it is unavailable as overstory cover in winter. In summer it forms a long contiguous strip of low 

 elevation riparian bottomland, ranging from '^ to % miles wide. Contiguous with Upper Willow 

 Creek is upland coniferous forest located in the project area. To the east of Sections 5, 8, and 17, 

 much of the coniferous cover adjacent to Upper Willow Creek has been fragmented with past 

 harvest. The exception is near the headwaters of Upper Willow Creek, in the northeast portion of 

 the elk security analysis area. 



Issue 2: Snags and coarse woody debris 



The project area has scattered large-sized Douglas fir and some large ponderosa pine with defects 

 that would make suitable snag recruitment trees. Most of the project area is lodgepole pine. 

 Approximately 189.6 acres of timber within the project area meet Greene et al. old growth 

 criteria. These stands tend to contain a higher percentage of dead and dying lodgepole, and 

 include areas with many snags and snag recruits. These stands are scattered through the west 

 parcel, and dominate the north half of Section 5. This type of habitat is often used by the black- 

 backed woodpecker. The entire State ownership in Upper Willow Creek contains 115 acres of 

 snag-poor habitat all in Section 16 that was harvested using clearcuts in the mid 80' s. 



Issue 3: The proposed road building and timber harvesting could have a negative impact 

 on the elk population that uses this area, by reducing security cover. 



Dense lodgepole pine stands that dominate the drainage provide both hiding and security cover 

 for elk herds that use the area. The upper third of the Upper Willow Creek drainage is used by 

 elk for summer and fall range. With assistance from Dan Hook (MT Department of Fish, 

 Wildlife, & Parks), the analysis area required to address hiding and security cover issues was 

 delineated (Fig. 3-1). The area delineated includes annual home range for the local elk herd. For 

 the remainder of this document, this delineated area will be referred to as the Elk Analysis Area 

 (BAA). East of Upper Willow Creek, there has been almost no timber harvesting or road 

 construction. Existing roads are mostly two-tracks and used for livestock and ranch 

 management. Out of this approximately 45.5 mi" EAA, the DNRC is proposing to harvest 

 between 804 and 1 ,3 1 5 acres through a variety of harvests designed to approximate various fire 

 intensities. 



Upper Willow Creek flows south for approximately 1 8 miles through forested land, hay fields, 

 and pasture before joining Rock Creek at Gilles Bridge. The valley formed by Upper Willow 

 Creek is relatively narrow with steep mountains flanking it on the east, and more gentle 

 mountains on the west and north sides. The south end of the drainage is dominated by high- 

 energy exposures that are predominately grassland interspersed with Douglas fir and lodgepole 

 pine on north aspects. Some smaller patches of grassland are included on southerly aspects and 

 near the creek bottom. The upper 1/3 of the drainage is composed of dense stands of lodgepole 

 pine with some Douglas fir on south aspects. Spruce and subalpine fir dominates higher 

 elevation creek bottoms and other moist sites. 



The EAA is bounded by Scotchman's Gulch on the south, the Black Pine Ridge Mountains on 

 the east, Sandstone Ridge on the west, and a ridge between Harvey Creek and Upper Willow 



59 



