II. INTRODUCTION 



This is a forestry summary report for the Clark Fork ot the Columbia 

 River Basin USDA cooperative study. The study area includes all of 

 Montana west of the Continental Divide except the drainage of the 

 Kootenai River and its tributaries (see map II-l). The study report was 

 approved by the State of Montana and by the Department of Agriculture in 

 1978 and serves the function of coordinating certain programs among the 

 agencies within the Department and with the State. The study report and 

 this summary meet requirements of the Water Resources Council in that the 

 programs recommended in this study are consistent with the programs in 

 the forthcoming Regional plan of the Pacific Northwest River Basins 

 Commission. 



The purpose of this summary is (1) to clarify and condense the Forestry 

 aspects presented in the overall study report, (2) to identify the role 

 of the forest in meeting National, Regional, and local objectives, (3) to 

 inform Federal, State, and local authorities of forestry problems, oppor- 

 tunities, and actions recommended in the study, and (4) to encourage 

 implementation of these recommendations. 



This cooperative study was conducted under the authority of section VI of 

 the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of the 83rd Congress 

 (Public Law 566) as amended and supplemented. By this act the Secretary 

 of Agriculture is authorized to cooperate with other Federal, State, and 

 local agencies in making investigations and surveys of watersheds and 

 rivers as a basis for development of coordinated programs. The Montana 

 Department of Natural Resources and Conservation requested this study and 

 participated in it. 



Department of Agriculture participation was through the Soil Conservation 

 Service; Economics, Statistics, and Cooperative Services; and the Forest 

 Service. This forestry summary was developed from the cooperative study 

 report by the Forest Service member on the USDA planning team. 



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