Fleecer

Fleecer is a 31,585-acre Inventoried Roadless Area in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest of southwestern Montana, set in the montane country of the Fleecer Mountains along the Continental Divide. Named landforms include Mount Fleecer, Fleecer Ridge, Burnt Mountain, Burnt Dam Ridge, Beals Hill, Hungry Hill, and the open Selway Meadows and Mitchell Park, with gulches named Greenland, Coyote, American, and Minnesota. The hydrology is significant: the North Fork of Divide Creek, Jerry Creek, Hanson Creek, Spring Creek, Norton Creek, Moores Creek, Edward Creek, Indian Creek, Leffler Creek, Canyon Creek, Granulated Creek, Clear Creek, Libby Creek, Delano Creek, Beaver Creek, Long Tom Creek, Parker Creek, and Beefstraight Creek all rise within the area, fed by Larkspur and Tub Springs and the standing water of Mud Lake, draining into the Big Hole and Clark Fork drainages on opposite sides of the Divide.

The vegetation reflects the area's elevational range and the influence of the Divide crest. Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine Forest dominates the mid-elevation slopes, with lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in even-aged stands. Central Rockies Douglas-fir Forest occupies warmer aspects, with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) over creeping Oregon-grape (Berberis repens) and bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi). Intermountain Mountain Sagebrush Steppe opens the foothill benches with big sagebrush and bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva). The higher ground around Mount Fleecer and Fleecer Ridge carries Rocky Mountain Dry Subalpine Spruce-Fir Forest, Northern Rockies Subalpine Woodland and Parkland with federally Threatened whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), and Rocky Mountain Alpine Meadow. Glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum), mountain bog gentian (Gentiana calycosa), pink mountain-heath (Phyllodoce empetriformis), and yellow columbine (Aquilegia flavescens) mark the subalpine zone; quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and curl-leaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) fill ecotones between forest and open grassland.

Wildlife uses the elevational variety the Divide creates. Wapiti (Cervus canadensis), moose (Alces alces), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) move between forested cover on cooler slopes and the open foraging ground of the Selway Meadows and Mitchell Park. Mountain lion (Puma concolor) hunts the broken terrain. Dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) work the conifer-meadow edge. Great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) hunts the open meadow margins, and northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) occupies the denser conifer interior. Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) breeds in the spring-fed pools and along the headwater channels. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A visitor on the long Dickie Peak snowmobile route — open in summer as a multi-use trail at 17.6 miles — can cross the Divide crest of the area, watching the vegetation shift from lodgepole stands to subalpine meadow with glacier lily blooming in early summer and pink mountain-heath at higher elevation. The Fleecer Ridge route climbs to the summit ridge for views east toward Butte and west toward the Big Hole. Long Tom Creek and Spring Creek drop off the high ground into wet subalpine spruce-fir and streamside woodland where moose use the willow-lined channels. Selway Meadows and Mitchell Park open as wide subalpine clearings where elk feed in early evening.

The 31,585-acre Fleecer Inventoried Roadless Area sits between Beaverhead and Silver Bow Counties in southwestern Montana, within the Wisdom Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The mountain country drained by Jerry Creek, Divide Creek, and the headwaters of the Big Hole River system was occupied by Shoshone, Bannock, Salish, and Kootenai peoples before the arrival of non-Native settlers; the Shoshone and Bannock used the valleys to the south as hunter-gatherer country, and the surrounding ranges served as "an important meeting ground for native peoples before the introduction of white settlers" [1].

The most consequential event in the recorded history of the Big Hole country immediately west of Fleecer was the Battle of the Big Hole, fought on August 9 and 10, 1877, between U.S. Army troops under Colonel John Gibbon and a Nez Perce camp during the Nez Perce Flight of 1877 [2]. More than 800 nımí·pu· (Nez Perce) and over 2,000 horses had traveled peacefully through the Bitterroot Valley after crossing Lolo Pass into Montana, believing the military would not pursue them [2]. They had arrived at the place they called ?ıckumcılé.lıkpe — now Big Hole National Battlefield — on August 7 [2]. At dawn on August 9, Gibbon's force of "17 officers, 132 men and 34 citizens" attacked the sleeping encampment [2]. Between 60 and 90 nımí·pu· men, women, and children were killed during the battle; of the military and civilian volunteers, 31 were killed and 38 wounded [2]. After the battle the nımí·pu· fled south, "crossing back into Idaho over Bannock Pass," before heading east toward Yellowstone [2]. The battlefield lies in present-day Beaverhead County, with administration headquartered at Wisdom, Montana [2].

The non-Native economy of the surrounding country grew from the placer mining that opened southwestern Montana in the 1860s. Montana's first gold strike of consequence was made on Grasshopper Creek west of present-day Dillon on July 28, 1862, founding the camp of Bannack [3]. The 1863 Alder Gulch discovery, about thirty miles east, produced Virginia City, which grew to a camp of 10,000 [3]. By the 1870s and 1880s the copper mines at Butte, to the north of the Fleecer country, anchored a regional economy that drew rail lines, smelters, and ranches across the Divide and Beaverhead valleys [3]. Ranching took permanent hold in the Big Hole, with hay meadows along the river bottoms supplying winter feed for livestock that grazed the surrounding mountain country in summer.

Federal forest administration arrived in 1908, when the Beaverhead National Forest was established; over the following decades it grew to encompass the East and West Pioneer Mountains and the broader country of southwestern Montana [1]. In 1996 "the Beaverhead and Deerlodge forests were combined into one administrative unit," and the consolidated Beaverhead-Deerlodge today covers 3.36 million acres [1]. Fleecer lies within this consolidated forest, in the Wisdom Ranger District. The area is protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

• Headwater Stream Integrity Across the Divide: The Fleecer area sits astride the Continental Divide and is the headwaters source for streams flowing into both the Big Hole River and the Clark Fork system. Jerry Creek, the North Fork of Divide Creek, Long Tom Creek, Spring Creek, Norton Creek, and a dozen other named channels rise within the area, fed by Larkspur and Tub Springs. The roadless condition preserves the cold-water and low-sediment delivery that downstream aquatic systems on both sides of the Divide depend on.

• High-Elevation Whitebark Pine and Alpine Habitat: Northern Rockies Subalpine Woodland and Parkland on the ridges around Mount Fleecer and Fleecer Ridge includes the federally Threatened whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis). The area also includes Rocky Mountain Alpine Meadow and Rocky Mountain Alpine Dwarf-Shrubland at the highest elevations — communities that are limited in extent across the region. The roadless condition limits the disturbance corridors that accelerate blister rust spread in whitebark and the trampling and invasive-species pressure that compromise alpine vegetation.

• Connected Big-Game and Listed-Species Habitat: The unfragmented forest mosaic provides movement and forage habitat for wapiti (Cervus canadensis), moose (Alces alces), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). It also lies within the potential range of federally Threatened Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), and North American wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) — species that depend on large, unroaded blocks for foraging, denning, and dispersal.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

• Sedimentation of Big Hole and Clark Fork Headwaters: Cut slopes and unpaved road surfaces in the steep gulches of the Fleecer country would deliver chronic fine sediment to Jerry Creek, the North Fork of Divide Creek, Long Tom Creek, and the other headwater channels on both sides of the Divide. NatureServe ecosystem assessments for Central Rockies Douglas-fir Forest and Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine Forest specifically identify soil loss/erosion from road and other disturbance as a primary mechanism that "negatively impact[s] the water quality within the immediate watershed."

• Whitebark Pine Decline and Alpine Disturbance: Road construction into the high subalpine and alpine country around Mount Fleecer and Fleecer Ridge would create vectors for the spread of white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) into whitebark pine stands and would directly disturb the Rocky Mountain Alpine Meadow and Alpine Dwarf-Shrubland communities through cut-and-fill, edge expansion, and the spread of non-native plants. Alpine communities, once disturbed, recover on geologic time scales.

• Fragmentation of Canada Lynx and Grizzly Bear Habitat: Road corridors create the linear features that Canada lynx and grizzly bear avoid, splitting continuous forest into smaller patches with reduced interior habitat. NatureServe documents "roads & railroads" as direct stressors for lynx. Once a road network is established in a previously roadless block, the behavioral avoidance and elevated mortality risk that come with it persist for the operating life of the road system.

The 31,585-acre Fleecer Inventoried Roadless Area, in the Fleecer Mountains of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, is a mixed-use montane backcountry crossed by 18 documented trails — a combination of summer hiker/horse/bike routes and snowmobile routes that double as multi-use trails. The area straddles the Continental Divide on the Wisdom Ranger District, with Mount Fleecer, Fleecer Ridge, and Burnt Mountain anchoring the high country and the wide openings of Selway Meadows and Mitchell Park near the crest. No designated trailheads or campgrounds are documented inside the area; access is from the boundary.

Trails. The Dickie Peak Snowmobile route (SNO-2521, 17.6 miles) and the Divide Creek Snowmobile route (SNO-4550, 15.7 miles) are the longest routes and serve in summer as multi-use hiker/horse/bike trails. The Jerry Creek Snowmobile route (SNO-2520, 9.6 miles) traverses the eastern flank. Long Tom Creek Trail (2241, 8.2 miles) drops along the named drainage; Ditch Saddle (4143, 5.9 miles), Norton Gulch (4095, 4.7 miles), Beals Hill (4164, 4.4 miles), Spring Creek (4165, 3.9 miles), Fleecer Ridge (4094, 3.6 miles), Libby Creek (2080, 3.4 miles), and Greenland (4166, 2.4 miles) make up the moderate-length network. Shorter routes include Jerry Creek (2274, 1.6 miles), Bull Ranch (4124, 1.5 miles), Burnt Mountain (4125, 0.8 miles), Burnt Dam Ridge (2737, 0.7 miles), Starlight (41421, 0.7 miles), Long Tom Cabin (22411, 0.7 miles), and a snowmobile tie route to the Long Tom Cabin (SNO-2521.1, 0.3 miles).

Hunting. The Fleecer area is recognized big-game country, with wapiti, moose, and mule deer using the conifer-meadow mosaic and mountain lion working the broken terrain. The wide subalpine openings of Selway Meadows and Mitchell Park, along with the open ridge country of Fleecer Ridge, give hunters reliable forage zones to work from the trail network. All hunting is under Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks regulations; check the current hunting district maps and seasons.

Fishing. The area is the headwaters source for streams running into both the Big Hole River and the Clark Fork — Jerry Creek, Spring Creek, Long Tom Creek, Norton Creek, the North Fork of Divide Creek, and many smaller channels rise within it. These are small, cold mountain streams that require walking in from the trail network. Mud Lake is the only standing water named within the area. Anglers should consult Montana FWP regulations for stream-specific species, seasons, and gear restrictions.

Birding and Wildlife Watching. One eBird hotspot falls within 24 km — Mt. Haggin WMA, German Gulch access — with 111 species across 147 checklists. Within the area, the wide subalpine openings of Selway Meadows and Mitchell Park host great gray owl on the meadow edges and dusky grouse in the conifer-meadow ecotone. Northern saw-whet owl uses the interior conifer cover; warbling vireo and Wilson's warbler work the streamside woodland; Columbia spotted frog breeds in the spring-fed pools and along the headwater channels.

Snowmobiling and Winter Travel. Three groomed/marked snowmobile routes — Dickie Peak, Divide Creek, and Jerry Creek — make Fleecer one of the substantial winter motorized travel areas in the region, totaling more than 40 miles. Cross-country skiers and snowshoers also use the trail network and the open subalpine meadows.

Photography and Backcountry Travel. The combination of Continental Divide ridgeline, subalpine meadows, and headwater streamside woodland gives photographers strong contrasts. Glacier lily and yellow columbine peak in early summer in the subalpine meadows; whitebark pine on the high ridges and the open expanse of Selway Meadows are distinctive subjects.

Recreation in Fleecer depends in a direct way on the roadless condition. The absence of an interior road network is what makes Jerry Creek and Long Tom Creek small headwater fisheries; what keeps big-game distributions across Selway Meadows and Mitchell Park connected; and what allows the long ridge-crest routes on Dickie Peak and Fleecer Ridge to function as backcountry traverses rather than vehicle corridors.