Montana State Park Camping Discount for Veterans

Section 23-1-105(2) requires that overnight camping fees set by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks be discounted 50 percent for a campsite rented by a Montana resident who is 62 or older, or certified as disabled under department rules, or "a veteran of the armed forces". The statutory gate is thin in a way that favours the veteran. There is no disability rating, no wartime service requirement and no discharge characterisation written into subsection (2)(c). What the section does require is proof carried while camping at the discounted rate, and it names three acceptable documents: a DD Form 214, a VA identification card, or a Montana driver's licence indicating veteran status. That last one is the reason to add the veteran designation to a licence. Montana residency, defined by reference to 87-2-102, is required. A visiting veteran does not get it. What the discount does not cover is the electrical fee at a powered site. Fish, Wildlife and Parks: "Montana residents with veteran's status receive a discount of 50% off camping fees (does not apply to electrical fees)." Its draft public use fee schedule of June 24, 2026 shows the effect: an electrical hookup site at $32 for a resident ($24 plus the $8 electric fee) is $20 for a resident veteran ($12 plus $8); the schedule was out for comment, so check the current rate before booking. Day use is a different thing and is already close to free. Section 23-1-105(6) provides that a person who pays the state park motor vehicle registration fee under 61-3-321(19)(a) may not be charged a day-use fee for access to state parks. That is most Montana vehicle owners, veteran or not, so a veteran arriving for the day in a Montana-registered vehicle is not paying anyway; the benefit in this entry is specifically about overnight camping. The 50 percent discount does not stack with the 62-and-over discount in the same subsection. They are alternative routes to the same reduction.