Missouri River Public Use Assessment

The Missouri Department of Conservation and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in cooperation with Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U. S. National Park Service estimated public use on and along the Missouri River from Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota to the river’s mouth near St. Louis, Missouri during the 13-month period from January, 2004 through January, 2005. We estimated the:

Types and amount of public use
Fish and wildlife harvest from the river
Socio-demographic characteristics of users
The economic value of the river to the users.

+ Read More Project Summary

Project Updates

Posted Tue, 11/07/2023

Results from the Missouri River Public Use Assessment

A total of 2,494,740 individual-visits or -days were made to the Missouri River and its tributaries during the 13-month study. This minimum estimate includes use from public accesses and areas, private lands not generally accessible by the
general public, fishing tournaments, and excursion boats. If estimates of individual-visits to 32 Lewis and Clark events (Sheriff et al. 2008) are included, then an estimated 2,701,830 individual-visits or -days were made to the river.