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No statewide law

Montana

Last checked October 29, 2026

By Peter Benes and Adrienne Kmetz, editors. Updated October 29, 2026.

Montana has no statewide outdoor lighting or dark-sky statute; the state's lighting-related entries in the DarkSky database concern roadside advertising and airport zoning. Cities act alone: Missoula's Ordinance 3341 (effective 2008) requires full cutoff fixtures in parking areas, and Whitefish's code 11-3-25 requires fully shielded fixtures, bans mercury vapor and urges warm-white light under 3,000 K.

Municipal codes

  • Missoula: Ordinance 3341, signed April 16, 2007 and effective January 1, 2008 (Municipal Code Chapter 8.64), requires full cutoff fixtures in parking areas, caps light at the property line (0.5 footcandle next to homes), dims large parking lots to 50 percent after closing, and sets no color temperature limit.
  • Whitefish: Municipal Code 11-3-25 requires full cutoff, fully shielded luminaires, allows unshielded fixtures only up to 400 lumens, bans mercury vapor, and calls for warm-white light below 3,000 K and for nonessential lighting to be reduced or off when a business is closed.
  • Great Falls: Code chapter 40 regulates outdoor lighting, including special standards for special applications.
  • Livingston: Code chapter 18, locally titled the "Night Sky Protection Act," regulates outdoor lighting fixtures citywide.
  • Kalispell: Municipal code sets outdoor lighting standards for commercial and residential fixtures.

Certified dark sky places in Montana

Bringing your own outdoor lighting up to the same standard? See Dark-Sky Friendly Outdoor Lighting.

Sources