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• evaluation. Neither will be affected by the proposed project. Other surveys in the general area have been conducted by Breternit~ and Breternitz (1975) and Hibbets et al (1979). These studies indicate occupation of the area as early as 4000 years ago, encompassing the Middle to Late Archaic periods, the Formative period (possibly including-remont and/or Anasazi groups), and the Protohistoric/Historic Ute period. Euro-American land use has centered on farming, ranching, and coal mining. RESEARCH RATIONALE Because little is known archaeologically about this area, the search for cultural resources is imperative for the development of a comprehen- sive data base for western Colorado. FIELD METHOD A class III (100% pedestrian) inventory of the proposed drill hole locations was made by walking each in a pattern of concentric circles, • spaced 15 to 25 feet apart, to a radius of 250'; thus, about 5 acres sur- rounding each drill hole location was inspected for cultural resources. An intensive survey of proposed new and to-be-upgraded access roads was made by walking each in tight zigzag transects (apices at 50 to 75 feet) to cover a swath 100' wide. Infield orientation was provided by Rocky Bowman of West Elks Coal Company, Inc: Suspect areas within 50-100 feet of the areas previously described were also closely inspected. A total of approximately 30 acres were surveyed, 10 of which were within the Gunni- son National Forest. SURVEY RESULTS AND RECOhIIdENDATIONS No cultural materials were observed within or near the area sur- veyed for this project. No further consideration of cultural resources need be given the surface extent of this project. REFEREIdCES CITED Applegarth, Susan M. and Robert E. Hurlbutt. 1977. Archaeological Recon- naissance of the Mount Gunnison f9ine akt and its Support Facilities, Gunnison County, Colorado. Department of Anthropology, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado. 4