U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Lewistown Field Office
Lewistown Field Office
| Contacts: | Chad Krause 406-538-1908 | |||
BLM Posts Upper Missouri River Riparian Assessment on Webpage
The results of a riparian assessment project on the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River have been posted on the Bureau of Land Management’s webpage at http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/lewistown_field_office.html.
Riparian areas are those green areas associated with lakes, reservoirs and streams. They are characterized by water tables at or near the soil surface and by vegetation requiring high water tables. Riparian areas are utilized by many species of wildlife and livestock and are highly sought out by recreationists for the shade and comfort they provide. Riparian areas comprise less than 1 percent of the land in the American West.
To review the riparian information on this webpage, readers should find the In the Spotlight section; go to the Upper Missouri River Assessment posting; click on the Dear Reader letter; and then through the desired sections.
The field work for this assessment was completed in July of 2010, by an interdisciplinary team in collaboration with the National Riparian Service Team.
To characterize the condition of the Upper Missouri, the river was divided into six different reaches based upon the riparian-wetland potential of each reach.
The information on the webpage contains a map showing the six different river reaches to help the reader locate the segment or segments that interest him or her most. The posting then provides an individual assessment for each of the six river reaches.
Each individual reach assessment can be read as a stand-alone document. However, the reader will find there are shared similarities among all of these reaches, and some of the potential descriptions and assessment results are similar for each reach.
These assessments focus on what drives or influences a particular riparian-wetland area and what significant issues are affecting that area. Think of these assessment results as “what was found during the field work in 2010.”
The interdisciplinary team is working diligently on a report to provide the context for “what it all means.” How the Upper Missouri assessment relates to future monitoring and management will also be discussed in this report, which will also be available to the public on the internet when completed.
If you have questions about the riparian assessment information, please contact Chad Krause at 406-538-1908.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Lewistown Field Office 920 NE Main Lewistown, MT 5959457