Montana Supplement to the Wind-Bighorn-Clarks Fork River Basin Report: USDA Water and Related Land Resources Report

Excerpts from the report: This report presents data on water and related land resources in the Montana portion of the Wind-Bighorn-Clarks Fork River Basin (hereafter referred to as Basin). Basin area includes the Bighorn and Clarks Fork River drainages and all of the south-bank drainages of the Yellowstone River from and including the Little Bighorn and Tullock Creek on the east through the Stillwater River on the west. Most of the water inventoried in this study enters Montana from Wyoming in the Bighorn and Clarks Fork Rivers. Total area in the overall Basin is 18,167,993 acres, including 13,179,045 acres in Wyoming and 4,988,948 acres in Montana. The Basin area in Montana includes all of Carbon County, most of Big Horn County, and parts of Stillwater, Yellowstone, Sweet Grass, Park, and Treasure Counties. Ownership and administration of land includes 49.94 percent private non-Indian, 29.36 percent Indian Trust, 2.46 percent State of Montana, 0.02 percent Montana Fish and Game, 13.21 percent National Forest, 4.31 percent Bureau of Land Management, 0.22 percent Bureau of Reclamation, and 0.48 percent Other Federal. The purpose of this study is to outline a coordinated and orderly program for the conservation, development, utilization, and management of the water and related land resources of the Basin. Data presented here will be helpful in administration of the Yellowstone River Compact, development of the Montana State Water Plan, and assisting state and local agencies in developing optimum use of the Basin's natural resources. The report provides the U. S. Department of Agriculture with information it needs for resource development under various on-going programs and will be useful toward implementation of new USDA programs. Data for multiple use planning and resource management are included on outdoor recreation, conservation district programs, Conservation Operations, Great Plains Conservation, Watershed Investigation and Planning, general and detailed installation services for structural conservation measures, land treatment under Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service programs, Resource Conservation and Development project measures. National Forest management programs, state-federal forestry programs, and rural electrification projects.