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<br />already underway when the field crews arrived, and an above-ground high pressure hose had been
<br />~,,, laid out from the drilling location westward along Sylvester Gulch. This area is within the Gunnison
<br />~!. National Forest approximately 2.~ miles due south of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, atop,
<br />"' southwest, and south of the West Flatiron, and north of Minnesota Creek. Local topography is
<br />dominated by high sandstone capped ridges and mesas, and deeply incised canyons. Project
<br />~:'< elevations range from 6990 feet above mean sealevel along Sylvester Gulch in the northeast corner
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<br />of Section 23 to 8540 feet at RAV-10. Soil in the survey area is tan to light brown very sand} loam
<br />and local bedrock is predominantly Cretaceous sandstone of the Mesaverde group. Soil is generally
<br />shallow with areas of exposed bedrock..
<br />Vegetation in the project area is dominated by dense stands of Gambel oak, a bntshy understory
<br />dominated by serviceberry, snowberry, and chokecherry, and a thin to moderate ground cover of
<br />grasses and low fortis. Interspersed with this oak-brush are open sage meadows and small stands of
<br />aspen. Surface visibility ranges from excellent in ridgetop open meadows to poor in dense brush on
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<br />north-facing slopes and in parts of Sylvester Gulch. Mechanical disturbance was currently underway
<br />at RAV-l0, and past surface disturbance was evident at 96-27-1, BBB, RAV-2, RAV-8, and SONI-
<br />53.
<br />CULTURE HISTORY AND PREVIOUS WORK
<br />A files search was conducted through the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation
<br />''' (OAHP), and the files of the US Forest Service, West Zone, Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and
<br />~'' Gunnison National Forest were also consulted. The file search listed 12 previous cultural resource
<br />projects that had been conducted in the immediate project vicinity (Sections 23, 26, 27, 34, and 35).
<br />A single prehistoric isolated find has been recorded southwest of the project area along Minnesota
<br />Creek (SGN1734). Previous projects in the area have been scattered small blocks and linear
<br />corridors for coal exploration and range improvements. The previous investigations have included
<br />~W~ five surveys for exploratory drill hole locations and access (Spath 1993,1994, 1996,1996, and 1998)
<br />and Forest Service surveys of scattered small blocks for ponds, range improvements, and trails
<br />(Deceasar 1982; Sanders 1982, 1934, and 1939). Five of the currently identified locations, RAV-2,
<br />i RAV-8, RAV-10, SOM-123/96-27-1, and 96-27-1 offset, had been inspected previously for core
<br />hole Locations (Spath 1993, 1994, and 1995). Disturbance from the core hole drilling was evident at
<br />~r,~, each of these locations. The inspections for core holes were roughly one and one-halt to two acre
<br />r;~ surveys. Larger areas were surveyed for the current vent locations. [n 1998, larger areas were
<br />surveyed for core holes AAA and BBB (Spath 1998). However, the currently mapped location For
<br />G'.;; BBB does not correspond to the 1998 survey which covered roughly 30 acres east of a small
<br />~'tz.! drainage.
<br />~ The project area is within the Colorado Plateau Country Historic context (Husband 1984) and the
<br />L" Colorado Prehistory: A Context for the Northern Colorado River Basin (Reed and Metcalf 1999).
<br />Known historic and prehistoric resources are generally oriented to the river valleys and larger
<br />~~ tributaries. Historic development in the area began after the Ute removal in the early 1880s, and
<br />l', increased greatly with the arrival of the railroad in the early 1900s. Historically the most important
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<br />I:,.. Westtlk ne-gu Vents (210~8)July.doc 3
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