19 



and North Fork Birch Creek (014)) are located near 

 maintained trails. In Blacktail Gulch, the trail 

 (#223) is a National Recreation Trail, and is 

 fairly heavily used for hiking and horseback 

 riding. The O. rotundifolia population is located 

 along the east side of the trail about 1 mile 

 north of the trailhead. Although it is directly 

 adjacent to the trail, the site does not appear to 

 be impacted at this time. The boggy seepage area 

 is not easily traversed, and is thus not likely to 

 be heavily impacted by trail use in the current 

 situation. In Clary Coulee, the habitat of O. 

 rotundifolia is adjacent to a hiking trail (#177) . 

 The trail is steep, and eroded in places to 3-5 m. 

 wide (D. Field, pers. comm.). Trail relocation 

 may eventually be necessary here, to protect the 

 seepage area. The Mortimer Gulch site is also 

 adjacent to a hiking trail (#252) ; this trail is 

 heavily used for horse trips by a nearby guest 

 ranch. At the North Fork Birch Creek site, a 

 hiking trail (#105) traverses all three seepage 

 areas which contain 0. rotundifolia . and could 

 eventually lead to destabilization of the slope 

 (D. Field, pers. comm.). 



TIMBER HARVESTING: Two populations are known to 

 have been impacted by timber harvest activity: 

 Green Timber Basin (001) and Green Gulch (015) . 

 In Green Timber Basin, some past clearcutting has 

 occurred adjacent to the existing orchid 

 populations, and it is possible that the habitat 

 was partially influenced by this activity. The 

 forest that currently contains part of the 

 northernmost subpopulation was selectively logged, 

 and some direct impacts to individuals probably 

 occurred as a result. In Green Gulch, the 

 northernmost (smallest) subpopulation is directly 

 adjacent to a logging road, which was constructed 

 through the seepage zone with which the plants are 

 associated. The southernmost population is just 

 beyond the end of the road; it is not known 

 whether this area is going to be harvested. 



Three other sites in the Front Range, outside the 

 Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, which could 

 potentially be impacted by timber harvesting 

 include Blacktail Gulch (006) , Dry Fork Lange 

 Creek (007) , and Sawmill Flat (003) . A timber 

 sale had been marked on the east side of the 

 Beaver Creek road across from the Sawmill Flat 

 site. However, it did not appear that timber 

 harvest activities are imminent at the other two 

 sites. 



