INTRODUCTION 



Maintenance of biological diversity and ecosytem function are 

 components of the U.S. Forest Service management mandate under 

 the National Forest Management Act of 1976 and the Resources 

 Planning Act Program of 1990 (Salwasser 1991) . One of the 

 specific objectives of this goal is the protection of sensitive 

 species as developed under regional sensitive species policies 

 (Reel et al, 1989) . 



The first step towards this objective is baseline resource 

 inventory to identify sensitive species and to characterize their 

 distribution and habitat requirements. Sensitive species 

 identification has been accomplished in part through the Region 1 

 Sensitive Plant Field Guide with its target list of sensitive and 

 watch species for the Helena National Forest (USDA Forest Service 

 1988) , with updates (Lesica and Shelly 1991) . The list was 

 developed based on available botanical information. 



The Big Belt and Elkhorn Mountains are not well known 

 botanically, despite their proximity to Montana's capital city, 

 Helena. This is particularly true for rare plants. Previous to 

 this project, only one systematic species survey had been 

 conducted in the project area, inventory of Lesquerella klausii 

 in the Big Belt Mountains. Other previous collections of rare 

 plants, all from the Big Belt Mountains, included Arenaria 

 kingii . Carex vallicola, Cirsium longistylum , Claytonia 

 lanceolata var. f lava . Juncus hallii . Polygonum douqlasii ssp. 

 austinae , and Potentilla diversifolia var. multisecta . No rare 

 plants have been reported from the Elkhorn Mountains. Little was 

 known of the overall diversity and distribution of plant life in 

 the Big Belt and Elkhorn Mountains. Three little-known sensitive 

 species were originally proposed as the survey focus, including 

 Arenaria kingii . Juncus hallii . and Polygonum douglasii ssp. 

 austinae . The survey scope was expanded to include all 

 documented and potential species of special state concern. 



The primary purpose of this study was to provide a baseline for 

 the sensitive species programs and related programs on the Helena 

 National Forest by conducting systematic field inventory for 

 sensitive species. Identification and determination of 

 distribution and habitat requirements were conducted within a 

 framework that lays the foundation for sensitive species 

 biological evaluations and for more detailed studies. The work 

 also represents a preliminary survey of the floristic diversity 

 of the Elkhorn and Big Belt Mountains and contributions to a 

 larger ecosystem management approach. This work was conducted 

 concurrently with a sensitive animal species study by the Montana 

 Natural Heritage Program (Reichel et al. 1993) . 



