32 



14. Recommended critical habitat: A better understanding of 

 the association of this species with particular types of 

 soils is necessary before critical habitat can be 

 recommended. 



15. Conservation/recovery recommendations. 



A. General conservation recommendations. 



1. Recommendations regarding present or 

 anticipated activities: Several of the 

 occurrences of this species are on or near land 

 that is being stripmined for coal. It is 

 possible that some of these occurrences may be 

 eliminated through continued mining. Should 

 large numbers of these populations be lost as a 

 result, the status of the species should be 

 reevaluated. 



2. Areas recommended for protection: The Biddle 

 School Section (007) was recommended as a 

 proposed Rare Plant Natural Area by the Montana 

 Natural Areas Committee (Loop and Bird 1986) . 

 This site is on state land. To date, the state 

 has no funding for a Natural Areas Program and 

 has not initiated the establishment of this 

 site as a natural area. 



Several sites (Taylor Butte Rim (012), King 



Creek Well (015)) on the Custer National Forest 



support large populations of A. barrii , which 



appear to be somewhat buffered against drought 



conditions, probably as a result of higher 



precipitation. These sites would be 



particularly appropriate for conservation 



measures. 



/ 



3. Habitat management recommendations: No 



recommendations . 



4. Publicity sensitivity: None. 



5. Other recommendations: None. 



B. Monitoring activities and research needs: Although 

 much appropriate habitat for A. barrii in Montana 

 has been surveyed, there are still unsurveyed areas 

 that almost certainly support populations (Lisa 

 Schassberger , pers. obs.). These potential areas 

 include, lands near Biddle, south of the Ranch Creek 

 1 (024) site, and in areas surrounding the Bell 

 Creek (026) site; also, lands south of Ashland on 

 the east side of the Tongue River. It is 

 recommended that the Northern Cheyenne Indian 

 reservation survey its lands for this species, 



