FOREST LAND 



South Central Montana has 4.8 million 

 acres of forest land and includes 9 

 counties. 1/ Beaverhead, the largest 

 county in the unit, has more than one 

 million acres of forest land. Also it 

 has the greatest forest area of the 

 counties in Montana east of the 

 Continental Divide. 



Approximately three quarters of the 

 total forest area is classified as com- 

 mercial forest land. The 1.2 million 

 acres of noncommercial forest area in- 

 clude the Anaconda-Pintle r and the Bob 

 Marshall primitive areas east of the 

 Continental Divide and a section of 

 Yellowstone Park in Montana. These non- 

 commercial areas have some of the most 

 beautiful mountain scenery in the West. 



The South Central unit lies at the head- 

 waters of the Missouri River and is one 

 of the largest forested areas in the up- 

 per Missouri Basin. Within the unit the 

 Gallatin, Jefferson, and Madison Rivers 

 meet to form the Missouri. The Dearborn, 

 Sun and Smith Rivers all originate in 

 the forested mountains of South Central 

 Montana. 



Forests of the area are almost entirely 

 coniferous. The pattern in the foothills 

 is usually one of juniper, ponderosa 

 pine, or Douglas-fir in pure or mixed 

 stands. At higher elevations lodgepole 

 pine is found in extensive pure stands. 

 On the lower fringe of the lodgepole pine 

 type it is common to find a narrow belt 

 of Douglas-fir. Spruce of commercial 

 quality occurs generally in stringers 

 along the creek bottoms. Near the 

 Continental Divide, which forms the west 

 and south boundary of the unit, and on 

 the tops of other mountain ranges is the 

 subalpine noncommercial forest containing 

 such species as limber pine, white-bark 

 pine, spruce, alpine fir, and alpine 

 larch. Intermittent stringers of cotton- 

 wood occur along the banks of the larger 

 streams . 



37% OF THE TOTAL AREA 

 IS FOREST LAND 



75% OF THE FOREST LAND IS 

 CLASSED AS COMMERCIAL 



98% OF THE COMMERCIAL FOREST 

 IS SOFTWOOD 



1/ See page 1$ for definition of terms used in this paper, 



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