Assessing the status and extent of Lupinus lepidus var. cusickii in Denny Flat, Baker County, Oregon

We conducted a full census of the 5 known Lupinus lepidus var. cusickii sites managed by the Vale District of the Bureau of Land Management.  In 2015, we also remonitored permanent monitoring transects and established several new transects to examine plant community and L. lepidus var. cusickii population trends over time.  This species can have high annual variability and our 2014 and 2015 surveys found similar patterns.  In 2015, all sites, with the exception of Elms Reservoir 2, had higher plant counts than in 2014.  Several sites that had shown decreases between the 2010 and 2014 surveys had higher plant numbers in 2015 compared to 2010.  The exception was Denny Flat West, which did have higher counts in 2015, but not as high as the 2010 survey.