Creek drainage (Staatz 1979) , these are mostly covered by 

 Pleistocene glacial deposits. Although the study area lies 

 mostly to the north of the thorium veins, a few old prospects 

 - for unknown minerals - are located in the Kelly Creek 

 drainage and on Pyramid Hill (see maps in Appendix A) . 



Vegetation includes coniferous forests, sagebrush 

 grasslands, and wetlands. The forests, which originally 

 covered most of the uplands, are dominated by Pinus contorta 

 or Pseudotsuga menziesii . Characteristic understory species 

 in these habitats include Arnica cordifolia, Calamagrostis 

 rubescens, Carex geyeri, and Vaccinium scoparium. A large 

 percentage of these forests have been clearcut; these early 

 successional habitats were not surveyed. Sagebrush grasslands 

 occur below timber and on south facing slopes, and are 

 dominated by Artemisia tridentata with Elymus spicatus and/or 

 Festuca idahoensis . The wetlands consist of narrow corridors 

 along the mountain streams and more extensive floodplains 

 along Bloody Dick Creek and Dutch Creek in section 23. These 

 later are dominated by tall willows, including Salix boothii, 

 S. geyeriana, and S. lemonnii , sedges {Carex spp.) and 

 Deschampsia cespitosa. The habitats of the study area are 

 subject to grazing by livestock and are home to a large herd 

 of elk. 



METHODS 



Prior to fieldwork, the Biological Conservation Database 

 maintained by the Montana Natural Heritage Program was queried 

 for records of BLM potential sensitive and watch species known 

 from the vicinity. This study area and the BLM lands in 

 particular are not well known botanically, so the data search 

 was augmented by information on other state species of special 

 concern tracked by the Montana Natural Heritage Program 

 (Heidel and Poole 1993) . For purposes of this report, the 

 term "sensitive" will be used loosely in reference to any 

 currently identified or potentially sensitive species. 



The data search produced records for four species, 

 Penstemon lemhiensis with fourteen occurrences, Mimulus 

 primuloides with two, and Eriogonum ovalifolium var. 

 nevadense and Gentianella simplex with one each. P. 

 lemhiensis was previously known from the study area in the 

 northeast section of section 23 above Bloody Dick Creek 

 (record # 35, see map in Appendix D) . These species were the 

 primary search targets. 



The area was surveyed on June 25-29, 1993. Maps showing 

 principle travel routes are presented in Appendix A. All 

 habitat types, except clearcuts, were visited, but sagebrush 

 habitats were given the most emphasis. Areas were traversed 



