Justification 



The Beartooth Mountains of south-central Montana and 

 adjacent Wyoming are one of the most extensive and significant 

 alpine areas of North America. The range contains the highest 

 peaks and the largest representation of tundra in Montana and 

 Region One of the U.S. Forest Service. Numerous alpine plant 

 communities, from wetlands to dry turf are well developed here. 

 Many species of arctic plants with disjunct populations in the 

 Beartooth Mountains are considered rare in Montana (Johnson 1962, 

 Lesica and Shelly 1991) . As a result, this area is one of the 

 most significant floristic areas in the state (Lesica et al. 

 1984) . A large proportion of this alpine area is contained in 

 the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area on Custer, Gallatin and 

 Shoshone national forests. 



The Line Creek Plateau occurs on the eastern edge of the 

 range, separated from the wilderness area to the west by the 

 Beartooth Highway. The top of the plateau is gently rolling 

 alpine tundra and turf with extensive moist snowbed vegetation 

 but little actual wetland or permanent surface water features. 

 Slopes of the plateau on the north and east sides fall off 

 steeply and are clothed in coniferous forest or nearly barren 

 talus. Drainages are narrow with steep sides and little or no 

 riparian areas. A high narrow ridge of Madison limestone occurs 

 along the east foothills below the plateau where the uplift has 

 raised the sedimentary beds on edge. Sagebrush steppe and limber 

 pine woodland dominate these foothills. 



The Line Creek Plateau supports large representations of 

 many of the common alpine plant communities found throughout the 

 Beartooth Mountains but is more accessible than most other parts 

 of the range that occur in the wilderness. The Beartooth Range 

 is higher and farther east than any other high alpine range in 

 Montana or Region One. As such it is f loristically more similar 

 to the high ranges of Wyoming, Utah and Colorado than other 

 ranges in the state. Two alpine plant communities, Festuca 

 idahoensis / Geum rossii and Salix glauca / Deschampsia cespitosa 

 c.t.s are well-developed on the Line Creek Plateau but are not 

 otherwise reported for Montana. In addition, two alpine 

 communities found in southwest Montana have unigue forms in the 

 Beartooth Mountains. Moist tundra in the Carex scirpoidea/Geum 

 rossii c.t. is often dominated by Deschampsia cespitosa ; 

 additional sampling may warrant recognition of a Deschampsia 

 cespitosa / Geum rossii c.t. Some areas of fellfield now placed in 

 the Carex elynoides c.t. are dominated by Kobresia bellardii , and 

 this type may also warrant recognition as a separate community 

 type. Both of these communities are not otherwise reported for 

 Montana and are more similar to vegetation found in Wyoming and 

 Colorado. 



