EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 



This study represents the resuUs of a sensitive plant species inventory conducted on the 

 Ashland District of the Custer National Forest. Twelve target species known or reported from 

 the District are addressed. Evidence is provided to support nomination o{ Carex gravida as 

 sensitive and to name two species known from historical collections in the District {Amorpha 

 canescens and Ceoanothus herbaceus) as watch. New infomiation and questions are also 

 presented for the twelve species and their habitats. 



Foremost among concerns addressed is the heretofore unrecognized need for making 

 distinctions between Astragalus barrii, a sensitive species, and A. hyalinus because the latter 

 has now been documented from the District. Three previously-identified A. barrii population 

 sites and four potential new A. barrii sites that werecompletely in vegetative condition need to 

 be revisited during the flowering times of both species to make positive identifications. 



Two new additions to the state flora were documented, one of which has been provisionally 

 added to the list of Montana Species of Special Concern {Evax prolifera). The other, 

 Ipomopsis congesta var. pseudotypica, is locally widespread and under no immediate tlireats. 

 The Montana distribution and status of the former is particularly intriguing because it seems 

 to be highly disjunct from its more southern range in the Great Plains; likewise, it is not 

 known from the Wyoming flora. 



The appropriate state status of tliree watch list species remains undetermined to date: 

 Agastache foeniculum, Geum conadense, and Elatine americana. The first two are eastern 

 deciduous forest species whose documented distribution outside the District in eastern 

 Montana is under review. The latter is a minute aquatic plant known from few 

 widely-scattered locations in the state that shows little response to disturbance. Forest Service 

 T/E/S consideration for these species is not appropriate until such time as their state statuses 

 have been resolved. 



The framework for conducting sensitive species surveys is based upon the assumption that 

 targets can be set and that a systematic plan to survey for such targets can be developed at the 

 onset. However, for many eastern Montana Species of Special Concern, it is not known 

 whether the apparent species' rarity reflects actual distribution patterns or simply a general 

 lack of botanical and vegetation information, so that identifying targets cannot be done much 

 less systematically surveying for them. Many of the target species occupy localized features 

 which have not been studied: successional habitats, wetlands and localized habitat conditions 

 such as well-de\'eloped woodlands. Habitats of the latter two are particularly affected by 

 surrounding land-use practices, so it is important to resolve these status questions. 



Promoting baseline floristic sur\-ey followed by rigorous extended sensitive species survey is 

 presented as the approach for developing a meaningful and effective sensitive species program 

 on the District. 



