2022-09-29_PERMIT FILE - C1980007 (4)

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CONTAINS PRIVILEGED INFORMATION – DO NOT DISTRIBUTE 1 INTRODUCTION Mountain Coal Co., LLC (Mountain Coal) is proposing to mine three new subsurface longwall panels—Panels 15–17—at the West Elk Mine, in Gunnison County, Colorado (Figure 1). Because the project is federally authorized and extends across United States Forest Service (USFS)-managed land, various cultural resource laws apply. Federal mandates for the examination of the project area include Section 106 (54 U.S.C. § 306108) of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. § 300101 et seq.). These laws require that all significant cultural resources be identified prior to the planned development, and are intended to ensure that historical and prehistoric cultural resources important to our national heritage are not inadvertently harmed or destroyed by federally initiated or authorized actions. To comply with these laws, Mountain Coal retained Alpine Archaeological Consultants, Inc. (Alpine) of Montrose, Colorado, to conduct a literature review and an intensive pedestrian cultural resource inventory along the project’s Area of Potential Effect (APE). The inventory examined 302.6 acres of land, including 201 acres of private land and 101.6 acres of lands managed by the USFS Paonia District of the Gunnison National Forest (GNF). The cultural resource inventory took place from May 10–19, 2022, led by Project Director Sara A. Millward and assisted by Renee L. Collins and George Dombrowski. Rand A. Greubel served as the project’s Principal Investigator. Connor Johnen performed the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) work on the project and Jessie Boyd assisted with the preparation of cultural resource record forms. Jacki Mullen was the technical editor for the report. The work was performed in accordance with maps provided by Mountain Coal. Field notes and photographs resulting from the inventory are on file at Alpine’s office in Montrose, Colorado. No artifacts were collected during the project. Project Description Mountain Coal is proposing to mine three new subsurface longwall panels at the West Elk Mine. Mining will not entail any proposed surface disturbances within the APE . The cultural resource inventory is being conducted largely in advance of any possible future subs idence of the area above the proposed panels. Alpine inventoried the full extent of the APE. LOCATION AND ENVIROMENTAL SETTING The project area is 7.5 miles (mi.) east of the town of Paonia, in Gunnison County, Colorado (Figure 2). The project is above and south of the North Fork Gunnison River, in uplands extending below Mount Gunnison (part of the West Elk Range), which rises to the southeast (Figure 3). Elevations range from 7,740–8,120 feet (ft.). The project area is upon mapped deposits of the Cretaceous-aged Mesaverde Group sandstones and shales (Tweto 1979). Vegetation in the project area comprises a dense shrub ecosystem that includes Gambel oak, chokecherry, and snowberry with various grasses and forbs. The higher elevation portions of the project extend within aspen woodland.