Helena National Forest during the summer of 1992. Among 

 these were eight species of bats, representing four genera. 



DISCUSSION 



There appears to be an unusually rich representation of bats 

 on the Townsend Ranger District of the Helena National 

 Forest. Studies on the nearby Deerlodge National Forest 

 during the summers of 1991 and 1992 resulted in the capture 

 of only 36 bats during more than 40 trap nights (Butts 

 1993a, Butts 1993b), compared to 53 bats during 5 trap 

 nights on the Townsend Ranger District. Most of the bats 

 captured on the Deerlodge were taken at three locations. 

 It is important to note, however, that the sites surveyed on 

 the Townsend Ranger District were selected because they had 

 habitat components that were associated with high bat 

 activity on the Deerlodge National Forest. Sites on the 

 Deerlodge, on the other hand, were selected to be 

 representative of the Forest as a whole. 



One of the species captured in Avalanche Gulch, the 

 Townsend 's big-eared bat, is on the U.S. Forest Service 

 Northern Region sensitive species list ( Mumma 1991) and two 

 of the eight species documented on the District are on the 

 Montana Natural Heritage Program's sensitive species list 

 ( Townsend 's big-eared bat and Fringed myotis ) . 



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