43 



fc placed on a list of sensitive species occurring on 



U.S. D.I. Bureau of Land Management lands in Montana 

 and Idaho, and appropriate District and Resource 

 Area offices should be notified of its known or 

 potential presence in their jurisdictions. 



C. Other status recommendations. 



1. Counties and local areas: No recommendations 

 at this time. 



2. States: Penstemon lemhiensis should be 

 retained on the Natural Heritage Program lists 

 in Montana and Idaho. In Montana, its status 

 should remain S2 owing to the low total number 

 of known individuals, the small size and widely 

 scattered distribution of many populations, and 

 the susceptibility of many sites to mining, 

 browsing and herbicide use. 



3. Other nations: Not currently pertinent. 



4. International: Not currently pertinent. 



14. Recommended critical habitat: Because the status of 



k Penstemon lemhiensis needs to be more fully assessed in 



' the Idaho portion of its range, critical habitat is not 



being recommended at this time. 



15. Conservation/recovery recommendations. 



A. General conservation recommendations. 



1. Recommendations regarding present or 



anticipated activities: Penstemon lemhiensis 

 has an ecological preference for more open 

 microhabitats (i.e., rock outcrop areas and 

 steep rocky slopes with some natural soil 

 slippage) . Surface alteration of small areas 

 adjacent to the larger populations may mimic 

 these sites, and in some cases plants have 

 colonized disturbed areas. However, it should 

 be strongly emphasized that most populations 

 are small, and the total number of known 

 individuals in Montana is only approximately 

 4,420-4,525. In addition, the species occupies 

 a very small percentage of the apparently 

 suitable habitat in southwestern Montana. 

 Thus, the species is particularly vulnerable to 

 extirpation should any large-scale habitat 

 alteration (i.e., mining) be planned near or 

 within any of the known populations. Though 

 J capable of occupying lightly disturbed areas, 



