III. ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 



A. THREATS TO CURRENTLY KNOWN POPULATIONS: 



1. GRAZING: Browsing by cattle reduced seed production on the 

 Sweetgrass Hills BLM site in 1993 but occurred early enough in 

 the season so that the browsed inf loresences branched and 

 produced new flowers and seeds (see discussion of browsing, 

 preceding page) . No plants were killed by browsing action. 

 These observations must be qualified in noting that the 

 Sweetgrass Hills BLM site is restricted to disturbed borders 

 along an old two-track road, which would be expected to be have 

 concentrated livestock use, and maximize the apparent affect of 

 browsing. It should also be noted that 1993 was an exceptionally 

 cool, wet season so that the prolonged, mild conditions may have 

 minimized the effect of browsing. Grazing impact cannot be 

 ascertained based on such limited information. 



2. MINING: There is no mining activity on the Eagle Sandstone 

 Formation underlying Sweetgrass Hills populations of Halimolobos 

 virqata . There are currently no mining access developments and 

 accompanying weed infestations that pose indirect impact to the 

 species, but the potential exists. 



3. TIMBER HARVESTING: None 



4. WEED CONTROL ACTIVITIES: None at present 



B. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND RESPONSE: The road access provided 

 through the BLM population in the Sweetgrass Hills above Dohrs 

 Creek is gated shut and presumed restricted for use by the 

 permittee. There is no botanical basis for recommending change 

 to this level of use. 



One of the Tendoy Mountains population sites on BLM land in 

 - Limekiln Canyon is noted as having livestock disturbance and 

 invasion by weeds. There is not sufficient information upon 

 which to base livestock management recommendations. The Tendoy 

 Mts. site may serve for management response study in the future. 



C. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAINTAINING VIABLE POPULATIONS: Habitat 

 requirements for this species are unknown; it may depend a narrow 

 set of microhabitat conditions or natural disturbance conditions 

 that are found in many otherwise varied habitat types. Until the 

 habitat framework is better defined, it will not be possible to 

 determine the need for and plan species' conservation. 



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