INTRODUCTION 



This report describes a sensitive species botanical 

 survey of Beaverhead National Forest lands in the Tendoy 

 Mountains in southwestern Montana. The purpose of this work 

 was to locate and survey populations of sensitive plant 

 species recognized by Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service 

 (USDA Forest Service 1994), and prospective sensitive species 

 currently tracked by the Montana Natural Heritage Program 

 (MTNHP) as plant species of special concern (Heidel 1994). 

 Surveys to determine the status of sensitive species are being 

 conducted throughout the west in response to the Endangered 

 Species Act of 1973 and subsequent conservation initiatives by 

 the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies. These surveys 

 represent a botanical baseline to aid in identifying 

 conservation priorities and developing protection and 

 compatible management strategies. 



In 1993, a similar study was conducted on Bureau of Land 

 Management (BLM) lands in the Tendoy Mountains and adjacent 

 upper Big Sheep Creek drainage (Vanderhorst and Lesica 1994). 

 The BLM study provided a list of "target" species for this 

 project. A secondary goal of both of these surveys was to 

 document the general flora of the area. Together these 

 projects represent a recent rapid advance in the knowledge of 

 the unique flora of the Tendoy Mountains vicinity. 



THE STUDY AREA 



The Tendoy Mountains are located in Beaverhead County in 

 the southwest corner of the state (Figure 1). They lie about 

 30 miles south-southwest of the county seat, Dillon, and 

 directly west of the small communities of Red Rock, Kidd, and 

 Dell. The Tendoys are isolated from ranges to the east and 

 north by broad basins and low hills drained by Red Rock and 

 Horse Prairie Creeks respectively. The valley of Medicine 

 Lodge Creek separates the Tendoys from the Beaverhead 

 Mountains to the west. The deep canyon of Big Sheep Creek 

 divides the Tendoys from White Pine Ridge to the south, its 

 tributary, Muddy Creek, forms an interior basin between the 

 eastern and western flanks of the range, and its upper 

 tributaries form a broad basin to the southeast. Relatively 

 high elevation connections between the Beaverhead and Tendoy 

 ranges are formed by White Pine Ridge and by the divide 

 between Medicine Lodge Creek and Cabin Creek, a tributary of 

 Big Sheep Creek. Elevations range from under 6,000 feet in 

 the valley bottoms to just over 9,500 feet on a few of the 

 highest peaks. 



