Tall Forbs

Photographer: Teresa Prendusi

Note: Tall forbs, for which the Conservation Alternative proposes forest management in the Herblands section, is a rare plant community in Utah.  The MLNF proposed Management Plan only mentions tall forbs as being a part of the Elk Knoll Research Natural Area:

Relatively level bench supporting subalpine tall forb vegetation; forests on adjacent slopes of subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce.

GOALS

Conservation Alternative Goals (FW-HERB -GL): 01

DESIRED CONDITIONS

Conservation Alternative Desired Conditions (FW-HERB-DC): 01-03

OBJECTIVES

Conservation Alternative Objectives (FW-HERB-OB): 01-04

STANDARDS

Conservation Alternative Standards (FW-POLLINATOR-ST): 01

GUIDELINES

Conservation Alternative Guidelines (FW-NPM-GD): 01

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ABOUT THIS COMPARISON

All text in this chart is copied and pasted from the Conservation Alternative, the proposed Management Plan, and the DEIS except for any text in brackets and in italics font.

YELLOW HIGHLIGHTED TEXT

Note: “Tall Forbs” is not a section by itself in the Management Plan.  However, it is a rare plant community of tall wildflowers that was greatly diminished by early cattle grazing on the Manti portion of the Manti-La Sal NF.  Most of the remaining tall forbs in the MLNF remain in sheep- and cattle-grazed areas. The Rocky Mountain Research Station of the Forest Service sponsored a 3-day tall forbs conference September 11-13, 2023 at the Great Basin Experimental Station, and Manti-La Sal NF botanists attended. However, no management elements are directed toward tall forbs in the Management Plan. They are mentioned as being present in the Elk Knoll Research Natural Area.

The Forest Service describes the tall forb community on its website:

1 Among the most unexpected and rarest of the high elevation plant communities is one dominated solely by large, luxuriant wildflowers, commonly referred to as the Tall Forb Community type. In the Tall Forb community trees and shrubs are relegated to the peripheral edges and don't invade or become established within the large tall forb "meadows" themselves. See Tall Forb (SRM 409) Cover Type [Excerpt] (PDF, 166 KB) from Rangeland Cover Types of the United States.

Probably the most striking feature of the Tall Forb Community is the abundance and remarkable variety of tall, luxuriant perennial wildflowers that make up the largest component of this community type. Up to 80 percent of the plant community composition is comprised of 16 inch to 48 inch tall wildflowers.

1 USDA Forest Service. What is a Tall Forb Community?

Orange patches are the remaining tall forb communities in Utah (Source: Forest Service)