A broad vegetation map (Figure 2) shows the three primary 

 native vegetation types as they occur within the Otter Creek 

 study area. These types are the ponderosa pine, the 

 sagebrush-grassland and the riparian. Each type is very 

 diverse with several subtypes, which are not depicted. The 

 type boundaries are only approximations and include portions of 

 the other vegetation types. The figure is presented only to 

 give the reader a general feeling for the vegetative makeup 

 of the area. A more detailed vegetation map has been published 

 by the Western Energy and Land Use Team, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service (U.S. D.I. 1978). 



Hanging Woman Creek 



The Hanging Woman Creek portion of the study area (Figure 3), 

 is located 10 miles south of Birney, Montana and 3 miles north 

 of the Montana-Wyoming border. It is about 12 miles east of 

 the Tongue River Reservoir. It covers nearly 35,200 acres, 

 all in Big Horn County. 



Hanging Woman Creek is the principal waterway and prominent 

 terrain feature. It runs from the southern to the northern 

 boundary. Horse Creek, East Fork Trail Creek, Corral Creek 

 and First Creek are the major side drainages. Sagebrush and 

 grassland vegetation types (Figure 4) constitute most of the 

 ground cover in this study area. The only agricultural 

 endeavor is hay production, primarily along Hanging Woman Creek 

 bottoms . 



Prairie Dog Creek 



The Prairie Dog Creek portion of the study area (Figure 5), 

 is located about 7 miles west of Birney. It is adjacent to and 

 south of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, It lies 

 approximately 11 miles northwest of the Tongue River Reservoiro 

 Nearly 11,000 acres of Rosebud County are included in this 

 study area. 



Prairie Dog Creek is the principal drainage and flows in a 

 southeasterly direction across the area. Bull Creek borders 

 on the north and Canyon Creek borders the area on the south. 



This area is characterized by high buttes with over 500 feet 

 in relief from the plateau tops to the creekbottoms. Ponderosa 

 pine is the dominant vegetation type (Figure 6) and there is 

 practically no agricultural development. 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 



Each species or group of species is dicussed separately 

 for each of the three study areas. Distribution maps are 

 presented for the important game species and most of the non- 

 game species of special interest or concern. 



