WSP06216

• File Number: 8407.500
• Description: Platte River Basin - River Basin General Publications - Missouri River
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 5/1/1980
• Author: MRBC
• Title: Missouri River Basin Water Resources Management Plan - Part I - Chapters I-VI
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Many species which survived the glaciers were forced to migrate or were

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subsequently exposed to disturbances caused by man. As a result, some became

extinct, others lost most of their habitat.

Big game animals such as moose, elk, deer, Rocky Mountain goats, big horn

sheep, and grizzly and black bears, continue to inhabit the basin. Also, a

nearly extinct species, the native bison, has made a comeback through

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development and management of herds on private and public lands.
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Small game are in abundant supply in most basin States, although the

white-tailed jackrabbit is now nearly extinct in Missouri, Kansas, and parts of

Nebraska. Upland game birds tend to be scarce, with the exception of mountain

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grouse in mountainous western regions and sharptail and sage grouse in portions

of Montana, wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The northern greater prairie

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chicken is persisting in sizable numbers in a few prairie regions, particularly

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in Kansas, but is considered a threatened species in several other States.

Ring-necked pheasants, a valuable hunting resource, has suffered severe

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population declines in several States. Quail surpluses are beginning to

disappear as habitat declines over Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and portions of

Missouri. Of the upland game birds, only wild turkey populations have

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increased during the past decade. Further enhancement is limited, however,

because of lack of suitable woodland habitat.

Aquatic Biological Resources
The natural lakes and streams of the basin contain mostly plant and animal

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life common to other major river basins in North America. In the Missouri

River, an original array of native fish species lives in free-flowing reaches.

However, several species, the sturgeon, the paddlefish, and several forage

types, have become rare, threatened, or endangered. Others such as the sauger

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