the Secretary makes a final determination — 

 possibly a few years in the future. 



This list of rare and local trees in the Na- 

 tional Forest has been assembled from various 

 sources. For many years the Dendrology Proj- 

 ect of the Forest Service has been compiling 

 records and maps on tree distribution. The gen- 

 eral natural range, by States, of each tree spe- 

 cies and variety has been recorded in Forest 

 Service Check Lists (Little 1953). The first 

 checklist was published in 1898. 



Also, the 5-volume "Atlas of United States 

 Trees," now being completed, has a map of each 

 native species of continental United States, in- 

 cluding all mentioned here. "Volume 1, Conifers 

 and Important Hardwoods" (Little 1971a) con- 

 tains maps of all native conifers. "Volume 2, 

 Alaska Trees and Common Shrubs" (Viereck 



and Little 1975) covers that State. The other 

 trees will be found in "Volume 3, Minor West- 

 ern Hardwoods" (Little 1976b) and "Volume 4, 

 Minor Eastern Hardwoods" (Little 1977). 



Detailed maps of forest trees in California 

 have been published (Griffin and Critchfield 

 1972) . Much earlier, George B. Sudworth (1913) , 

 the first Forest Service dendrologist, began 

 preparation of species maps but issued only the 

 first part entitled "Forest Atlas. Geographic 

 Distribution of North American Trees." 



Maps of the tree species on lists by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution were compared with a map of 

 the National Forests, both with the same scale, 

 1/10,000,000. Then the species whose ranges 

 included National Forests were checked for 

 more detailed records, such as State and local 

 floras and monographs. 



DEFINITIONS 



Several descriptive definitions may be appro- 

 priate. A rare species has small numbers of 

 individuals throughout its range, which may be 

 restricted or widespread. The term local species 

 is used here for one of relatively small range 

 but one which is sufficiently common not to be 

 called rare. A species whose range is limited 

 to a particular named area, usually small, is 

 cited as endemic. Border or peripheral species 

 reach the limit of their natural range a short 

 distance into the United States, where they may 

 be classed also as rare or local. (Border species 

 could become extinct in the United States and 

 still be common in a neighboring country.) 



Two administrative or legal definitions may 

 be quoted from the Endangered Species Act. 

 "The term 'endangered species' means any spe- 

 cies which is in danger of extinction through- 



out all or a significant portion of its range. . . ." 

 "The term 'threatened species' means any spe- 

 cies which is likely to become an endangered 

 species within the foreseeable future through- 

 out all or a significant portion of its range." 

 Survival of an endangered species requires as- 

 sistance. When a species has small numbers of 

 individuals, loss of or changes in habitat, over- 

 exploitation, competition, disease, or other fac- 

 tors could cause extinction. At present, no plant 

 species has been officially classified as endan- 

 gered or threatened. 



Some rare and local tree species are also on 

 the lists of proposed endangered and threatened 

 species compiled by the Smithsonian Institution 

 (1975). However, border or peripheral species 

 generally are excluded by definitions. 



SPECIAL AREAS WITHIN THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



Many rare and local plant species are protec- 

 ted within Federal lands administered by the 

 Forest Service and other agencies (Little 

 1975a). For example, more than 500 Research 

 Natural Areas have been established on Fed- 

 eral lands for scientific and educational pur- 

 poses, and action on others is pending. A direc- 

 tory compiled in 1968 listed 336 (Federal Com- 



mittee on Research Natural Areas 1968). Fed- 

 eral Research Natural Areas in Oregon and 

 Washington, totaling 48 in 1972, have been de- 

 scribed in detail (Franklin, Hall, Dyrness, and 

 Maser 1972) . 



The National Forest System is one of the lar- 

 gest and most extensive land acreages managed 

 by an agency. Totals as of Sept. 30, 1976, are 



