PERMFILE56926

• Permit No: C1981038
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 12/11/2001
• Section_Exhibit Name: Volume 9B ARCHAEOLOGY APPENDIX PART 4
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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Previous Cultural Resource Studies in the Project Vicinity
Narrative Discussion
The first baseline cultural resource study for the Orchard Valley Mine
recorded 13 resources and was completed by this writer in 1977 (Baker 1977).
Overall, the study indicated that very little was actually known about
the archaeology of the North Fork area. The general paucity of
information was confirmed in the few studies completed since that time.
In 1978 this writer compiled a Class I cultural resource summary for
the Bureau of Reclamation's proposed Grand Mesa Project. In the
one-half million acre study area in Delta County, only 16 archaeological
resources had been recorded as of 1978 (Baker 1978). Recently,
numerous small and a few larger projects have been completed in the
general North Fork and Grand Mesa area but the most substantive work
in the area of the Orchard Ualley Mine still appears to be the
original baseline work completed in 1977 (Baker 1977 and Hammond 1984).
Since that .time a total of seven other projects have been completed
in the Orchard Valley Mine project area. As indicated in Table 3,
these are Hibbets et al 1979; Klesert 1980, 1981; Copeland, 1982,
1982a, 1982b; and 1982c. All but the report by Hibbets et al were
produced by Centuries Research. Although a number of scattered
archaeological projects are believed to have been completed around the
Grand Mesa/North Fork region, few resources have been recorded,
particularly in or near the Orchard Valley Project area. This was
confirmed by the site file search conducted by the office of the
State Archaeologist on May 22, 1984 (Beverly Clarke 1984). A search
of the central state site files revealed only 31 resources (apparently
including isolated finds) in the two Range and Township blocks containing
the Orchard Valley Project. Additionally, of 33 sections in these
blocks and included in or generally bounding the study area, only
25 resources are recorded and most of these (13) were recorded in
the original baseline study conducted by this writer for Colorado
Westmoreland (Baker 1477). An additional 9 or more, including
isolated finds, were recorded by Hibbets et al (1977). The important
point to note here is that most of what we know about the archaeology
of both the generalized and the specific project area is that it has
been learned from efforts on behalf of Colorado Westmoreland supplemented
by limited input from the West Central Colorado Coal Lease Study
(Hibbets et al 1979) and comments from the Bureau of Land Management's
own summary and predictive comments (Reed and Scott 1980) on the
regional archaeology.
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