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INTRODUCTION The Project In July of 1981, personnel from Nickens and Associates of Montrose, Colorado, conducted a cultural resources inventory on private and public lands along Hubbard Creek in Della County, north of Bowie, Colorado. The survey was conducted at the request of U.S. Steel Corporation of East Carbon, Utah, which plans [o construe[ a coal mine ventilation shaft, re-route portions of an existiny road, and deposit certain exca- vated materials (n [he project area. The public lands involved are part of the Gunnison National Forest, and are administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. In that Federal properties are involved, various his- toric preservation laws arc applicable, necessi[c~ting the identification and evaluation of cultural resources potentially impacted by the pro- posed project. Archaeologists Joan Gaunt and Alan D. Reed of Nickens and Associates were accompanied in the field by Lee Badertscher of the U.S. Steel Corporation, who delineated the project area boundaries and presented project maps. Mr. Badertscher remained in the project area for the duration of [he cultural resource inventory. Environment The project area is located in the Southern Rocky Mountain physlo- graphic province (Shimer 1972), a region characterized by high peaks, great relief, and a rugged nature. The boundary between the Southern Rocky Mountain and the Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces is not distant, however, and so [he project area is at relatively low eleva- tions for its province. Elevations range from 6200 feet (1890 m) to 6500 feet (1981 m) within the project area; nearby peaks just exceed 8000 feet (2438 m). The project area is situated alony the western bank of Hubbard Creek, a permanent tributary to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Slopes within [he project area range from approximately 5 percent grade on the low benches immediately above the creek, [0 30 percent grade on the western (upslope) portions. Slopes above the project area exceed BO percent grade. The project area Is within [he Soil Conservation Service's (1972) "Woodlands of the Intermountains" natural vegetation zone, a zone charac- terized by pinyon and juniper with an understory of wheatgrass. Indian ricegrass, bluegrass, shrubs and fortis. field personnel observed that • Gambel oak and service berry actually dominated the floral community in the project area, with [he above species being present In small quanti- ties. Scattered Douglas fir were observed along Hubbard Creek. 2