RANGE AND PASTURE 



Native range is by far the dominant use of total land in the 1967 

 inventory. The range acreage consists of 41,322,359 acres (66 percent) 

 of the area. This represents a decrease of 182,032 acres from the 1958 

 study, most of it being converted to dry cropland. Pasture land in 

 Montana increased by 666,001 acres since the 1958 inventory and now 

 totals 1,682,928 acres of which 25 percent is being irrigated. This 

 large increase in pasture use is due partially to the Great Plains and 

 Agricultural Conservation Programs which are cost-sharing on about 

 75,000 acres annually. 



The following tables show the distribution of range and pasture 

 land by capability class and subclass which show the dominant kind of 

 problem associated with each use. 



Acreage of Range and Pasture by Land Class 

 Range Pas ture 



Dry Irrigated Dry Irrigated Total 



The subclass letters e, w, s and c relate to the dominant kind of 

 problem in each of the land capability Classes II through VIII. The degree 

 of severity increases with each land class. Class I land has no limitation 

 affecting use. 



Kind of Problem Range Pasture Total 



29,426,710 952,305 30,379,015 



1,437,881 195,168 1,633,049 



7,576,469 213,393 7,789,862 



2.881.299 299.902 3.181.201 



41,322,359 1,660,768 42,983,127 



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