13 



3. TIMBER HARVESTING: No known threats. 



4. WEED CONTROL ACTIVITIES: The Mouth of Quartz Hill 

 Gulch (006), Jerry Creek (007), Wise River (010), 

 Canyon Creek (Oil) , Lime Gulch (012) , and Cattle 

 Gulch (013) are populations that are close to 

 roads on public lands, and are potentially 

 threatened by herbicide spray programs. 



The Bureau of Land Management, Butte District, 

 Weed Control Department requested and received 

 locationJ information on the A. fecunda sites that 

 occur on their lands including Mouth of Quartz 

 Hill (006), Jerry Creek (007), Spring Gulch II 

 (009) and Wise River (010) . 



MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND RESPONSE: From field 

 observations, A. fecunda plants do not respond well to 

 strong disturbances such as gravel removal, or 

 trampling by livestock. Ongoing monitoring studies may 

 reveal a relationship between A. fecunda and 

 undisturbed cryptogamic soil crusts (Schassberger 

 1988) . 



RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAINTAINING VIABLE POPULATIONS: 

 The following recommendations are made to insure that 

 the long-term viability of Arabis fecunda populations 

 on U.S. Forest Service lands in Montana is maintained: 



1 . Protection of natural habitats that currently 

 support populations. Populations that occur 

 wholly on U.S. Forest Service lands should be 

 considered in any habitat alteration or changes in 

 management proposed on lands in their vicinity. 



If disturbance is proposed within or near the 

 populations, detailed surveys should be conducted, 

 and mitigation measures developed, to reduce or 

 eliminate project impacts. Road improvement could 

 impact the Canyon Creek (Oil) population, while an 

 increase in mining activity would negatively 

 affect the subpopulations at the Upper Quartz Hill 

 Gulch (008) site. Changes in grazing systems 

 would be important in all cases. 



2 . Notification of weed control and road maintenance 

 crews, range conservationists, and all other 

 appropriate U.S. Forest Service personnel, of 

 population locations. Maps detailing locations of 

 populations should be provided to all personnel 

 concerned with these activities, to reduce or 

 eliminate unnecessary impacts to populations. 



