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In historic times, the Iv~~i riorai cemniunity was composed of lush native grasses interspersed w;~{~ L•ux elder and oakbrush that was locally . referred to as "r;alley Oak" at the tune of White settlement in the 1880's. One may reasonably suspect that cottonwood and willows were also present in the local area as well. The climate is typical of the mountain valleys in the Gunnison Country where winters are harsh and the summer growing season short in comparison to valleys at lower elevations. The faunal community was originally typical of the Rocky Mountains with deer, elk, bear, beaver, wolf, and other mammals being conspicuous. The valley floor is today intensively cultivated for hay and orchards in a pattern of small "yeoman-like" holdings. The foothill slopes of the mountains rise steeply and reach an elevation of about II,000 feet within about two and one-half miles of the valley floor. Pinon and juniper with a mixture of oakbrush and other flora typical of the Transitional Life Zone are evident on the slopes. Again, fauna typical of the kocky hlountain Region would have been present at the time of ttre initial White settlement. A broad band of oakbrush penetrates for several miles into the foothills and serves to separate the juniper of the transitional zone from the aspen and fir of the Montane in this area. Northward beyond fire steep slcpes of the valley, one enters more deeply into the mountains where elevations are maintained at about 8,200 feet for a few miles. Within about ten miles north of the bluffs overlooking the valley, the mountains rise to an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet. This region is characterized by the Montane or Canadian • Life Zone and once exhibited conspicuous stands of aspen, with lush grasses in the small parks, and spruce and fir obvious at various points. The project area (Figures 1,2 and 3) contains approximately 10 acres more or less and is adjacent to the extant railroad ROW at the historic coal mining town of Somerset. The main portion of the town is located about one-quarter mile west of the project area, even though elements of tfre historic mining community string out up and down the North Fork Valley (east and west) outward from the historic nucleus of the town as shown in Figure ~. Such towns are often referred to as "stringtowns" and are a common feature of mountainous mining communities in the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere. The project area has a narrow linear configuration which lies parallel to the cliffs above the North Fork of the Gunnison on the north side of the river. This is about 1/2 mile long by perhaps 300 feet ~:ide. As shown in Figure 2, it is situated in the extreme SW} corner of Sec. 9 grid the extreme SE} corner of Sec. 8 T135 R9UW. The project area has a fine southern exposure along the hiyfr rocky cliffs arh~ich hallmark the tightly constrained North Fork Valley in this aria. Tfre project area (Figurest and 3) is bisected by Sanborn Creek, a small, ephemeral tributary of the North Fork. A steep canyon which characterizes the mouth of this creek is situated within the project area (Figures 2 and 3). The project area is characterized by extremely rugged cliffs of sandstone which give it a very vertical profile. There is very little flat space of any kind in project area except at the foot 3 -, . ~;,;