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Abstract <br />At the request of Bowie Resources, LLC (as represented by J.E. Stover and <br />Associates), the Paonia Ranger District of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison <br />(GMUG) National Forest (USFS), and the Bureau of Land Management Uncompahgre Field <br />Office (BLM), a Class III cultural resource inventory and paleontological assessment of a <br />block area totaling approximately 1850 acres (1360 /Forest, 85 BLM, and 405 Private) of land <br />in the proposed Spruce Stomp Lease Modification Area was conducted by Grand River <br />Institute (GRI). <br />The inventory was undertaken to ensure the project's compliance with federal <br />legislation governing the identification and protection of cultural resources. The purposes of <br />this investigation were to identify resources within the project area likely to be affected by the <br />proposed action, to evaluate these sites' eligibility for listing on the National Register of <br />Historic Places (NRHP), and to make management recommendations for those sites found to <br />be eligible or potentially eligible. One of the significant reasons for this inventory is to <br />provide baseline data for USFS and BLM consultations with the State Historic Preservation <br />Officer (SHPO) and Native American Tribes on potential effects to cultural resources as a <br />result of the currently proposed action. <br />The project reevaluated six previously recorded sites (5DT88, 5DT90, 5DT96, <br />5DT698, 5DT699, and 5DT1719) within the inventory area, added segments to three linear <br />resources (5DT1795.3, 1825.2 and 1826.2), and newly recorded an historic site (5DT1896). <br />Site 5DT90 has been field evaluated as need data and testing is recommended before a final <br />determination of eligibility can be made. If testing is not feasible, avoidance is advised. Three <br />of the sites, 5DT96, 5DT698 and 5DT1719 have been officially deemed eligible for listing on <br />the National Register of Historic Places by the State Historic Preservation Officer and <br />protection and preservation are recommended. The remaining sites are field evaluated as not <br />eligible and no further work is recommended. Presently, the proposed action will include <br />approving the lease and the effects (cumulative and indirect) of the underground coal mining <br />(specific associated surface activities and their impacts will apparently be designed later). A <br />maximum subsidence of 4.5 feet is expected over the center of the longwall panels at the <br />projected overburden depths and less than 0.5 feet over the developed mains, but the actual <br />adverse effects due to subsidence were not determined as part of this study. <br />A paleontological assessment of the project area was made by a review of the local <br />geological formations to ascertain their potential to yield significant fossil remains, and a <br />reconnaissance of the exposures within the study boundaries. The formation exposed in the <br />study area is the upper Mesaverde. Mostly continental in formation, the upper Mesaverde <br />represents the last deposits related to the dominantly fluvial homogeneous environment of the <br />Late Cretaceous inland seas. Due to the lack of recorded fossil findings in the upper <br />Mesaverde, the potential for finding fossils in this member was considered to be very low. As <br />the majority of the study area is covered in a blanket of soil and vegetation, few exposures of <br />this formation occur and consist mainly of ledge faces. No fossils were found in these <br />exposures during the inventory. <br />ii <br />