17 



approximately three to five inches beneath the soil 

 surface, impacts from grazing later in the season are 

 not expected to be intense. Once uprooted or exposed 

 by major soil disturbance or erosion, however, it is 

 not expected that the corms would survive. Also, no 

 evidence was found during field surveys to indicate 

 that C. lanceolata var. flava is capable of agressively 

 invading disturbed areas such as roadbanks or rock 

 pits; it appears to be adapted to undisturbed, moist 

 montane grasslands. 



RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAINTAINING VIABLE POPULATIONS: 



The following recommendations are made to insure the 

 long-term persistence of viable populations of C. 

 lanceolata var. flava on U.S. Forest Service lands in 

 Montana: 



1. Protection of natural habitats which currently 

 support populations. All known populations occur, 

 wholly or partially, on U.S. Forest Service lands. 

 They should be considered in any habitat 

 alteration projects which may occur in their 

 vicinity. If disturbance is proposed within or 

 near the population areas, detailed surveys should 

 be conducted, and mitigation measures developed to 

 reduce or eliminate project impacts. The most 

 likely impacts may be from increased mining 

 activity in the Vipond Park area in the Pioneer 

 Mountains. 



It should be noted that the electrophoretic 

 analysis revealed genetic differentiation among 

 populations of C. lanceolata var. flava (see 

 Appendix A, pp. 41-42) . Thus, it will be 

 important to maintain all known populations, in 

 order to protect the full range of genetic 

 variation within the taxon. 



2 . Notification of weed control and road maintenance 

 crews, range conservationists, and all other 

 appropriate U.S. Forest Service personnel, of 

 population locations. Maps detailing the site 

 locations should be provided to all such 

 personnel, to aid in reducing or eliminating 

 unnecessary impacts to these areas. 



3. Monitoring of early-season livestock grazing in 

 native habitats. As noted above, grazing does not 

 currently appear to pose a threat to the known 

 populations. However, changes in grazing use 

 patterns, especially in the Vipond Park area, 

 should be closely monitored if early season use is 

 planned. 



