purpose of wildlife habitat protection, enhancement 

 and/or recreation. Specific designations included 

 proposed Wilderness, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National 

 Wildlife Refuges, National Fish Hatcheries, State Wild- 

 life Management Areas, Waterfowl Production Areas, 

 Nature Conservancy Preserves, Conservation Easements 

 and USFS and BLM Research Natural Areas. 



Habitat quality referred to both the integrity and 

 condition of the riparian zone and the presence of 

 valuable wildlife/habitat characteristics. Habitat 

 quality was evaluated on five characteristics: condi- 

 tion of the riparian zone including retention of its 

 natural vegetation characteristics and wildlife values, 

 the amount of forested, wetland and island habitat, and 

 vegetative structure and diversity. 



SPECIES VALDE 



The species quality scores were developed using 

 three types of species data: presence of threatened and 

 endangered species habitat or potential habitat; game 

 and furbearer species density and diversity; and 

 specialized wildlife areas. 



The presence of habitat or potentially important 

 habitat for the recovery of federal or state listed 

 threatened and endangered species played a major role 

 in determining the species value. Species included the 

 rocky mountain timber wolf, grizzly bear, bald eagle, 

 whooping crane, peregrine falcon, and mountain caribou. 

 Although caribou are not currently a listed species in 

 Montana, areas potentially important for their recovery 

 were identified in case of its inclusion in the future. 



Game and furbearer species were evaluated on their 

 densities and relative diversities for each unit. Game 

 species previously mapped by the MDFWP were evaluated 

 using both species density and seasonality. Game 

 species evaluated included deer, elk, bighorn sheep, 

 mountain goat, black bear, moose, antelope, and upland 

 game birds. Importance values were determined for 

 each mapped species including an evaluation of popula- 

 tion densities and the importance of the unit to that 

 species. Use type was determined on a seasonal basis 

 and could include any combination of seasonal use. 



Evaluated furbearer and game species not previously 

 mapped by the MDFWP included river otter, beaver, lynx, 

 bobcat, marten, turkey, ruffed grouse, pheasant, and 

 Canada goose. A habitat suitability rating was deter- 

 mined for each species based on the quality of the 

 habitat and population density. 



