Laserfiche WebLink
1976, Cover type 239). Paleoenvironmental data for the area <br />are scant, but it is agreed that gross climatic conditions <br />have remained fairly constant over the last 12,000 years. <br />Still, changes in effective moisture and cooling/warming <br />trends probably affected the prehistoric occupation of the <br />area. <br />Cultural Resources Literature Review <br />A Class I cultural resources literature review was <br />conducted for a 2500-acre block. This encompasses acreage <br />outside the potential impact area of the project, and includes <br />federal and private lands. <br />A files search made through the BLM Montrose District <br />Office showed that nearly one-third (approximately 680 acres) <br />of the project area designated for the Class I has been <br />previously subjected to Class III (intensive) cultural <br />resource inventories (Figure 1). The largest of these, <br />involves a 640 acre tract, and is part of the West Central <br />Coal Leases (WCCL) project conducted in 1978 (Hibbits et al. <br />1979). Other, small surveys--mostly in-house BLM projects-- <br />have been conducted in the WCCL project area and throughout <br />• the remainder of the Class I study area. Some of the small <br />surveyed areas in the valley bottom were reported on as part <br />of the Cultural Resources Inventory Report for Western Slope <br />Carbon Exploration and Development Areas (Kranzush 1977). <br />As a result of these intensive surveys, five sites were <br />recorded. They include: SGN254, the Oliver Mine and Power <br />Plant; SGN266, a prehistoric lithic scatter and historic camp; <br />SGN1494, a historic grave; SGN1561, the Hawksnest mine site; <br />and SGN1562, a historic corral (Table 1). None of these are <br />considered eligible for listing on the National Register of <br />Historic Places. <br />Because most of the relatively gently sloping terrain in <br />the study area has been subject to an intensive survey and <br />much of the narrow valley bottom has been disturbed by mining <br />activities, few additional sites are expected to be <br />encountered. The remainder of the area is comprised of steep <br />mountain slopes of 25 to 40 degrees. "Previously recorded <br />sites and isolated finds have been restricted to the wider <br />portions of the valley to the southwest" (Kranzush 1977:13). <br />• 4 <br />