Standley

Standley proposed Research Natural Area (pRNA) was established to represent subalpine-fir (Abies lasiocarpa) /green fescue parklands, with a variety of green fescue communities.  Moderate to steep slopes on the northwest end of the pRNA drop into a basin filled with springs and wet meadows, feeding into the headwaters of Deer Creek. Another ridge near the center runs northeast before dropping into the Bear Creek drainage. The pRNA rises to a narrow east-west ridge at the south end.  Subalpine grasslands dominate the pRNA with spruce-fir and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests present in lower subalpine meadows. Subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) are interspersed throughout the subalpine grasslands.