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Environment <br />The survey areas are located south and southeast of Somerset in the <br />western foothills of the West Elk Mountains. The North Fork of the Gunnison <br />River is located to the north. Several small drainages flow directly to the <br />river from the project area, and drill location q overlooks the river. <br />Topography of the area is generally steep and rugged, and vegetation is <br />dominated by scrub oak and serviceberry chaparral. Localized areas also <br />support sagebrush meadows, wet meadows, aspen stands, or mixed conifers on the <br />northern slopes. Soils are predominantly unstable residual and colluvial <br />sandy loams underlain by sandstones and shales of the Mesaverde Formation. <br />Beds of Mancos shale are also complexly intertongued with the Mesaverde <br />Formation in the vicinity. Elevations of the proposed drill locations range <br />from about 6,150 feet amsl at location Q to about 8,450 at location L (ca. <br />1,875 to 2,575 m). The vegetation and broken terrain provide excellent forage <br />and cover and support abundant elk and deer. Edible and useful plant products <br />are also seasonally abundant. <br />Prehistoric temporary encampments and collecting or processing <br />localities would reasonably be expected in this area, but areas of potential <br />deposition that might contain intact buried cultural deposits are restricted <br />to localized pockets of level, stable terrain. An important limiting factor <br />to cultural use of this area would have been availability of water. Springs <br />were noted in a few ridgetop locations, and scattered ponds were present in <br />drainage bottoms and on high flats. None of the local exposures of the <br />Mesaverde formation yield knappable siliceous materials, and stone materials <br />suitable for prehistoric stone tool manufacture are scarce in the immediate <br />area. <br />Objectives and Field Methods <br />The principal objectives of this investigation were to locate and <br />evaluate any cultural resources that might be affected by the proposed <br />drilling program. Each area of effect was inspected by intensive pedestrian <br />survey. An area of at least one-half acre was inspected around each proposed <br />drill location, and in most cases all adjacent level ground free of dense <br />thickets was inspected. The entire landform around each drilling location <br />practical for vehicle movement and drilling activities, up to 60 meters from <br />the flagged location, was inspected for the presence of cultural resources. <br />Designated staging areas were generally level, open meadows near the drilling <br />localities that might be used for vehicle parking or other support activities. <br />No clearing of trees or brush is proposed for these locations, so the entire <br />meadow area up to the trees or brush thickets was surveyed. An average of one <br />acre was intensively inspected at each proposed drilling or staging location <br />using zig-zag pedestrian transects spaced 10-15 meters apart. Orientation of <br />the transects varied in response to vegetation, topography and bedrock <br />outcrops. <br />Access routes, with the exception of the access for location N and <br />portions of the access for location R, follow existing trails that will <br />