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in the Upper Missouri, Yellowstone, Platte-Niobrara, and Kansas Subbasins. Irrigation is important to the economy of several of the States. While surface water has made the greatest contribution, ground water provides one-fifth of the total irrigation water supply applied to about 30 percent of the irrigated land. Water for irrigation has contributed not only to increases in the production of crops and livestock, but to the stability of the total agriculture and overall economy of the region. There are approximately 168 million acres, or 54 per- cent, of the Missouri Basin in grassland used for pasture . ~':.~. 'r :~h'_",,- ~ .~" 1 -.---"'" .\ ... ~.,~,,,~'~~.:,::.~.t -..~ .L, L.t ~. Irrigation In A Semi-Arid Region and range for grazing of domestic livestock. About 86 percent of the pasture and range is in private ownership. About 14 percent is in the national forests, national grasslands, and in administrative districts of the public domain. Permits or leases are held by the farmers and ranchers for grazing their livestock on the Federal lands. The grassland areas are uf major impurtance in the agri- cultural production and economy of the basin. In addi. tion, these grasslands provide habitat for wildlife and are of vital importance to the existence of many wildlife species. The grasslands also provide areas for hunting and recreation. 16 Vast Expanses of Grassland are Utilized by Livestock Forest and Woodland Forest and woodlands comprise over nine percent of the Missouri Basin. There are two major forest types in the basin separated by the Great Plains (figure 9). Fores.ts in the Lower Missouri Subbasin and adjacent tributaries east of the Great Plains are predominantly hardwood or broadleafwhile those in the mountains are predominantly softwood or coniferous. In the Lower Missouri Subbasin, woodlands cover one.fourth of the land area (table 5). They are almost all privately owned. Periods of poor markets for forest products have resulted iil an accumulation of saw- timber stands. Half of the growing stock volume is in sawtimber trees, but the stands contain many cull trees. Sawtimber volume in the subbasin is mostly oak. The 22 million acres of forest in the western portion of the Missouri, Basin comprise 73 percent of all its forest lands. Fifteen million acres of this forest are com- mercially important for timber production. A large proportion of the forest lands is federally owned. Elevation has an iinpoitant beaii..lig on the distribution of forests and their species composition. In the western portion of the basin, trees seldom grow at less than 4,000 feet above sea level, except along river bottoms. A big proportion of the forests at lower elevations, from 4,000 to 6,000 feet, consists of iow quality stands of