A road access dispute saw three men charged with trespassing. They say they’re innocent.

Two former Republican legislators charged with criminal trespass in Big Horn County Justice Court said this week Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks relied on inaccurate information when it issued them misdemeanor citations.

Last month, former Republican lawmakers Jason Priest and Scott Boulanger, as well as Dustin Temple, a former director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, pleaded not guilty to criminal trespass and failure to obtain permission from a property owner before attempting to hunt.

The dispute, which included two related incidents, centers on a road on the Crow Indian Reservation and a question about whether it is a tribal or private roadway.

Priest told the Daily Montanan an FWP investigation misidentified the road as private based on incorrect information from Big Horn County. A spokesperson for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the agency doesn’t generally comment on ongoing cases or investigations.

Big Horn County did not respond to questions from the Daily Montanan.

Priest said Bureau of Indian Affairs documents confirm the road is tribally owned, and as such, the charges are invalid. Priest provided BIA documentation that verifies the road is owned by the Crow Tribe and said he had a valid permit to access it, also provided to the Daily Montanan.

“I’m a believer in private property rights and wilderness access,” Priest said in an interview Wednesday. “Those things are not incompatible.” 

Boulanger, in an interview, also said all three men had valid tribal permits the two times they were on the road. They were also using a public lands mapping application, OnX, which showed they were on a valid public road on their cell phones.

Boulanger and Temple initially accessed the road, which has two names — South Hay Coulee Road and BIA Route 750, Campbell Road — on Nov. 11, 2025, according to a criminal complaint. The court record also states Temple had previously been on the road. 

Boulanger and Temple were confronted while driving on the road and told they were on private property and trespassing by an employee of Monette Farms, which owns the land, according to court documents. Boulanger described the incident with the farm employee as “concerning,” saying the man was screaming and yelling at the former legislator while he was in his truck. 

Boulanger also said they were not planning to hunt on Monette Farms property — they were seeking access to tribal land, which they had valid permits to access, only reachable by the disputed road through Monette Farms.

“We play by the rules,” Boulanger said. 

The court record, and comments made by both Boulanger and Priest to the Daily Montanan, indicate the men never exited their truck on Monette Farms property. Boulanger added their sole intention was to find good bird hunting areas on land that they were legally allowed to be on.

Boulanger later accessed the road again, this time with Priest, on Nov. 23, 2025. They had bird dogs with them, but did not leave their truck, and said they thought they were on a tribal road when they were on it, the complaint said. Boulanger is a former member of the state Board of Outfitters and Guides.

“I held a valid trespass license issued by the Crow Tribe,” Priest wrote in an email to the Daily Montanan. “This was totally absent from the affidavit. I was traveling a tribal road to a lawful destination. It was not aimless entry as the complaint alleges, which it must be under Montana law for the complaint to be valid.”

Photographs of their vehicle were taken both times, the complaint said, and they were then charged this summer. On Aug. 31, 2026, the three men entered not-guilty pleas, according to Big Horn County Justice Court.

The case is not being prosecuted by Big Horn County Attorney Jeanne Torske, but instead by Michael Gee, with Helena law firm Morrison Sherwood Wilson & Deola, on behalf of the county. Gee said he could not comment on the case to the Daily Montanan, writing in an email “the rules prohibit me from commenting.”

Torske did not respond to questions, including if she recused herself from the case or why Big Horn County was contracting out legal work. The court documents state a game warden reached out to Big Horn County for a determination on the status of the road, and also show that the county responded the road was private.

For a fee, non-tribal members can access tribal lands to hunt or to recreate.

Lincoln Begay, a Transportation Development Specialist with the BIA, wrote in an email to a lawyer representing Priest the road was owned by the Crow Tribe. Federal law dictates roads listed on the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (meaning they are tribally owned) must be “must be open and available for public use.”

Premier Land Company, which manages Monette Farms, the owner of the land in dispute, did not respond to a request for comment. The Monette Farms land is currently for sale by Premier Land Company at a price of $96 million, one of more than 40 Montana properties the company currently has listed.

Priest is charged with criminal trespass and failure to obtain landowner permission. Temple is charged with the same two counts. Boulanger has four counts — two criminal trespass charges and two failures to obtain landowner permission.