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l <br />SFX'1'ION I <br />~~ AN II~Fl'f~DUCI'ION ~ OOIARADO WFSZMORELAND, INC. ' S <br />1986 CULTURAL RESOURCE STUDY PROGRAM <br />On June 1, 1986, Colorado h~estmoreland Inc.'s Orchard Valley Mine <br />at Paonia caught fire and the portal had to be sealed. This underground <br />croal mine was subsequently unable to use the existing portal and had to <br />1 be shut down. In order to reopen the mine, plans for construction of a <br />new portal were initiated. During the surtmer of 1986, engineering <br />studies were conducted within an 880 acre tract of land near the mine. <br />This tract was designated as the initial area of undertaking and <br />consisted of the 5474 of Sec. 13, the S'~ of the SW; of Sec. 14 and all of <br />Sec. 23 of T13S, R92W (Figures 1 and 2). It was anticipated that a new <br />_ portal location would be sited within this area. 7n conjunction with <br />I the engineering studies, a Class III or 100 percent cultural resource <br />inventory was conducted by Centuries FESeazch in this initial area of <br />undertaking. This was done in order to crn~ly with the National <br />Historic Preservation Act (36CFR800) and thereby identify any cultural <br />resources which might be eligible for inclusion on the National <br />Register of Historic Places. This inventory was cro~leted in June and <br />early July, 1986 and the final report was oac~leted on October 1, 1986 <br />and submitted to the BIM at that time. <br />The inventory found that there had been some previous survey <br />J efforts in the initial area of undertaking and that these had resulted <br />iri the recrording of one historic site, one prehistoric site and four <br />isolated finds of prehistoric stone tools (Figure 2). The 1986 <br />inventory recorded one additional prehistoric site and one area of <br />widely dispersed lithic tools and flakes. Table 1 summarizes the <br />resources located in the 880 acre project area. In July of 1986, test <br />excavations were conducted at SDT771 (The Ridge Site) which was found in <br />1986. These were conducted in order to evaluate its eligibility for <br />inclusion a~ the National Register. This site was recotnrended as being <br />ineligible for the Register. At the time it was evaluated, it was not <br />known if the site would be irt~acted or even be located within the area <br />of undertaking once a portal site was finally selected. The revised <br />area of undertaking (Figure 2) will not include the Ridge Site and it <br />' will apparently not be subjected to irtq~acts fran the portal development <br />planned for the East Roatcap Creek area. <br />A similaz situation existed for SDT271 which has been named the <br />' Fd~atcap Game Trail Site (Figures 3 and 4). This site was discovered and <br />recorded in 1978 during inventories conducted by the BLM in conjunction <br />with the west central opal environmental studies. As indicated in <br />' Figure 2, SDT271 is situated on Fast Roatcap Creek about 600 feet south <br />of the revised area of undertaking. This prehistoric lithic site was <br />believed to be a strong candidate for National Register eligibility at <br />' the time it was first recorded. Additionally, the original reooiY3ing <br />team reoaRnended that a substantial recording and test excavation <br />program needed to be conducted in order to formally evaluate the site's <br />eligibility. <br />1 <br />1 1 <br />