Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership Quarterly Report: July-September 2004 Page: 34 of 134
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Within the moderate potential zones, Indian Reservations within the Eastern Idaho Plateaus
(54,189 ha), Owyhee High Plateau, (44,764 ha), and the Upper Snake River Plains (33,339 ha)
MLRAs had the largest areas of land classified as rangeland types (Table 1). For private and
other non-federal lands, the Upper Snake River Plains (370,495 ha) and the Central Snake River
Plains (334,219 ha) MLRAs had the largest amount of rangeland when compared to the other
MLRAs. It should be noted that rangeland area on Indian reservations is generally a much
smaller percentage of the total area when compared to the private/non-federal lands (Table 1).
Low potential areas made up only a small percentage of the total rangeland area in Idaho (Table
1). It therefore should not be considered for carbon sequestration because of its low potential.
Montana. In Montana, the cross-tabulation analysis indicated that there was slightly over 21
million hectares of land that could be classified as rangeland (Table 3 - See Appendix C). Of
this land area, approximately 3.3 million hectares was classified as shrublands, slightly over 17
million hectares as grassland/herbaceous, and approximately 0.8 million hectares as pasture and
hay land (Table 3). With regard to land tenure, private or other non-federal comprised
approximately 14.5 million hectares of land classified as rangeland, federal land was
approximately 4.8 million hectares and Indian reservations comprised approximately 2 million
hectares of the rangeland land use types.
The majority of rangeland fell into the moderate climatic potential with 83% of the total
rangeland area being in this class. High potential areas comprised 17% of the area, whereas low
potential areas only made up 0.1% of the total rangeland area.
With regard the MLRAs within Montana, the Northern Rolling High Plains; Northern Part
MLRA contained the largest area of rangeland types occupying approximately 8.6 million
hectares (Table 4 - See Appendix C). This was followed by the Northern Rocky Mountains and
the Brown Glaciated Plain MLRAs with each having near 3 million hectares of rangeland. In all,
Montana had 12 unique MLRAs.
An examination of the rangeland area within the high climate potential, MLRA, and land tenure
classes revealed several areas that could be targeted for carbon sequestration efforts. For
rangeland area categorized as Indian reservations, the Northern Rocky Mountain Foothills
(174,495 ha) and the Northern Rocky Mountains (145,531 ha) had the largest areas (Table 3).
For private and non-federal lands, the Northern Rocky Mountains (749,855 ha), Northern Rocky
Mountain Foothills (530,763 ha) and the Northern Rocky Mountain Valleys (298,990 ha)
MLRAs comprised the largest rangeland areas (Table 3) and would likely be excellent areas to
target for carbon sequestration programs.
Within the moderate climatic potential areas, the Northern Rolling High Plains; Northern Part
(506,158 ha) and the Brown Glaciated Plains (398,679 ha) MLRAs had the largest area of
rangeland on Indian reservations (Table 3). For the private and non-federal land category,
rangeland hectares were greatest for the Northern Rolling High Plains; Northern Part which
comprised approximately 6.3 million acres. Although this MLRA has moderate climatic
potential, development of a carbon sequestration program within this MLRA would impact
approximately 30% of the rangeland in Montana. Other MLRAs that had substantial area34
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Capalbo, Susan M. Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership Quarterly Report: July-September 2004, report, October 31, 2004; United States. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc781660/m1/34/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.