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I. INTRODUCTION <br />1.1 PURPOSE OF STUDY <br />The purpose of the study described in this report was to inventory <br />and make preliminary scientific assessment of the cultural and paleontological <br />resources that will be directly or indirectly affected by mining and con- <br />struction activities connected with the proposed W. R. Grace & Co. coal <br />haul railroad corridors and Colowyo Mine in Moffat County in northwestern <br />Colorado. The cultural resources involved in the study include sites <br /> <br />and loci of both prehistoric and historic human activities. The specific <br />purpose of the investigation was to identify and locate sites of human <br />activity in the study area, collect enough data and artifactual material <br />from the sites to identify their cultural affiliations and the kinds of <br />activities they represented, and then use these data to evaluate the <br />potential of each site in furthering our knowledge of the prehistory and <br />history of the region and of the way in which cultural systems interact <br />with the environment. This evaluation was then used as a basis for de- • <br />termining how much further work, in terms of controlled surface collections, <br />testing, excavation, will be necessary to mitigate the impact of the <br />proposed railroad construction and mining activities on these non-renewable <br />- cultural resources. <br />1.2 LOCATION OF THE SUBJECT AREA <br />The area covered by the inventory can essentially be divided into <br />two parts. The proposed Colowyo Mine site, located about 22 airmiles <br />southwest of Craig, Colorado, has an area of about 4'~ square miles and <br />includes all of Sections 9 and 10 and parts of Sections 2, 3 and 4 in <br />T3N, R93W. These sections are located on the Axial and Ninemile Gap <br />7`~' USGS quad sheets. The second area inventoried consists of three <br />alternate coal haul railroad routes and their rights of way. The routes <br />run from the rail road terminus located about 3 airmiles southwest of <br />Craig generally southwest to several alternate loading areas a few miles <br />north of the Colowyo Mine site. The three alternate routes comprise a <br />total of about 60 miles that had to be inventoried and involve parts of • <br />