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a <br />• report of the results of the data recovery excavations has been started, but work was halted in 1998 <br />at the request of the coal company and the report remains unfinished. <br />Lastly, Native American consultation initiated in 1996 was continued into the 1997 field <br />season. The Cheyenne-Arapaho, Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Apache tribes all have asked <br />to visit the project area, however, only the Cheyenne-Arapaho representative has actually visited. <br />The cultural resource investigations conducted for the proposed mine facilities are mandated <br />by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. The mine property and minerals are <br />both privately owned. The Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology, Mined Reclamation Board <br />(MLRB) has regulatory jurisdiction over the project. MLRB is partially funded by the U.S. <br />Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining (OSM). Management of cultural resources is <br />conducted under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) between the MLRB and the Colorado <br />State Historic Preservation Office (Colorado SHPO), through which OSM meets its regulatory <br />responsibilities for cultural resources. <br />The field director and principal investigator for the project was MAC archaeologist Anne <br />McKibbin. MAC archaeologists John Morrison, Kelly Pool, and Gene Romansky served as field <br />supervisors on the project. Jo Booms, Jean Conlan, Jim Davis, Andrew Mueller, and Judy Rau <br />served as crew persons. The investigations were conducted on May 7-9 & 28-30, 1997 and on <br />August 22-25, 1997. <br />• <br />Management Summary <br />MAC's 1997 cultural resource investigations covered a number of the mine's facilities and <br />involved both inventory and test excavations. These investigations were conducted in several stages <br />during the 1996 and 1997 field seasons in order to mesh with the timing of the proposed <br />development of various mine facilities. A previously submitted MAC report presented the results <br />of the investigations that were conducted during the 1996 field season which included an intensive <br />inventory ofthe proposed surface mine, two proposed load outs, the P3 portal, the P3 haul road, the <br />Rl and R2 portals, the R1/R2 haul road, the P1/P2 box cut and preparation plant, the R3 and R4 <br />portals, and the refuse area (McKibbin et al. 1997). Archaeological clearance was recommended <br />only for the P3 portal and the R 1 /R2 portals. Cultural resource clearance was not recommended for <br />the new proposed load out facility at the mouth of Lorencito Canyon, the P3 haul road, the Rl/R2 <br />haul road, and the P (/P2 box cut because of the presence of several potentially eligible sites in each <br />proposed development area. Subsequent to the 1996 inventory, the refuse area, the originally <br />proposed load out facility, and the preparation plant were dropped from the development plan. No <br />other facility was proposed for the refuse area, but at the original site of the proposed load out <br />facility and preparation plant three potentially eligible sites were located within the possible impact <br />areas for the proposed haul road to the PI/P2 box cut or realigned Lorencito Canyon access road <br />(McKibbin et al. 1997:3-4). <br />. To address these and other archaeological concerns related to other planned facilities at the <br />mine site, a research design and treatment plan was proposed for additional archaeological <br />