. Plant species of concern and plant associations of Powder River county, Montana . Photo by Bonnie Heidel INTRODUCTION Southeastern Montana, including Powder River County, has some of tlie most ex- tensive range landscapes in the state. A long history of ranching as tlie predomi- nant land use and effective land steward- ship have maintained or restored exten- sive areas that siippoit good quahty rangelands with healtliy, diverse popula- tions of native wildlife and high ecologi- cal integrity. However, the biological character and richness of diis region has not been well documented. Recent
. Plant species of concern and plant associations of Powder River county, Montana . Photo by Bonnie Heidel INTRODUCTION Southeastern Montana, including Powder River County, has some of tlie most ex- tensive range landscapes in the state. A long history of ranching as tlie predomi- nant land use and effective land steward- ship have maintained or restored exten- sive areas that siippoit good quahty rangelands with healtliy, diverse popula- tions of native wildlife and high ecologi- cal integrity. However, the biological character and richness of diis region has not been well documented. Recent studies focusing on the Tongue River drainage in southeast- em Rosebud County (Heidel 1997) and Carter County (Vanderhorst et al. 1998) have provided a gieat deal of new infonnation on the vegetation and rare flora, but neither extended to Powder River County. This study was undertaken as a first step in documenting the county's biological resources and ecology, in tlie context of soutlieastern Montana and tlie sun'ounding region. Our goal was to suivey BLM lands in Powder River County for plant species of concern and document tlie natural vegetation on these lands, including communities of limited range and outstanding examples of more widespread community types. Sui'vey work emphasized major blocks of land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), but also included otiier public lands near or continuous with BLM blocks. ^'Species of concern" are those identified by tlie Montana Natiual Heritage Program (Heidel, 2001) as vulnerable to extirpation across tlieir range or in Montana because of rarity, significant loss of habitat, and/or sensitivity to habitat disturbances. Most of tliese are also designated as BLM Special Status Spe- cies. We placed particular emphasis on species Ihat are of global orrangewide concern (Heritage ranks Gl -G3; see Appendix A for rank definitions). In tlie course of sui'vey work, we also documented loca- tions for "species of p
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