describes the Milk: "Although not a classical beauty, the Milk 

 River contains some of the least explored water in Montana. At 

 first glance, the sluggish and turbid Milk might not seem as 

 appealing as better known rivers . . . But those who enjoy 

 solitude, wide open spaces, and the opportunity to see wildlife 

 won't be disappointed." 



Statewide, such lower-value rivers not only have their own 

 distinct recreational value, but they help to keep recreational 

 use pressure off the higher-value streams, functioning as part of 

 a river system managed to maintain a diversity of river values. 



The lower Missouri drainage contained only 25 river segments, 

 but they averaged 3A miles, more than double the state average, 

 for a total length of 933 river miles. No miles were rated as 

 Class I or Class II recreational rivers (Table 54). Forty-three 

 percent of the mileage was rated Class III (Moderate) and 52 

 percent as Class IV (Limited). Limited or poor access was the most 

 common reason for assigning a low value, followed by small 

 creek/low or intermittent flows. Good recreation 

 opportunities/potential and good fishing were the most commonly- 

 cited positives. 



Recreational use was heavy on 15 percent of the river mileage, 

 moderate to low on 45 percent, and low on 47 percent. Access was 

 rated as abundant on just two percent of the inventoried stream 

 mileage, moderate on 50 percent, limited on 23 percent and 

 restricted on 11 percent. Scenic quality was rated as Substantial 

 or higher for eight percent of the mileage studied. Moderate for 

 42 percent, and Limited for 47 percent. 



Fishing from shore was the most common recreation activity, a 

 primary or secondary use on 80 percent of the segment miles. 

 Canoeing was a primary or secondary activity on 32 percent of the 

 river miles, boat fishing a primary activity on 27 percent, and 

 motorboating a secondary activity on 18 percent. Thirty-five 

 percent of the river miles inventoried were rated as not boated. 

 The floated rivers contained flat water on nearly 75 percent of 

 the boatable miles. The most common land-based activity was 

 hunting, a primary or secondary activity along 35 percent of the 

 river miles. 



Botanical Features 



The lower Missouri River drainage contained 14 botanical 

 natural feature sites, four of which received a final value of 

 Class I or Class II, the smallest proportion (two percent) of all 

 12 drainages statewide. It also had the smallest number of 

 botanical natural feature sites rated Class I or Class II. It is 

 difficult to know if these low ratings reflect a true absence of 

 rare or endemic plants within this region, or whether they reflect 

 the paucity of botanical information available for the 



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