Post-Symposium Tour, July 10-14, 1999

National Bison Range

Table of Contents:

Schedule Introduction Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Saturday 10 July, 1999 Day 2: Sunday 11 July, 1999 Day 3: Monday 12 July, 1999 Day 4: Tuesday 13 July, 1999 Day 5: Wednesday 14 July, 1999

Invasive Weeds

Weed 1 Weed 2

Credits

Introduced Biological Control Agents of Weeds in Montana

Wildlife Checklist

July 10, 1999 (Saturday)
8:00 am	depart from Bozeman [Possible stop at leafy spurge Oberea erythrocephala site] Deadman's Basin reservoir, picnic lunch
3:30 pm	arrive N-Bar Ranch, visit 3 leafy spurge sites, roping demonstration, Bar-B-Q dinner, country music
8:00 pm	depart for Lewistown (stay at Yogo Inn)

July 11, 1999 (Sunday)
8:00 am	depart from Lewistown Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Great Falls Choteau (Old Trail Museum, Egg Mountain dinosaur fossils) Arrive at St. Mary (Glacier National Park), late afternoon (stay at Many Glacier Hotel and Rising Sun Motor Inn)

July 12, 1999 (Monday)
8:00 am	depart for Glacier National Park visitors center
9:30 am	Park Ranger presentation on weeds in Glacier National Park
10:45 am	depart in "jammer" busses, (small open-top vehicles that go over the mountain pass on "Going-to-the-Sun" road in Glacier National Park) Depart from Lake McDonald, mid afternoon Pass Flathead Lake Arrive at Polson, late afternoon (stay at Best Western Kwatuqnuk and Port Polson Inn)

July 13, 1999 (Tuesday)
8:00 am	depart Polson
3:00-4:00 pm	visit Corvallis Research Center Arrive at Missoula, late afternoon (stay at Holiday Inn Parkside)

July 14, 1999 (Wednesday)
8:00 am	depart Missoula Stops in Nevada City, Virginia City, and/or Ennis. Arrive in Bozeman, by 7:00 pm (notify us if you want to go directly to the airport)

End of Tour

INTRODUCTION
Montana is the fourth largest state in the USA, but it is the third least densely populated - full of wide open spaces. It is known as the "Big Sky" state, but includes lots of dramatic landscape. More recently, residents have been adopting the title of a 1984 anthology of Montana writers, "The Last Best Place". Montana is the source of many of the legends the "Wild West", including Custer's last stand. Tyranosaurus rex once roamed this land, as have fur trappers, gold miners, copper kings, cattle barons and homesteaders . Members of 12 American Indian tribes still live in Montana. Gambling casinos are commonplace, and only just recently, the state changed the traffic speed limit from "reasonable and prudent" to 70 MPH. On our tour, we will pass through some of the most scenic areas in the state, but we will also see some extensive invasion by alien weeds, many of which are targets of biological control. This guide presents the itinerary, some historical notes of interest, descriptions of principal weeds and the status of their biological control, and lists of some of the wildlife you may encounter. Happy trails.

Departure
We will depart on buses at 08:00 on Saturday morning, July 10. Check to see whether you have reserved a room in your hotel or University dormitory for your return on July 14.

Transportation
We will be travelling on three motor coaches. We will stop every 2 hours or so for rest stops and to see sights. Montana is a big state, and our tour will cover 1,100 miles (1760 km). The buses will often start a half hour apart to reduce congestion at some of the stops. In the morning, pay attention to which bus you start on so you can find your luggage in the evening. Also, some evenings the group will be split among hotels.

Vegetation
The vegetation in this region has been classified into 10 zones by Daubenmire (1952) based on the dominant climax species. These are ordered in generally increasing elevation, which reflects increasing moisture and decreasing temperature.

1. Sagebrush-grass (lowest elevation)
2. Wheatgrass-bluegrass
3. Fescue-wheatgrass
4. Oak-mountain mahogany
5. Juniper-piñon pine
6. Ponderosa pine (starts at about 4,000 ft (1200 m) elevation, especially on the eastern side of the Continental Divide)
7. Douglas fir (especially on western side of Continental Divide)
8. Arborvitae-hemlock
9. Engleman spruce-subalpine fir (starts at about 6,500 ft (2000 m) elevation)
10. Sedge-grass (alpine, highest elevation)

Lodgepole pine (dry sites) and aspen (moist sites) are early successional trees, often indicating previous fire or lumbering.

Warning
Some parts of the trip will be at high altitude - take time to catch your breath. Beware of the brightness of the sun and use sun screen, a hat with a good brim and sunglasses. The air is relatively dry, so be sure to drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. Soft drinks and water will be available in coolers on the bus. Expect hot days and cold nights, but anything can happen including baseball-sized hail or snow. Insect repellant is generally not needed, unless you want to put some on your socks to discourage ticks.

Docile looking wild animals often tempt tourists to move too close to take pictures. DO NOT APPROACH animals and DO NOT FEED them. Bison can charge without warning, they go 35 MPH, and they can kill another bison with their horns - how fast can you run? Feeding wild animals, especially bears, encourages them to become "nuisance" animals which must then be captured and relocated or killed by park managers. Rattlesnakes probably need no mention, except to say that both pygmy and the large diamondback deserve equal respect. Just because you are following someone else doesn't mean you are automatically safe - sometimes it takes a couple of pedestrians to wake up and disturb a snake to the point where it strikes out.

Rocky mountain spotted fever was once the scourge of the Bitterroot Valley, but is little heard of today. The causative agent, Rickettsia rickettsii, is transmitted by the bite of a wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni). Check yourself daily for ticks and remove any you find. Incubation of the disease is 2-5 days, and signs include a reddish rash on wrists, ankles or back, headache, aching lumbar region, and malaise. Today it is readily treated by antibiotics.

Hanta virus has become infamous after an outbreak in the southwestern USA in 1993. The first symptoms are fever and muscle aches in the hips and lower back, coughing, red eyes or a headache. It is deceptively like a cold, but within a few hours or days at most, lung tissue fills with fluid, making breathing nearly impossible. 40% of the victims die. The virus is spread through urine and feces of deer mice, becomes airborne as dust and is inhaled into the lungs. This can happen when a person is handling rodents, disturbing rodent nests or burrows, cleaning buildings where rodents have made a home, or working outdoors. The virus dies quickly when exposed to sunlight. If you suspect you have been infected, consult a physician immediately.

Rabies is a virus usually contracted from animal bites. Be wary of animals behaving strangely, or those injured on the road. Common carriers include: skunks, raccoons, foxes, bats, beavers, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, rats, mice, dogs, cats and cattle. The earliest symptoms are pain, tingling or numbness at the site of the bite, fever, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and feeling tired and "run down". It is very important not to wait for symptoms before seeking care. If rabies gets into the nerves, which only takes a few days, vaccination is useless.

Organizing committee
This tour is the result of the efforts of many people including Neal Spencer, Bob Nowierski, Nancy Rush, Nancy Herzog, and Lincoln Smith. Special thanks go to Tom Elliot, Suzanne Wright and David Hein for hosting us at the N-Bar ranch.

Map of Montana

Rocky Mountain Tree Distribution
Where trees can grow depends largely on local climate, which is affected by elevation and exposure to the sun. Some trees are adapted to hot, dry foothills. A three inch (8 cm) tall Ponderosa Pine seedling may have roots two feet (60 cm) long. It can withstand soil surface temperatures of 180°F (82°C), but a heavy frost can kill it. Other trees can survive short summers and severe winters. The new needles of Subalpine Fir resist frost, its branches shed heavy snow, but its roots are shallow.

Lackschewitz. 1991. Vascular Plants of West-Central Montana - Identification guidebook. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech Rpt. INT-277.

ITINERARY

N-Bar Ranch
Visit leafy spurge sites where Aphthona flea beetles and Hyles euphorbia have established. Cowboy roping demonstration, country music and Bar-B-Q dinner.

Lewistown - (pop. 6,500, elev. 3,963 ft)
The settlement of Lewistown began in 1873 as a trading post, Fort Sherman, for Crow Indians and trappers. The town was named after a Major Lewis who established a fort nearby in 1863. Cattle ranching and wheat are major commodities. The town is famous for Yogo sapphires, which are mined nearby. They have the unique ability to retain their brilliance under artificial light. Some of the crown jewels of Europe and the engagement ring of Queen Elizabeth of England, contain Yogo sapphires. The sapphires were first discovered in 1898 in the Yogo Gulch of the Little Belt Mountains.

Day 2: Sunday 11 July, 1999

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
In 1803, the U.S. greatly expanded its western frontier by purchasing land from France. The "Louisiana Purchase" consisted of the western half of the Mississippi River drainage and was basically unexplored. President Thomas Jefferson persuaded Congress to commit $2,500 to finance the first U.S. expedition to try to find a route over the Continental Divide, commissioning Meriwether Lewis to lead it. Lewis picked William Clark as co-commanding officer and they selected 25 men, a Negro slave and a French Canadian interpreter to join them on a 2-year expedition into uncharted territory occupied by presumably hostile Indians to try to find a route to the Pacific Ocean. The group picked up another French Canadian and his Shoshone Indian wife, Sacagawea, and her newborn son. Sacagawea proved essential to the success of the expedition, not only in interpreting, persuading Indians to sell them horses, and obtaining food from native plants, but also because the presence of a woman indicated to the tribes they met that the whitemen were not a war party, and could be received peacefully. Indeed, only once was gunfire exchanged with the Indians, and that was when Lewis separated from the main group on the return journey. The expedition departed "civilization" at St. Louis, spent the first winter near Bismark North Dakota, continued up the Missouri River, portaging at Great Falls, and continuing up to Three Forks, where they met the first Indians after leaving N. Dakota. There they bartered for horses, and an Indian guide led them through the difficult Bitterroot mountains, where the men almost starved before reaching the next Indian tribe. The party continued down the Columbia river, reaching the Pacific Ocean, where they spent the next winter. On the return trip, the expedition split into two groups near Missoula, with Clark headed south through the Bitterroot Valley (past Corvallis) crossing over passes to Bozeman and finally down the Yellowstone River. Lewis headed north to explore the potential northward limit of U.S. territory. He ran into Blackfeet Indians, which led to an exchange of gunfire and the death of an Indian. Lewis raced back to the Missouri River before the Blackfeet could take their vengeance and followed it down to the confluence with the Yellowstone. Before Lewis caught up with Clark's party he managed to get shot in the behind by one of his men while hunting. The expedition was considered a major feat, providing excellent maps, information on Indian tribes, customs, and vocabulary, and descriptions of native plants and animals. Their information, particularly descriptions of extraordinarily abundant game, immediately encouraged trappers to head upstream to seek their fortunes in beaver pelts. Only one member of the party died. Unfortunately, Lewis never managed to write a final report of the expedition, and finally ended up committing suicide after being called to Washington, D.C. to justify some expenses that the government did not want to pay. The government ended up agreeing to pay, but it was too late for Lewis. His journals were not written in a published form until 1814, after Nicholas Biddle (who graduated from Princeton University at the age of 15) was commissioned to work on Lewis's and Clark's journals.

Great Falls - (pop. 55,100, elev. 3,312 ft)
Lewis described the great waterfall as the most remarkable sight of his life when he arrived in 1805. Today the waterfall is greatly diminished due to a hydroelectric dam. Lewis also noted that there were "not less than 10,000 buffalo in a circle of two miles". The area did not begin to be settled until treaties with the fierce Blackfeet Indians were signed in 1855. The only exchange of gunfire with Indians during the remarkable Lewis and Clark expedition, was with the Blackfeet Indians during Lewis's return through this region in 1806. One of the most famous illustrators of cowboy life was Charlie M. Russell, whose illustrations were so detailed that the individuals he depicted could be identified. A museum displays some of his paintings and sculptures and .

The park contains over 1,500 sq. miles (3800 sq km) of land, including towering, glacier-carved peaks above reflecting lakes. The going-to-the-sun Road is one of the most spectacular drives in the country, passing sheer cliffs to reach alpine meadows at 7,000 ft (2100 m) elevation. Over 60 species of mammals and 200 species of birds occur there. Most of Glacier Park is an enormous slab (about 2 mi ( 3 km) thick) that slid east at least 35 mi (56 km). The hard slab is limestone, which was deposited under the seas 1.5 billion years ago, and it forms the steep eastern face of the mountains. Below the slab lies almost 2,700 ft (810 m) of younger sedimentary rocks (65-100 million years old). These comprise the gently rolling hills to the east of the park. Rising up the mountain, the bottom layer of the slab is Altyn limestone, which appears white at fresh road cuts and tan on weathered cliffs. Next is 3,500 ft of green mudstone (Appekunny formation), followed by 2,500 ft (750 m) of red mudstone (Grinnell formation). Many layers show beautifully preserved mud cracks, ripples and rain drop imprints. This is topped by about 3,500 ft (1050 m) of gray limestone (Siyeh formation) creates cliffs high in the park, and is exposed in roadcuts on both sides of Logan Pass. Remains of extremely primitive blue-green algae (1 billion years old) form cabbage-looking structures called stromatolites. These algae presumably first released the atmospheric oxygen which we are still enjoying today. Molten magma squeezed between layers of the upper Siyeh formation (1.2 billion years ago, while it was still mud) left the Purcell sill, of black diabase basalt. Heat from the magma baked the adjacent layers to create sparkling white marble.

The glaciers in the park have retreated to a bare remnant of what they were during the ice age, when the peaks were islands in a sea of ice. Glaciers carved away the mountains, leaving the remaining horns, hollowed out the U-shaped valleys, and dumped gravel and boulders in moraines which blocked up the valleys, creating long lakes. Lake McDonald was created by an ice block that melted after deposits of till and outwash surrounded it.

Polson - (pop. 3,300, elev. 2,900 ft)
According to legend, Paul Bunyan dug the channel connecting the Flathead Lake and the Flathead river - a gorge 200 to 500 feet wide that funnels 500,000 gallons per second during spring runoff. Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. Polson marks the terminal moraine of a great south-flowing glacier that reached its peak about 70,000 to 130,000 years ago. The outwash in the Ninepipes area created many kettle ponds after blocks of buried glacial ice melted. To the north, the glacier smoothly eroded the mountain peaks, while to the south it gouged the valley, leaving craggy peaks and sharp ridges.

National Bison Range
The U.S. government established the National Bison Range in 1908 to help take the responsibility of preserving the species, which is so much a symbol of the American west. The National Bison Range is an 18,500 acre (7400 ha) refuge containing 350 to 500 bison. Principal habitats are the "palouse prairie" (wheatgrass-fescue mixture) and the "montane forest" (Douglas fir-ponderosa pine mixture). Elevations range from 2585 to 4885 ft (788-1489 m). Forty species of mammals and 205 species of birds have been observed in the refuge. In an attempt to maintain native vegetation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been battling 12 species of noxious weeds, scattered over about 32,000 acres. The principal weeds are dalmatian toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), spotted knapweed (Centaurea biebersteinii), sulfur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta), houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) and whitetop (Cardaria draba). Biological control agents have been released on St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum), spotted knapweed, Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), musk thistle (Carduus nutans), dalmatian toadflax, common mullein (Verbascum thapsus), bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare), and purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

Bison - There were once 30 to 70 million bison on the Great Plains. In 1871 a tanning method was developed which created a market for "buffalo" robes. The arriving railroad provided cheap transport, and soon professional hunters were slaughtering bison. A rifleman could kill as many as 200 bison from a single stand. Often only the tongues were cut out to ship back east, while the rest of the animal was left to rot. The slaughter reached a peak in the 1870s. By 1883, a survey counted less than 200 in the entire West. It is possible that diseases introduced by domestic cattle also contributed to the demise of the bison. But there is no question that the disappearance of the great bison herds forever changed the West, removing the traditional livelihood of American Indians, opening the railroad routes and freeing the land for domestic cattle and grain. The bison was saved from extinction by the efforts of a few ranchers who established small herds. The U.S. government established the National Bison Range in 1908 to help take over the responsibility of preserving the species, which is so much a symbol of the American west. Many private ranchers and Indian reservations are now raising bison commercially. Today there are over 140,000 bison in North America.

MSU Research Station, Corvallis
The Western Agricultural Research Center in Corvallis, Montana, is one of seven research centers administered by Montana State University. The center, established in 1907, currently conducts research in soil fertility, specialty crops, and biological weed control.

Missoula - (pop. 42,900, elev. 3,223 ft)
Missoula is dubbed the "Garden City" for its mild winters relative to the rest of Montana. It lies in an old, glacial lakebed, which is now cut by Clark Fork River. The Bitterroot River feeds into the Clark Fork on the southwest edge of town; the famed Big Blackfeet River meets the Clark Fork just east of town. Missoula sits at the entrance of Hell Gate Canyon, which was an important route the Salish Indians took to the Great Plains every summer to hunt bison. The name of the canyon recalls the many times the Blackfeet Indians ambushed the Salish here. In 1806, Merriweather Lewis camped at the site occupied by Missoula as he traveled east (Clark had just separated to head south, past present-day Corvallis and Bozeman, to explore the Yellowstone River). Fort Missoula was established in 1877, when the U.S. army was chasing the Nez Perce Indians. The Nez Perce and Chief Joseph have become famous for their tactics and many successful battles against superior forces during the 1,700 mi (2,700 km) retreat from Oregon to north central Montana from May to October, 1877. Today, Missoula hosts the University of Montana, which has become known for its fiction authors. Lumbering is an important local industry, and the city is surrounded by National Forest and Wilderness Areas.

Virginia City - (pop. 100, elev. 5,822 ft)
Gold was discovered in Alder Gulch in 1863, by three prospectors who had lost their expedition. Within 18 months, 10,000 people invaded the area, leading to the establishment of the Virginia City mining camp which became the center of activity in the territory of Montana. The sudden wealth and lack of government led to lawlessness, typical of the frontier. But, in Virginia City and Bannack, this rose to an extreme. Henry Plummer, drifted in and became elected sheriff. Then he supplied information to his secret gang of thugs, who attacked gold shipments, stagecoaches and lone travelers. More than 190 miners were murdered, including the Chief Deputy Sheriff who tried to inform on the gang. On the rare occasion when some of the perpetrators were caught, they were always released, even after conviction. This continued until a young lawyer, Wilbur Sanders, succeeded in getting a conviction in an informal trial and persuaded the crowd to immediately hang the criminal before it could be swayed toward leniency. James Williams then organized a "vigilance committee", which ultimately involved about 2 thousand "vigilantes". In 6 weeks they uncovered, tracked down and hanged 24 men. Montana's first official court was opened about a year later, and by 1867 vigilantism was considered a menace. However, the emblem "3-7-77" on the shoulder patches of Montana State Highway patrolmen refers to the code word used by the Virginia City vigilantes.

Mining started with simple panning of stream sediments to separate out gold dust. More sophisticated techniques involved water sluices and rockers, which involved lots of excavation, ditch digging and damming of the streams. This was followed by hydraulic mining, using high pressured water to spray the hillsides, and dredging. Both the latter two methods have left a legacy of gravel mounds. Over $100 million of gold was extracted in the Virginia City area.

Bozeman - (pop. 22,700, elev. 4,755 ft)
The city was named for John Bozeman who led the first wagon train of pioneers to settle the Gallatin Valley in 1864. The Montana gold rush had started in 1862 and the Bozeman trail became a popular highway for settlers and miners. However, it crossed through the best hunting lands of the Sioux Indians, who fiercely attacked the wagon trains. Bozeman himself was killed, and by 1869 his trail was abandoned as the railroad pushed west to Utah. Montana State University is the largest campus of the state's university system. The Museum of the Rockies, on the campus, has exhibits of dinosaurs, American Indians and pioneer life.

CREDITS

Most of the plant illustrations and all the distribution maps were copied from USDA-ARS, 1971, Common Weeds of the United States. The plant distribution information is therefore somewhat dated. Much of the information on weeds and their control agents was obtained from Whitson et al., 1996, Weeds of the West and Rees et al., 1996, Biological Control of Weeds of the West. Other information was obtained from brochures of the Glacier National Park and the National Bison Range. Historical information largely came from Malone, Roeder and Lang, 1991, Montana A History of Two Centuries, and geological information came from Alt and Hyndman, 1986, Roadside Geology of Montana.