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-15- <br /> <br />IMPACT <br />• <br />The primary impact of the proposed W.R. Grace E Co. railroad will <br />be the possibility of exposing new fossil localities during cutting <br />operations, however there will be the problem of destroying the geologic <br />context of those localities. When working in the Iles and Williams <br />Fork Formations, most of the fossils encountered will be botanical, <br />although invertebrates and possibly vertebrates may also be encountered. <br />In the Mancos and Lewis Formations invertebrates should be common, and <br />possibly vertebrates. Botanical material will probably be nonexistent. <br />Mining operations of the Colowyo Mine will be confined to the <br />Mesaverde Group, primarily the Williams Fork Formation, and botanical <br />material should be very abundant. Locally numerous invertebrates may <br />be encountered, and awing to the great amount of rock that will be <br />involved it is likely that vertebrat fossils will be found. <br />Overall, it may be said that numerous fossils will be encountered, <br />of which a fair portion will be destroyed or damaged. However, a sig- <br />nificant amount will be whole or nearly so; this will more than offset <br />the losses except in the case of the very scarce vertebrates. Another <br />problem will be the damage and destruction of the geological context <br />in which the specimens were found. <br />• <br />