Files
Abstract
Excerpts from the report: The Missouri River Basin is a vast region extending from the forested Rocky Mountains of the Continental Divide, through the Great Plains to the humid areas of east-central Missouri. It includes all of Nebraska, most of South Dakota, large fractions of North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, about half of Kansas and Missouri, and smaller parts of Colorado, Iowa, and Minnesota. The part of the Missouri Basin lying in the United States covers about 326,000,000 acres, or 509,375 square miles. The part lying in the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, covers 9,715 square miles, or 6,217,600 acres. The proposed agricultural development program for the Missouri Basin embraces about 14,000,000 acres of land outside the Basin proper in North Dakota. This additional area is affected by the proposed diversion of water to the Souris and Sheyenne River basins. For purposes of this report, the term "Missouri Basin" includes all the Missouri River drainage, exclusive of the area in Canada, and the additional area in North Dakota. This is a total of approximately 340,000,000 acres. The program is directed toward improving and stabilizing agriculture in the Missouri Basin by the conservation, development, and use of the Basin's land, water, and forest resources. The recommended program will assist the people of the Basin to reach this objective. The ultimate purpose is to increase the economic and social well-being of the people of the Basin and in the Nation.