2013-12-12_REVISION - C1982056 (13)

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INTRODUCTION Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc. (MAC) conducted a Class III cultural resource inventory of 12 proposed core holes, a proposed pipeline with an associated proposed core hole and existing well pad, and proposed access roads along the eastern side of Twentymile Park northeast of Twentymile Coal Mine, Routt County, Colorado (Figures I & 2). Access to the wells is via a series of dirt/gravel roads that begin north and west of County Road (CR) 33 and west of CR 179. County Road 33 is oriented east -west then northeast - southwest and travels along Foidel Creek through Sections 13, 14, 21, 22, 23, and 28, TSN, R86W. County Road 179 extends to the north from CR 33 and travels along an east - facing slope on the west side of Middle Creek in Section 12, TSN, R86W. A Class I files search was performed for the proposed project to check for previous inventories and previously recorded sites. Most of the current project falls within previous inventories; however, all but two of these surveys were conducted at least 10 years ago, and the proposed areas needed to be re- surveyed. The two recent surveys do not cover any significant portion of the current project area. The 12 core hole locations, pipeline with associated core hole and well pad, and new access were inventoried with a Class III cultural resource survey. Two hundred -foot (60 -m) blocks were centered around the core hole locations and well pad and were inventoried with parallel pedestrian transects spaced no more than 50 ft (20 m) apart. The 200 -ft block at Core Hole WC012 was shifted because it is located immediately adjacent to a county road on its south side. A block was surveyed along the other three sides of the core hole away from the road to allow for changes to the construction footprint. Also, a 400 -ft by 300 -ft block was surveyed at Core Hole WC006. This core hole is located near an existing powerline; therefore additional room will be needed for construction and drilling. These blocks yielded a total of 68 acres surveyed. A total of 39,766 ft (7.53 mi) of new or existing roads to be improved and 1227 ft (0.23 mi) of a proposed pipeline were surveyed to a total corridor width of 100 ft (50 ft each side of the road or pipeline center) for a total of 17 acres. This resulted in a total of 85 acres being Class III inventoried for this project on State of Colorado surface (21 acres) and private surface (64 acres) lands. The subsurface minerals in the project area are owned by the State and BLM (Table 1). Table I Surface and mineral owners by core hole MAC Core Hole ID Surface Owner Mineral Owner 6-Right/7-Right well pad Twentymile Coal Co. BLM WC001 Twentymile Coal Co. BLM WC002 Ashley State of Colorado WC003 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado WC004 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado WC005 Camilletti State of Colorado WC006 Camilletti State of Colorado WC007 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado WC008 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado WC009 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado WCO 10 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado WCO 11 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado WC012 Twentymile Coal Co. State of Colorado