A stratified, random survey was conducted from I August 1970through 31 July 1971 at the 15 public access points on the unimpounded riverine flowing portions of the Mountain Fork River in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. The purpose of the study was to compare fisherman expenditures and capitalized resource values in the portions of the river above and below Broken Bow Reservoir, a flood control and hydroelectric impoundment. Of the estimated 16,485 fishermen who spent $156,864, 8,403 fishennen above the reservoir spent 76,757 and 8,082 fishermen below the resevoir spent $80,107. The difference was not statistically significant. Estimated expenditures at the various access sites ranged from $238 to $49,322. Mean expenditure per man-day was $9.52 for the entire river and ranged from $3.60 to $24.84 at different sites. The average expenditures per man-day were higher than those allowed by authorizing legislation for use in resource-loss mitigation planning, and also higher than values observed for most other rivers. Capitalized value of the remaining riverine lotic portions of the Mountain Fork River was nearly S6 million ($2.9 million above and $3.1 million below Broken Bow Reservoir). The value of the portion of the river inundated by the reservoir was estimated to be $4.2 million. based on a mean value of $2,743 per km for sites located in habitat similar to that flooded by the reservoir.
