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• ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING <br />The area of survey is part of Oak Mesa, overlooking the North Fork <br />- Valley of the Gunnison River (Figure 1). The vast majority of the area <br />is rugged terrain covered by dense Gamble oak dominated flora, with <br />serviceberry, snowberry, chokecherry, and some isolated patches of open <br />pasture and aspen stands. The ridge top in the northeast section of the <br />survey area is dominated by skunk cabbage and juniper and pinyon forest. <br />- The western half of the lease is fairly rugged while the east and south <br />are dominated by a high flat ridge and an extremely steep canyon, respec- <br />tively (Figure 2). Generally, the entire ridgetop along the east edge of <br />the area is much less densely covered by brush and understory. <br />• Elevation ranged from 7200 ft in the extreme southern end, to 8787 <br />ft in the northeast corner of the area. The nearest available water <br />source is Stevens Gulch, which runs along the western edge of the survey <br />area. Soils were predominantly aeolian in origin, except for those <br />associated with the deep canyon in the south-central portion of the <br />area. In general, the area is quite rugged topographically, and this <br />was exacerbated by the extremely dense understory of scrub oak, making <br />the survey proceed at quite a slow pace. The area of the deep canyon, <br />in the south-central portion of the lease (Figure 2) was very steep, <br />dropping 1400 ft in 3/4 of a section. In spots, the slope in this area <br />was greater than 45°, and overall was slightly more than 300, much <br />greater than the 200 maximum upon which archaeological sites have been <br />-- • found in nearby areas (Grady 1980). <br />6 <br />