Laserfiche WebLink
• Fauna include a large variety of small mammals and gamebirds, as <br />well as deer noted during survey. The presence of gamebirds and deer <br />__ makes the area most useful for hunting, and cattle are also grazed in <br />the flatter western portions of the lease. Historically, there is no <br />indication the lease area was used for any other purposes. <br />The study area is adjacent to the West Elk Mountains, which are <br />r westward continuations. of the Sawatch Range, a series of layers of <br />Paleozoic sediments thrust westward over one another (Chronic and <br />Chronic 1972: 24). The study area itself is on Oak Mesa, part of the <br />larger Grand Mesa hogback, a flat volcanic uplift running northwest- <br />- southeast along the NW site of the West Elks. Between these two major <br />formations runs the North fork of the Gunnison and its several tribu- <br />_ taries, including Stevens Gulch. The entire region is a part of the <br />,.• Southern Rocky Mountain Physiographic Province. <br />- While precise paleo-climatic data are lacking, climate was and is <br />- typical of the Gunnison region mountain valleys in that winters are long <br />and harsh while the summer growing season is short for maize agricul- <br />ture. This would effectively limit subsistence strategies to hunting and <br />~- <br />gathering. Precipitation averages 14" per year and is concentrated in <br />winter snowfall and late summer showers and thunderstorms. The average <br />- annual temperature is 49°f. <br />_• <br />7 <br />