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• serviceberry, and chokecherry (Plates 1 and 2). Other plant communities occur in the study <br />area although in much smaller acreages and usually mixed with the brush; these include: <br />pinyon/juniper forest, fir and aspen forest, riparian woodland and grassland meadows. The <br />region supports numerous wildlife species including elk, deer, coyote, black beaz, bob cat, <br />ground squirrels, rabbits and various raptors. <br />Climatically, the yearly average temperature is 38 degrees F., and there is a maximum <br />of 100 frost-free days in a yeaz. Annual precipitation is about 16 to 20 inches (USDA SCS <br />1976). Paleoenvironmental data for the area are scant, but it is agreed that gross climatic <br />conditions have remained fairly constant over the last 12,000 years. Still, changes in effective <br />moisture and cooling/warming trends probably affected the prehistoric occupation of the <br />azea. Prehistoric land use was primarily hunting and gathering, which had little or no adverse <br />affect on the local environment. Present day land use includes cattle grazing, hunting, and <br />coal mining development. <br />Literature Review <br />Files searches were made through the Uncompahgre Field Office of the BLM and the <br />Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation of the Colorado Historical Society. These <br />• indicated at least nine surveys had been conducted in the area, which were mainly concerned <br />with roads and drill holes related to the mine development. Three somewhat larger <br />inventories were conducted within or near the study area. One was a Class II (sampling) <br />block survey for the Orchard Valley Mine involving 1200 acres (Baker 1984). Thirteen sites <br />and five isolated finds were recorded during that survey, a ratio of 1 site per 92.3 acres. A <br />second was a Class III inventory for the Curecanti-Rifle Transmission Line that followed the <br />Terror Creek drainage (Graham and Greubel 1990). The third inventory was conducted for <br />the Bowie Mine #2 Project (Conner et al. 1995). Two prehistoric sites, SDT700 and <br />SDT868, were found to be previously recorded within the current project area. The former, <br />was described as a "suspect rock shelter," and the latter as an open lithic scatter. Of the two, <br />site SDT868 was officially field evaluated as not eligible. <br />Regional azchaeological studies suggest nearly continuous human occupation of west- <br />central Colorado for the past 12,000 yeazs. Evidence of the Paleoindian Tradition, the <br />Archaic Tradition, Formative Cultures, and Protohistoric/Historic Utes has been found. An <br />overview of the prehistory is provided in a new document published by the Colorado Council <br />of Professional Archaeologists' entitled Colorado Prehistory: A Context for the Northern <br />Colorado Plateau (Reed and Metcalf 1999). <br />Historic records suggest occupation or use of the region by EuroAmerican explorers, <br />trappers, settlers. miners, and ranchers as well. Significantly, the Spanish expedition of <br />Dominguez and Escalante, which crossed through the study area along Hubbard Creek in <br />• 1776, was the first Euro-American incursion into the area. Removal of the Utes in 1881 <br />2 <br />