Quick Facts:

• 44th in population: 902,105
• 4th largest in state size: 147,046 square miles (94,109,440 acres)
• People per square mile: 6.2
• Highest Point: Granite Peak at 12,799 feet
• Lowest Point: Kootenai River at 1,800 feet
• Montana’s largest lake is Flathead Lake at 189 square miles
• Montana is larger than the combined area of 10 North Atlantic States, yet has only 2% of the combined population of those states.

Land Ownership by Percentage:

• Federal – 59.3
• State – 4.6
• Tribal – 4.3
• Private – 31.8

Landscape:

• Percentage of state in rangeland and pasture: 66%

• Percentage of Cropland: 29.3%
• Percentage of Forested Lands:3.3%
• Land in Farm and Ranches: 63% (58,607,788 acres)

Rivers

• Longest River: Missouri River 1,029 miles
• 2nd Longest: Yellowstone River
• The world’s shortest river is in Montana, the Roe River at 200 feet.
• There are 132 distinctly named rivers in Montana.
• Montana is the only state to have rivers systems that empty into the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson’s Bay, and Pacific Ocean.

National Forest

USFS Trails and Roads

• Miles of road within USFS: 32,900 miles
• Miles of trails on USFS: 11,503 miles
• Miles of trails on USFS roadless area: 4,484 miles

Highly Protected Areas in Montana

12 Forest Service Wilderness Areas: 3,371,881 acres
1 BLM Wilderness Area: 6,000 acres
2 National Parks: 1,080,225 acres
2 Wild and Scenic Rivers: 368 miles

National Wilderness Area

Montana
Acres Established
Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness 920,343 1978
Anaconda Pintler Wilderness 157,993 1978
Bob Marshall Wilderness 1,009,356 1964
Cabinet Mountains Wilderness 94,272 1964
Gates of the Mountains Wilderness 28,562 1964
Great Bear Wilderness 286,700 1978
Lee Metcalf Wilderness 248,288 1983
Mission Mountains Wilderness 73,877 1975
Rattlesnake Wilderness 32,976 1980
Scapegoat Wilderness 239,936 1972
Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness 251,443 1964
Welcome Creek Wilderness 28,135 1978

Important Unprotected Wild Areas in Montana

Forest Service inventoried roadless areas: 6,397,000 acres
40 BLM Wilderness Study Areas: 452,563 acres
7 Forest Service Wilderness Study Areas: 663,000 acres

Total Wilderness in Montana: 3,371881 acres

National Wild and Scenic Rivers
Flathead River, Middle, South, and North Forks: Wild – 97.9 miles; Scenic – 40.7 miles; Recreational – 80.4 miles
Total – 219.0 miles

Upper Missouri River: Wild – 64 miles; Scenic – 26 miles; Recreational – 59 miles
Total – 149 miles

Total National Wild and Scenic River Miles in Montana: 368 miles