timber company lands; and Bureau of Indian Affairs trust and tribal lands belonging to the Blackfeet 

 Indian Reservation and Flathead Indian Reservation. 



Low-elevation river valleys (below 6,000 ft.) are primarily situated on privately owned or tribal lands 

 with a small proportion located in state (DNRC, FWP) and federal (BLM, USPS, and U.S. National 

 Wildlife Refuge) public ownership. East of the divide, by far the largest amount of low-elevation land 

 lies on privately owned ranches and farms while corporate timber lands and agriculture predominate 

 west of the divide. Small, medium and large-sized communities also occupy several thousand acres of 

 low-elevation river-valley habitat. 



Special Management Areas 



Several federal and state special management areas are located in the 17-county area. In large part, these 

 areas are protected from human development and provide long-term habitat for a variety of wildlife 

 species, including grizzly bears. 



Special Management Areas include Glacier National Park which covers 1,014,000 acres. Eight National 

 Wilderness Areas lie within mountain ranges in the 17-county area: Bob Marshall Wilderness (1,009,356 

 acres), in the Flathead, and Lewis and Clark National Forests; Great Bear Wilderness (286,700 acres) and 

 Mission Mountains Wilderness (73,877 acres) in the Flathead National Forest; Scapegoat Wilderness 

 (239,936 acres), in the Helena, Lewis and Clark, and Lolo National Forests; Cabinet Mountains Wilderness 

 (94,272 acres) in the Kootenai National Forest; Rattlesnake Wilderness (32,976 acres) and Welcome Creek 

 Wilderness (28,135 acres) in the Lolo National Forest; and Gates of the Mountains Wilderness (28,562 

 acres) in the Helena National Forest. Approximately half of the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness (158,615 

 acres) in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and a significant portion of the Selway-Bitterroot 

 Wilderness (1,089,017 acres) in the Lolo and Bitterroot National Forests occur in this 17-county area as 

 well. National Forest Wilderness Areas have the greatest restrictions on human use and development 

 resulting in the least disturbed habitats available and are important in ensuring long-term grizzly bear 

 survival. 



Other special management areas include the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness (91,778 acres) in the 

 Flathead Indian Reservation, the National Bison Range Complex (41,000 acres) in Lake and Flathead 

 counties, the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge (2,800 acres) in Ravalli County, and 14 FWP Wildlife 

 Management Areas (approximately 240,000 acres) in Lincoln, Sanders, Lake, Powell, Missoula, Ravalli, 

 Deer Lodge, Silver Bow, Teton, Lewis and Clark, Cascade, and Broadwater counties. 



Agricultural Industry 



The 17-county area supports a large agricultural economy. In 2002, there were 8,857 farms and ranches in 

 the 17-county area. By far the most common activities of these farms and ranches are raising beef cattle, 

 growing forage (hay) for cattle, and growing grain crops (wheat, oats, barley). Sheep, hog, and dairy 

 cattle are also raised in smaller numbers on ranches and farms in western and northwestern Montana. 

 Beef cattle and sheep are grazed on privately owned grassland and on publicly owned (USPS, BLM, 

 DNRC) grazing allotments. Some of these allotments occur in higher elevation habitats occupied by 

 grizzly bears. Livestock depredation by grizzly bears is an issue that will continue to affect grizzly bear 

 numbers, management and distribution. 



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