However, removal of plants in knowing violation of any state laws, including 

 criminal tresspass laws, is addressed under the Endangered Species Act. Thus, 

 continued posting of privately-owned occurrences, presenting all pertinent 

 information to the landowners, and maintaining location data as sensitive affords a 

 small measure of protection. 



E. Other natural or man-made factors: None known. 



ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 



12. General assessment of vigor, trends, and status: All Montana populations have potential 

 threats and are vulnerable, but imminent threats were not identified. There are no Montana 

 occurrences in natural settings which are protected. Local land use patterns suggest that the 

 species habitat has declined, but there is no site-specific trend data. 



13. Recommendations for listing or status change 



A. Recommendation to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Status recommendations for 

 plants hinge on rangewide conditions, so that any state status report is necessary but 

 insufficient grounds for recommending status change unless it represents all of the 

 range or it provides the sole basis for status change. This status report represents 10 

 occurrences (over 10 % of the rangewide total) and numbers of over 1,400 flowering 

 plants (less than 10% of the rangewide total) in one of eight states. When the species 

 was originally listed, it was known from 10 extant sites and 7 historic sites, with the 

 total number of plants among extant occurrences conservatively estimated at 6,000 

 plants (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1992). 



The Montana information does not provide grounds for making a rangewide status 

 decision for de-listing. It is a state update to be incorporated in rangewide status 

 update. 



B. Recommendations to other U.S. federal agencies: It will be brought to the 

 attention of Federal Highway Administration contacts because of its proximity to the 

 1-90 interstate corridor. In addition, federal agencies like NRCS that work with 

 private landowners need sound information on the species. 



C. Other status recommendations. 



1. Counties and local areas: None. 



2. States: It is recommended that this information be pooled with the most 

 current rangewide status information including at least a summary of 

 distribution, abundance, threats, and protection; and that global rank be re- 

 evaluated. 



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