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<br />-227- <br /> <br /> <br />o () 1 (r~~ 5 <br /> <br />to 94 degrees. The freeze-free period is approximately 180 days <br />throughout the subbasin. <br /> <br />Seven percent of the land acreage is in public domain, with <br />much of the wildlife found on private land. Extensive <br />agricultural ecosystems have replaced much of the native forest <br />and prairie ecosystems. Wildlife habitat is of high quality <br />where woodlands and a mixture of cropland provide favorable <br />interspersion I all provide some of the best tree squirrel, <br />cottontail, quail, and wild turkey hunting in the basin. <br /> <br />Considerable upland areas of eastern deciduous forest, <br />largely oak, and hickory, still exist in the Ozark Plateau. Less <br />extensive acreages occur in parts of the Grand, Osage, Missouri, <br />and Chariton River Basins. Flood plain forests are found on <br />bottomlands of the major streams and rivers. Forest land <br />provides key habitat for deer, squirrel, quail, wild turkey, <br />cottontail, raccoon and fox, and supports a few relict <br />populations of ruffed grouse and a wide diversity of flora and <br />fauna. Clearing of such forest land appears to be accelerating, <br />with 1.5 million acres lost in the past decade. <br /> <br />Much of the tal~ grass prairie has been lost to cropland. <br />Isolated acreages do still exist on private lands, mostly in the <br />western portion of the subbasin. Three thousand acres have been <br />acquired recently by State and private entities as wildlife <br />habitat supporting populations of the northern greater prairie <br />chicken, upland plover, blacktailed and whitetailed jackrabbits, <br />and a host of other mammals, birds, and reptiles. The small <br />white lady slipper, a plant once cOlllllKJn to most prairies in the <br />subbasin, is an endangered species. <br /> <br />Other specialized ecosystems, including caves, cliffs, and <br />bluffs, support a variety of flora and fauna rare or unique to <br />the Missouri River Basin. Included are the endangered Indiana <br />and gray bats and possibly the southern bald eagle. <br /> <br />Aquatic resources are diverse and often of high quality, <br />although quantity is limited. These include natural and <br />channelized streams, multipurpose reservoirs, spring fed streams, <br />oxbow lakes, small watershed reservoirs, fishing lakes, farm <br />ponds, and various spring seeps and marshes. <br /> <br />Fishery resources of national importance exist in several <br />waters including most of the Gasconade River Basin and certain <br />portions of streams and reservoirs in the Osage River Basin. The <br />