The popular Missouri River Headwaters State Park at the 

 confluence of the Madison, Gallatin, and Jefferson rivers protects 

 a classic example of dense and diverse riparian habitat. 

 Originally acquired for recreational opportunities, this 505-acre 

 tract provides prime river bottom habitat for wintering eagles, 

 beaver, river otter, waterfowl, Canada goose, white-tailed deer, 

 and occasional moose. This intensely braided confluence area 

 earned the maximum number of habitat points possible in the 

 assessment process. 



Recreation 



The three Missouri headwaters rivers offer some of the best 

 recreation in the state, and Montana's best is often the nation's 

 best. The rivers in this region have a rich and varied history 

 that adds greatly to their recreational value. 



The Montana Rivers Study inventoried the recreational 

 attributes and values of 91 river segments in this drainage -- 

 nearly 1,100 miles of river or about nine percent of the 12,528 

 miles studied statewide. Managers and river users rated 20 percent 

 of the drainage's river miles as Class I (Outstanding), 30 percent 

 as Class II (Substantial), 32 percent as Class III (Moderate) and 

 only two percent as Class IV (Limited) (Table 38). 



The drainage had 17 percent of the Outstanding and 13 percent 

 of the Substantial river miles in the state--and only one percent 

 of the Limited value river mileage. Twenty-five percent of the 

 state's Unknown value class rivers were in these drainages, 

 reflecting the need for more inventory work to better define 

 recreational values. 



High recreational use was the most common reason for assigning 

 a resource value, comprising 20 percent of the reasons listed, 

 followed by scenic quality and fishing (10 percent each). Access 

 to wilderness, good trail systems, and hunting opportunities were 

 each listed several times as contributing to recreational value. 

 Reasons for limited values included the presence of logging and 

 clear cuts, poor access or low recreational use. 



Recreation managers rated use levels as heavy on 40 percent of 

 the river miles and as low on just one percent. These drainages 

 contained 18 percent of the state's heavily used rivers and just 

 five percent of the low use level segments. 



Scenic quality was Substantial to Outstanding on 70 percent of 

 these drainages river miles, pointing to another key component of 

 recreational value. The drainage contained 36 percent of the 

 state's river miles with high scenic quality. 



Fifty-two percent of the region's river miles provide 

 opportunities for semi-primitive or primitive recreation 



95 



