Road maintenance crews and their supervisors should be 

 notified of the locations of populations occurring 

 along the roadsides. Detailed maps with locations of 

 populations should be provided to the road maintenance 

 staff. This could reduce or eliminate unnecessary 

 impacts or losses of these sites (adapted from Shelly 

 1988) . 



The potential impacts of mining should be examined 

 whenever such activities are considered within the 

 vicinity of Lesguerella klausii sites. Major impacts 

 should be avoided if possible, and at least mitigated 

 for, to allow the continued existence of these 

 populations (adapted from Shelly 1988) . 



D. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER ASSESSMENT: The discovery of 



Lesguerella klausii some 10 miles further south of 

 other Big Belt Mountain localities indicates the need 

 for surveys in this intervening area. Also additional 

 surveys could be conducted in the Gates of the 

 Wilderness area to ascertain the full extent of the 

 species there. 



Monitoring plots should be set up in at least three 

 roadside locations and in three relatively undisturbed 

 sites to determine effects of disturbance as well as 

 long-terra population trends. 



E. SUMMARY: Lesguerella klausii is a Montana endemic 



occurring in Lewis & Clark and Meagher Counties. 

 Twenty of the currently known 34 populations are in the 

 Big Belt Mountains within the Helena National Forest, 

 and all the others are on another diestrict of the 

 forest. The species is tolerant of moderate 

 disturbance, and soil texture and the lack of competing 

 vegetation seem to be the most important factors in 

 determining the its distribution. Eight populations 

 are considered to be protected within the Gates of the 

 Mountains Wilderness Area and the adjacent vehicle 

 closure area to the south. Thus the species is not 

 imminently threatened with extinction, but future 

 threats from mining and road maintenance/construction 

 could extirpate other populations. A declining trend 

 in numbers of individuals or populations could lead to 

 placement of the species as a Forest Service Sensitive 

 species and/or a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Category species. 



