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INTRODUCTION <br />• <br />Abstract <br />This report is part of an environmental study to determine the <br />impact that [he proposed W. R. Grace & Co. railroad and Colowyo Mine <br />would have upon paleontological resources and to present a working <br />plan to counter the adverse effects upon those resources. <br />Field investigation produced a significant amount of paleonto- <br />logical material from the Mancos, Williams Fork, and Iles Formations. <br />This material includes Baculites and Inoceramus, both useful in <br />stratigraphic correlations; brachiopods, bivalves, fish scales, and <br />numerous paleobotanical specimens of an exceptionally fine state of <br />preservation. All of these specimens come from marine, transitional, <br />and continental deposits, and show the cyclothemic-type deposition • <br />resulting from [he Late Campanian retreat of the epicontinental sea <br />from the area. <br />The most important fossils are the exceptionally fine specimens <br />of leaves and other botanical material from the Williams Fork Forma- <br />tion. As no comprehensive paper has ever appeared on the flora of the <br />Mesaverde Group, the abundance of these excellent specimens offers an <br />unprecedented opportunity for such work to be undertaken. And because <br />stripping activities at [he Colowyo Mine will expose an immense <br />quantity of specimens, it would be ideal if paleobotanical studies <br />could be done at that time. The thirty year plan does not make it <br />necessary for such a study to take place immediately, but too great <br />of a delay will restrict the amount of data that the Mine could produce, • <br />