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<br />l;.J r,!. 1
<br />
<br />Energy fuels presently constitute the largest and most
<br />valuable share of all non-renewable resources produced in the
<br />Basin. Collectively, the 10 Basin States have more than 450
<br />billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, or about 55 percent of
<br />the Nation's total. The national importance of the Basin's re-
<br />serves is evidenced by recent dramatic increases in coal and
<br />lignite production. In the seven years from 1965 to 1971, the
<br />Basin's coal production, as a percentage of the national ton-
<br />nage, grew only slightly from 3 to 4 percent. For the period
<br />1971 to 1973, however. the Basin's contribution to total na-
<br />tional production increased from 4 percent to almost 8 percent.
<br />Except for Nebraska and the Minnesota portion of the Basin, all
<br />Basin States contain substantial coal reserves that will become
<br />of increasing national importance in the future.
<br />
<br />The Missouri Basin is also an important source of crude
<br />petroleum, natural gas, and uranium. Although total petroleum
<br />output declined from 1971 levels, Basin production in 1973 still
<br />accounted for 6.5 to 7.0 percent of the U.S. total. While the
<br />future outlook for crude oil, oil shale, natural gas, syn- gas, and
<br />uranium production is uncertain, new exploration and recovery
<br />efforts are taking place.
<br />
<br />Manufacturing activities in the Missouri Basin are varied,
<br />but to a large degree reflect the economic predominance of
<br />agriculture within the Basin. Food processing and the produc-
<br />tion of agriculture machinery contripute substantially to basin-
<br />wide manufacturing earnings and employment. Industrial com-
<br />position projections indicate, however, that a future decline in
<br />the relative economic importance of these types of activities is
<br />likely to occur. Other important types of manufacturin9 include
<br />electronics, automobile assembly, light industrial activity,
<br />paper and lumber production, and chemical and petroleum
<br />production. At present, most industrial activities are located in
<br />the southern subbasins.
<br />
<br />Opportunities to participate in diverse forms of outdoor
<br />recreation activities are numerous throughout the entire Basin.
<br />In certain subbasins, including the Upper Missouri, Yel-
<br />lowstone, and in the Western portion of the Platte-Niobrara
<br />subbasin, recreation and tourism are basic to the overall
<br />economy, with recreational activities serving as the primary
<br />industry for some local areas.
<br />
<br />LAND USE
<br />
<br />With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 the entire Missouri
<br />River Basin became the property of the U.S. Government. Al-
<br />though substantial land holdings are refained today as Federal
<br />pu~lic domain, more than 86 percent of the Basin's lands is in
<br />private, Indian, State, and county ownership. Large Federal
<br />tracts are managed by the Forest Service (19.4 million acres),
<br />Bureau of Land Management (18.5 million acres), National
<br />Park Service (2.3 million acres), Corps of Engineers (2.2 million
<br />acres), the Bureau of Reclamation (1.0 million acres); and les-
<br />ser acreages (1.4 million acres) managed by the military, Fish
<br />and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Agricultural
<br />Research Service.
<br />
<br />
<br />Nebraslca Nat/onal Forest at Halsey
<br />
<br />The Basin's private lands are owned by thousands of
<br />individuals, corporations, and other entities. Also, about 12 mil-
<br />lion acres, or 4 percent, of the nearly 284 million acres of pri-
<br />vate lands are Indian lands. Title to this land is held in trust by
<br />the U.S. Government, but it is private land owned either by
<br />individual native Americans or Indian tribes.
<br />
<br />Based upon estimafes made for the U.S. Water Re-
<br />sources Council's 1975 National Water Assessment, approxi-
<br />mately 298 million acres or 92 percent of all land in the Mis-
<br />souri Basin, are used for agricultural purposes. More than half
<br />of the agricultural lands is utilized for pasture and rangeland.
<br />Forest and woodlands occupy another 26.3 million acres.
<br />Forest and woodland and pasture and range are expected to
<br />decline slightly during the next quarter century, contributing to a
<br />moderate overall decline in total agricultural lands.
<br />
<br />Dryland farming is the second largest type of agricultural
<br />land use in the Basin, exceeded only by pasture and range-
<br />lands. These non-irrigated croplands are projected to increase
<br />over the next 25 years by some 2 percent from their current
<br />level of nearly 90 million acres, while pasture and rangeland
<br />acreage may decline substantially.
<br />
<br />Irrigated cropland, estimated at 11.4 million acres in
<br />1975, constitutes about 4 percent of the present agricuitural
<br />total. Irrigation is projected to be applied to an additional 2.8
<br />million acres by 1985 and to 5.9 million acres by 2000, cover-
<br />ing more than 17 million acres by the year 2000.
<br />
<br />The Basin's urban and transportation lands are
<br />forecasted to grow from the present 7.4 million acres by 10
<br />percent in 1985 and 23 percent in the year 2000.
<br />
<br />Estimates of Missouri Basin land and water acreage for
<br />1975, 1985, and 2000 are summarized in Table 2.
<br />
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