communis . Picea engelmannii . Pinus contorta , Populus tremuloides 

 and Pseudotsuqa menziesii . Benchland forests are dominated by 

 Pinus contorta . Undrained bog land along the river supports a 

 sedge-forb community. 



II. METHODS 



The Mill Creek Timber Sale area was surveyed on 14-15 and 

 19-22 June 1989, and 10-14, 17-18 and 21 July 1989. Surveys of 

 the Tie Creek Timber Sale were conducted on 26-28 June 1989 and 

 19-20 July 1989. A late-season survey of the East Boulder Mine 

 Site was conducted on 8-9 August 1989, as a follow-up to earlier 

 surveys of the site by other parties. Although the primary 

 purpose of the surveys was to determine the occurrence or absence 

 of plant species included on the sensitive plant list of Region 1 

 (Northern Region) of the U.S. Forest Service, species inventories 

 of each area were prepared during the surveys as part of the 

 working method. Maps of each survey area were provided to the 

 author by the Gallatin National Forest, and formed the basis of a 

 working strategy. Individual sale units and building sites were 

 located and surveyed, and all vascular plant species observed 

 were recorded. Special attention was given to drainages, sites 

 with unusual substrates, and any other habitats where it was 

 thought that uncommon species might occur. 



Identification of collections was made following Dorn 

 (1984), Hitchcock and Cronquist (1973), Hitchcock et al. (1969), 

 Hitchcock and Chase (1950) and Hermann (1970) . A complete list 

 of the vascular plant species observed during the surveys, and 

 the study area(s) in which they were found, is presented in Part 

 IV of Section One (pp. 4-23) . 



III. CONCLUSIONS 



Sites of proposed timber harvest and mining activity on the 

 Gallatin National Forest were the focus of sensitive plant 

 surveys during the 1989 field season. An inventory of plant 

 species was made for each of the three areas of proposed use. 

 These inventories did not reveal the presence of any plant taxa 

 included on the list of sensitive plant species for Region 1 

 (Northern Region) of the U.S. Forest Service. This is not to say 

 that no designated sensitive species occur within the surveyed 

 areas. Although intensive, the surveys should be regarded as 

 incomplete for several reasons. The surveys were conducted in 

 June and July. Species in bloom either before or after this 

 could have been missed. While inventories of habitat types and 

 sale units were extensive, total physical coverage of each sale 

 unit of the proposed timber sales was not possible. This leaves 

 open the question of whether or not a sensitive species 

 occurrence may have been overlooked. 



