Forage Values in the Forest 
One-third of Montana’s forest land, or roughly 
7.2 million acres, supports enough plants of forage 
value to classify it as suitable for grazing. The dis- 
ar 
FicurE 8.—One of the many wild animals which abound in 
Montana’s forest. Montana is the principal home of this 
cub’s ferocious cousin, the grizzly. Eighty-five percent of 
all the grizzlies in the United States today roam in Mon- 
tana. (Photo courtesy of State of Mont. Dept. of Fish and 
Game.) 
EXPENDITURES BY TOURISTS 
TRAVELING BY AUTOMOBILE 
IN MONTANA 
BS 
MILLION DOLLARS 
N 
(eo) 
v 
Source: Montono Store 
FIGURE 9. ap 
Ghway Dept. 
tribution of this forest-grazing land by ownership 
class, in million acres, is estimated as follows: 
private, 2.0; State and county, 0.7; national forest, 
4.0; other Federal, 0.5. 
Several hundred thousand cattle, horses, and 
sheep graze on forest land for a part of each year. 
Although the 7.2 million acres include some poor 
range land, they also include some of the best. 
The succulent forage on many open-forest areas 
at the higher elevations provides exceptionally fine 
grazing (fig. 10); a majority of the lambs coming 
off such areas go directly to packing plants without 
further fattening. 
The forest and intermingled open range is also 
the home of most of the big game which makes 
Montana a hunter’s paradise. Winter range areas 
on and adjacent to the national forests, used by 
the principal big game animals, are 2,923,000 acres, 
elk; 6,490,000 acres, mule deer; and _ 1,918,000 
acres, white-tailed deer. These acreages overlap 
for the simple reason that the habitats of the 
animals overlap to some extent. 
Timber Can Increase Montana Income 
Montana’s economy rests mainly upon its farms, 
mines, and forests which provide a considerably 
larger portion of the State income than they do 
of the national income. Montana’s dependence 
upon farming is particularly great. In 1948, for 
example, 34 percent of the State income was from 
agriculture in contrast with 10 percent for the 
United States. 
It is generally agreed that the principal trouble 
with Montana’s economy is that it is not sufficiently 
diversified. Too many of its eggs are in one basket, 
so to speak—the farm basket. Certainly it is true 
that when Montana agriculture has ridden high 
Montana has ridden high and when the farmer’s 
income has slumped, the State has gone down with 
it. Another indication of the lack of balance in 
the economy of the State is the smallness of the 
manufacturing output (fig. 11). According to De- 
partment of Commerce figures for 1948, only 6 
percent of the State income as against 22 percent of 
the total United States income is from manufactur- 
ing. 
Against this background Montana’s timber sup- 
ply becomes especially important. This timber not 
only offers the opportunity for increasing Mon- 
tana’s income, but also for expanding manufactur- 
ing and broadening the economic base. 
In some ways, the timber-supply situation in 
10 Forest Resource Report No. 5 U. S. Department of Agriculture 
