DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA 



The 650 sq. km study area is located 24 km northeast of Miles City, Montana, 

 in northcentral Custer County and southcentral Prairie County (Fig. 1). The 

 study area lies within the following boundaries: the Yellowstone River to 

 the south, Route 253 on the east, Cherry Creek Road on the north, and the 

 Caprock Road on the west. The study area consists of broken, sparsely vegetated 

 terrain dissected by numerous coulees and intermittent streams. 



Relatively low rainfall and relative humidity along with extremes in summer 

 and winter temperatures typify the semi-arid climate of the area. Precipita- 

 tion records from the Miles City FAA AP weather station are presented in 

 Appendix Table 9. Precipitation during the entire study was considerably less 

 than normal and by the spring of 1980 the area was impacted by a severe drought. 

 Above normal precipitation in 1978 mitigated somewhat the effects of the 1979 

 drought. Minimal snow cover was present during the winter of 1979-80. The 

 effects of these climatological conditions on nongame wildlife are discussed 

 in detail in the text of the report. January is the coldest month with an 

 average temperature of -9.2°C and July is the warmest month with an average 

 temperature of 23.6°C (Climatological Data, 1978). 



The study area and vicinity were subject to widespread grazing beginning in 

 the late 1800's. Human population on the area peaked in the early 1900 's when 

 portions of the area were homesteaded and some upland sites cultivated. 

 Droughts and other factors led to the abandonment of many homesteads in the 

 1920's and 30's. Livestock grazing has been the major land use since settle- 

 ment and continues to be with cattle, horses and a few sheep utilizing the area. 

 For an excellent historical account of the settlement of this area see Haughian, 

 1977. 



The vegetation generally reflects the edaphic and climatic conditions occurring 

 on the area. Grasslands are dominated by needle and thread (Stipa aomata) and 

 western wheatgrass {Agropyron smithii) , sagebrush-grassland by big sagebrush 

 (Artemisia tridentata) and major creek bottoms by silver sagebrush (Artemisia 

 oana) . Badland areas are characterized by bare slopes, ridges and coulees. 

 Vegetation cover ranges from nonexistent to dense, with plant species com- 

 position variable depending on localized site conditions. Timbered badlands are 

 dominated by Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) in association with 

 either ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) or limber pine (Pinus flexilis) . Four 

 major vegetation types and two subtypes were recognized on the area (Fig. 2). 

 General descriptions of the types were derived from vegetation frequency measure- 

 ments (see Methods and Appendix Table 10) and are presented as follows:^ 



Grassland Vegetation Type 



This type occupied approximately 7 percent of the study area and is generally 

 restricted to level or gently rolling upland areas (Fig, 3). The majority of 

 this type occurs on the northern portions of the study area. Common grass 

 species are needle and thread, western wheatgrass, blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) 



^Extreme drought conditions resulted in the undersampling or non-sampling of 

 many normally occurring species. 



