sites will be rated by project staff as they are identified. At the completion of 

 the mapping effort the ratings of all sites identified will be reviewed and modified 

 as needed based on the findings of the study. Finally, the cooperating agency 

 contacts and technical advisors will be given an opportunity to review the ratings and 

 suggest changes. 



At the conclusion of the mapping and rating effort, all sites will be tabulated in 

 a form similar to that shown in Appendix B. Data to be included for each site will 

 include: (a) Name; (b) Description (will be taken from list in Table 1); (c) 

 Designation (if any); (d) County; (e) Quadrangle map where located; and (f) assigned 

 value class for each of the four criteria. 



Tasks 



Task 1. Telephone interviews with agency and resource people. This will involve 

 interviews with knowledgable people in (a) each USPS regional office; (b) each BLM 

 district office; (c) MSU and UM; (d) state resource agencies. V/ill include inventory 

 of designated natural areas (Research Natural Areas, Areas of Critical Environmental 

 Concern, etc.) 



Task 2. Compile existing data 



a) Search National Natural Landmarks reports, geological and ecological 

 themes 



b) Search NCIC and USGS place names indices for key words (e.g., island, 

 falls, gorge, slough) 



c) Contact Museum of the Rockies and other sources for locations of key 

 fossil sites 



d) Search University herbaria and Nature Conservancy files for rare plants 

 and communities (subcontract) 



e) Search DFWP stream index for significant natural features 



f) Search DNRC geothermal/hot springs files 



Task 3. Search USGS quads and/or available aerial photographs; verify sites 



identified during search of existing data; gather additional descriptive 

 data on sites 



Task 4. Tabulate data, prepare final maps 



Task 5. Limited field investigation of questioned sites 



Task 6. Assignment of sites to value classes based on standards listed above. 

 Four separate ratings will be given to each site, one for each of the four criteria. 

 The ultimate rating to be given a site will be the highest rating assigned for any of 

 these four criteria. 



Task 7. Identification of areas where further investigation is likely to reveal 

 presently-unknown natural features of importance. 



