate of number: means the certificate issued by the department of justice, an authorized agent, as defined in 61-1-101, or a county treasurer to the owner of a motorboat or sailboat, assigning the motorboat or sailboat an identifying number and containing other information as required by the department of justice. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Certificate of title: means the document issued by the department of justice as prima facie evidence of ownership. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Commission: means the fish and wildlife commission established in 2-15-3402. See Montana Code 23-2-403
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• dbA: means sound pressure level measured on the "A" weight scale in decibels. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the department of fish, wildlife, and parks provided for in 2-15-3401. See Montana Code 23-2-403
• Department: means the department of fish, wildlife, and parks of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Department: means the department of fish, wildlife, and parks of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Department: means a principal functional and administrative entity that:

  (a)is created by this chapter within the executive branch of state government;

  (b)is one of the 20 principal departments permitted under the constitution; and

  (c)includes its units. See Montana Code 2-15-102

• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Freestyle terrain: means terrain parks and terrain features, including but not limited to jumps, rails, fun boxes, half-pipes, quarter-pipes, and freestyle bump terrain, and any other constructed features. See Montana Code 23-2-702
• Gate: means a structure or device located to limit or prohibit access or entry to a cave. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• Identifying number: means the boat number set forth in the certificate of number and properly displayed on the motorboat or sailboat. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Inherent dangers and risks of skiing: means those dangers or conditions that are part of the sport of skiing, including:

  (a)changing weather conditions;

  (b)snow conditions as they exist or as they may change, including ice, hardpack, powder, packed powder, wind pack, corn snow, crust, slush, cut-up snow, and machine-made snow of any depth or accumulation, including but not limited to any depth or accumulation around or near trees or snowmaking equipment;

  (c)avalanches, except on open, machine-groomed ski trails;

  (d)collisions with natural surface or subsurface conditions, such as bare spots, forest growth, rocks, stumps, streambeds, cliffs, trees, and other natural objects;

  (e)collisions with lift towers, signs, posts, fences, enclosures, hydrants, water pipes, or other artificial structures and their components;

  (f)variations in steepness or terrain, whether natural or the result of slope design, snowmaking, or snow grooming operations, including but not limited to roads, freestyle terrain, ski jumps, catwalks, and other terrain modifications;

  (g)collisions with clearly visible or plainly marked equipment, including but not limited to lift equipment, snowmaking equipment, snow grooming equipment, trail maintenance equipment, and snowmobiles, whether or not the equipment is moving;

  (h)collisions with other skiers;

  (i)the failure of a skier to ski within that skier's ability;

  (j)skiing in a closed area or skiing outside the ski area boundary as designated on the ski area trail map; and

  (k)restricted visibility caused by snow, wind, fog, sun, or darkness. See Montana Code 23-2-702

• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lienholder: means a person holding a security interest. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Manufacturer: means a person engaged in the business of manufacturing or importing new and unused vessels or new and unused outboard motors for the purpose of sale or trade. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Material: means all or part of any archaeological, cultural, paleontological, biological, or historical item or artifact found in a cave, including but not limited to any petroglyph, pictograph, pottery, basketwork, fossil, human remains, or animal remains. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• Mechanical transport: means any contrivance for moving a person over land that has moving parts and provides a mechanical advantage to the user. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Motorboat: means a vessel, including a personal watercraft or pontoon, propelled by any machinery, motor, or engine of any description, whether or not the machinery, motor, or engine is the principal source of propulsion. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• New snowmobile: means a snowmobile that has not been previously sold to an owner. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• off-highway vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle used for recreation or cross-country travel on public lands, trails, easements, lakes, rivers, or streams. See Montana Code 23-2-801
• Operate: means to navigate or otherwise use a motorboat or a vessel. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Operator: means the person who navigates, drives, or is otherwise in immediate control of a motorboat or vessel. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Operator: includes each person who operates or is in actual physical control of the operation of a snowmobile. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• operator: means a person, firm, or corporation and its agents and employees having operational and administrative responsibility for ski slopes and trails and improvements. See Montana Code 23-2-702
• Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property in or title to a motorboat or vessel. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Owner: includes each person, other than a lienholder or person having a security interest in a snowmobile, that holds a certificate of title to a snowmobile and is entitled to the use or possession of the snowmobile. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Owner: means any person or public or private agency that has the right to possession of a cave. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Passenger: means any person who is being transported or conveyed by a passenger ropeway. See Montana Code 23-2-702
• Passenger ropeway: means a device used to transport passengers by means of an aerial tramway or lift, surface lift, surface conveyor, or surface tow. See Montana Code 23-2-702
• Peace officer: has the meaning as defined in 46-1-202. See Montana Code 1-1-207
• Person: means an individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association, or other entity. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Person: means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, and any other body or group of persons, regardless of the degree of formal organization. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Person: means an individual, partnership, firm, association, trust, corporation, or other legal entity. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Personal watercraft: means a vessel that uses an outboard motor or an inboard engine powering a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than by the conventional method of sitting or standing in the vessel. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Registration decal: means an adhesive sticker produced by the department of justice and issued by the department of justice, an authorized agent as defined in 61-1-101, or a county treasurer to the owner of a motorboat, sailboat, or personal watercraft as proof of payment of fees imposed on the motorboat, sailboat, or personal watercraft for the registration period indicated on the decal as recorded by the department of justice under 61-3-101. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Registration decal: means an adhesive sticker produced and issued by the department of justice, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer to the owner of a snowmobile as proof of payment of all fees imposed for the registration period indicated on the sticker as recorded by the department of justice under 61-3-101. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Roadway: means only those portions of a highway, road, or street improved, designed, or ordinarily used for travel or parking of motor vehicles. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Sailboat: means a vessel that uses a sail and wind as its primary source of propulsion. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Security interest: means an interest that is reserved or created by an agreement that secures payment or performance of an obligation and is valid against third parties generally. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Ski slopes and trails: means those areas designated by the ski area operator to be used by skiers for skiing. See Montana Code 23-2-702
• Skier: means a person who is using any ski area facility for the purpose of skiing, including but not limited to ski slopes and trails. See Montana Code 23-2-702
• Skiing: means any activity, including participation in or practice or training for competitions or special events, that involves sliding or jumping on snow or ice while using skis, a snowboard, or any other sliding device. See Montana Code 23-2-702
• Snowmobile: means a self-propelled vehicle of an overall width of 48 inches or less, excluding accessories, designed for travel on snow or ice, that may be steered by skis or runners and that is not otherwise registered or licensed under the laws of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Snowmobile area: means those areas designated as snowmobile trails or areas open to the operation of snowmobiles. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Snowmobiler: means any person operating or riding a snowmobile. See Montana Code 23-2-601
• Speleogen: means the surrounding natural earth or bedrock in which a cave is formed, including but not limited to clastic sediments, walls, floors, ceiling, and other related structural and geological features. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• Speleothem: means a natural mineral formation or deposit occurring in a cave, including but not limited to formations known as stalagmite, stalactite, helectite, shield, anthodite, gypsum flower and needle, angel's hair, soda straw, drapery, bacon, cave pearl, popcorn, rimstone dam, column, palette, and flowstone. See Montana Code 23-2-902
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Uniform state waterway marking system: means one of two categories:

  (a)a system of aids to navigation to supplement the federal system of marking in state waters;

  (b)a system of regulatory markers to warn a vessel operator of dangers or to provide general information and directions. See Montana Code 23-2-502

• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Usage: means a reasonable and lawful public custom concerning transactions of the same nature as those which are to be affected thereby, existing at the place where the obligation is to be performed, and either known to the parties or so well established, general, and uniform that the parties must be presumed to have acted with reference thereto. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Validation decal: means an adhesive sticker produced by the department and issued by the department or a county treasurer to the owner of a motorboat, sailboat, or personal watercraft verifying the identifying number assigned to the motorboat, sailboat, or personal watercraft and the name and address of the owner to meet requirements of the federal standard numbering system. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Vessel: means every description of watercraft, unless otherwise defined by the department, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Waters of this state: means any waters within the territorial limits of this state. See Montana Code 23-2-502
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203