Missoula County officials approved a unified event permit format and fee schedule to govern Marshall Mountain and other county park properties at a county meeting; the permit formalizes three categories of use and a tiered fee approach intended to make permitting consistent and flexible across county sites.

The permit and fee structure aims to standardize insurance requirements, definitions of commercial use and fee tiers across county property, while allowing reductions for educational or free events and add-on charges for exclusive use or higher service needs such as snow removal or extra county staff. County staff said the format closely follows the city's event-permit structure for Marshall Mountain and conservation lands.

County staff member Nick Santos, who presented the proposal, said the county worked with the Land Cultural Recreation division to align procedures across sites and make the permit process easier for residents. "We as a Parks and Trails System along with Marshall Mountain work together to create an event permit format and procedural guidelines that would allow event permitting to happen under the same processes for Marshall Mountain as well as other park sites," Santos said.

Santos described three broad permit categories: one-time special public events (advertised to the public), seasonal recurring or "outfitter/educational" permits for multi-date series (for example, a recurring bike series) and a youth sports permit covering two seasonal periods, with a flat fee for field rentals. He said some sites will remain subject to existing maintenance-management agreements and noted the county will keep fees flexible so smaller events that do not prevent general public access pay less than events that require exclusive use.

Santos also explained that the county will allow fee reductions when an event is educational and does not charge attendees, and that additional fees may be applied for exclusive use, higher cleanup or service requirements, or when county staff resources are required. He said the draft permit drew on the city's existing structure and that the full permit documents are in the county SharePoint and will be made publicly accessible.

During discussion board members praised the work and said they would revisit implementation and adjust the structure over time. One board member said, "you guys did a ton of work" and noted the county should monitor the permitting approach and make changes if "things on the ground change." A motion to approve the permit and fee structure was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote; the meeting record does not include a roll-call tally.

County staff said they plan annual check-ins on the permit process to evaluate how well the structure works and make adjustments as needed. The county indicated the finalized procedures and fee schedule will be published for public access.