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-17- <br /> <br />SHORT TERM USES OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES US. LONG TERM <br />EFFECT OF THE PROPOSED ACTION <br />There are two ways that the proposed paleobotanical study may be <br />undertaken. The first method will not produce much data, only a <br />description of the Late Cretaceous flora of the area during Mesaverde <br />times, but can be accomplished by periodic sorting of the overburden <br />that has been removed. This should not hinder mining activities. <br />A second, preferred method would yield more data and thus give an <br />understanding of the Late Cretaceous in greater detail. This study <br />would seek to determine what the minor changes in the ecology had <br />accompanied the cyclothemic depositions. I[ is possible that there <br />• were floral adjustments in response to the shifting shoreline, either <br />extinctions or alterations in floral ratios. Solving such a problem <br />might shed light on the problem of Late Cretaceous extinctions. Be- <br />cause of the possibility of minute changes in the flora, i[ will be <br />necessary to maintain strict stratigraphic control of the fossils. <br />Also there should be several undisturbed sections for study, and be- <br />cause it is doubtful that mining operations will be active across the <br />entire mine face this should pose no problem. <br />Paleontology has changed a great deal in recent years. No longer <br />satisfied with just descriptive work on prehistoric animals, paleon- <br />tologists now seek to understand the communities of organisms in the <br />past. Just as there is a complex inter-relationship of plants and <br />animals today, so also was there a complex relationship among extinct <br />• <br />