Fen Vegetation and Rare Plant Population Monitoring in Cow Creek Meadows and Smith Creek Research Natural Area, Selkirk Mountains, Idaho

摘要

Botanical exploration has revealed that Cow Creek Meadows, on the east slope of the Selkirk Mountains, Idaho, are of extraordinary biodiversity value. Seven rare plant populations are known from the meadows along with one rare animal. In addition, grizzly bear and woodland caribou are known to use the drainage during parts of the year. Human activities in the form of cattle grazing, logging, and road building have had an impact on the meadows and are seen as a potential threat to the sensitive plant and animal populations that occur there. In 1992, Idaho Fish and Game's Conservation Data Center and Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, entered into a cooperative agreement to establish monitoring plots in fen habitats of Cow Creek Meadows and Smith Creek RNA to ascertain whether logging and cattle grazing are having negative effects on the sensitive plant populations in Cow Creek Meadows. Smith Creek RNA is the control area for this study.