This report of the Upper Missouri River Basin presents a preliminary analysis of the physical and economic features of the area in Montana and Wyoming embraced within the headwaters of the Missouri River tributary to Canyon Ferry Dam which is located near Helena, Montana. The purpose is to describe pertinent features which relate to the program for the development and use of the public domain lands in the comprehensive resource development program for the Missouri River Basin. The report is intended to serve as a guide in carrying out detailed studies of problems pertaining to the use and management of approximately one an one-quarter million acres of public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management in furtherance of the integrated comprehensive resource developmental program of the Department of the Interior in the Missouri River Basin. The appended map of the Upper Missouri River Basin shows the location of land in different types of ownership.

"The objective of the Walker River Subbasin Report is to contribute to comprehensive planning for the coordinated and orderly development, management, and use of water and related land resources of the subbasin. It is anticipated that the information presented in this report will: (1) identify the present and potential land and water problems and opportunities for solving them; (2) provide a basis for more effective coordination of U.S. Department of Agriculture resource programs with the related activities of each State and with other Federal agencies; (3) provide a sound basis for the development of water and related land resources by means of Public Law 566 projects for other programs; (4) indicate opportunities for development of water resources and the rehabilitation of depleted watersheds and rangelands of the national forest and public domain, as part of the multiple use programs for these Federal lands. This subbasin report includes: (1) an inventory of the natural resources; (2) an analysis of economic development; (3) a definition of the causes and extent of the resource problems; (4) an indication of present and future needs for resource development; (5) a short discussion of existing resource projects and programs; (6) a description of the resource development potential; (7) an indication of the opportunities for development under U.S. Department of Agriculture programs; and (8) suggested future programs and coordination needs among all groups and agencies. The natural resource inventory was supplemented by a detailed reconnaissance soil survey covering the subbasin. The results of the survey produced a broad but comprehensive summation of the subbasin's most basic resource, along with an interpretative tabulation of the hazards, limitations, and potentials for its use"--Page 1.