forested, with lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce being the 

 dominant species. The lower canyon is narrow with steep, 

 rocky sides, but the valley widens further upstream, with 

 broader floodplains, and some creekside meadows. The 

 elevations of the surveyed areas are between 6,500 and 7,000 

 feet. Like the Bridgers, Hyalite Canyon has been relatively 

 well botanized. 



4. Upper Gallatin Valley 



The areas which were surveyed are directly adjacent to 

 the Gallatin River and its tributary, Taylor Fork, just north 

 of the Yellowstone National Park boundary. Geologically, 

 these valleybottom areas are mostly alluvial formations 

 (floodplains and terraces) , but limestone talus on the 

 adjacent canyon walls was also explored. Elevations are 

 between 6,500 and 7,000 feet. The floodplain vegetation is 

 dominated by willows and birch, and vegetation on the terraces 

 is sagebrush grasslands with scattered lodgepole pines. This 

 area has been well botanized in recent years. 



METHODS 



Prior to fieldwork, the Biological Conservation Database 

 of the Montana Natural Heritage Program was queried for all 

 occurrences of sensitive or prospective sensitive species on 

 the Gallatin National Forest, producing 44 element occurrence 

 records (EORs) of 31 plant taxa. These target taxa are listed 

 in Table 1. Fieldwork focused on those species which were 

 known historically from the Forest but had not been surveyed 

 or collected in it for over 40 years. 



Selection of study areas was based on historic record 

 locations of the target species, in consultation with the 

 Gallatin National Forest. 



Field surveys were conducted from July 9 to 21 and August 

 10 to 19, 1993. On July 10, the southern end of the Forest 

 was visited in the upper Gallatin valley to get target species 

 search images at known populations of Castilleja gracillima 

 and Salix wolfii var. wolfii in the vicinity of Snowflake 

 Spring in the upper Gallatin Valley. In addition, potential 

 habitat for these plants was surveyed along Taylor Creek. 



The remainder of the time was spent in the northern part 

 of the Forest, surveying Hyalite Canyon and the Bridger and 

 Crazy Mountains. The focus of the Hyalite survey was an 

 attempt to relocate Sidalcea oregana , last collected from the 

 area in 1957. The search was at first concentrated in the 

 lower valley, but on the last day was extended to the area 

 above Hyalite Reservoir. 



