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4 <br />• explore the deposits for buried cultural materials not expressed at the surface. A single piece of <br />chipped stone debitage was recovered from one of the 16 probes. <br />In 1997, eight probes were excavated in a box pattern around this single positive probe. The <br />1997 probes did not reach below about 20 to 30 cm below surface due to extremely hazd soil <br />conditions. The eight additional probes produced no additional cultural materials. The single flake <br />discovered in the original probe has been recorded as isolated find SLA7607. A fill stockpile is <br />proposed for this part of the load out facility, and disturbance is presumedto be limited to stripping <br />of topsoil, which should not extend below the depths reached by the 1997 probes. No further work <br />is recommended here. Cultural resource clearance is recommended for the coal load out facility, <br />provided impacts do not encroach upon SLA7186. <br />Inventory and Test Excavations Along the Rail Spur <br />A rail spur will be constructed connecting the load out faciiiry to the existing Colorado and <br />Wyoming Railroad tracks north of the load out. About 2200 feet of this corridor extends outside the <br />40-acre block surveyed for the load out and was not surveyed in 1996. In 1997, a 400-foot-wide <br />survey corridor (ca. 23 acres} covered the remainder of the proposed rail spur route (Appendix 1 <br />map). Four chipped stone artifacts were found in the irrigated hay meadow at the north end of the <br />proposed rail line, and a transect of 44 auger probes was excavated across this field on the <br />approximate centerline of the rail spur. Several ofthese probes were positive, but usually with only <br />single artifacts. Both chipped stone debitage and bone fragments were recovered. The origin of the <br />bone is not necessazily cultural and the occurrence of bone in the probes does not consistently <br />correspond to the occurrence of chipped stone. Positive probes occurred successively in only two <br />locations. These probes were located at the south end of the probe transect directly below SLA7186; <br />these artifacts may have come from that site. Probing did not reveal any locations where it appeared <br />that intact cultural levels or occupation surfaces had been encountered. The surface materials and <br />the positive probes are recorded as SLA7482. SLA7482 is recommended to be not eligible for the <br />National Register. Probing extended to between 80 and 90 cm below surface. The rail spur will be <br />constructed above grade in this location and the only disturbances anticipated involve topsoil <br />removal and stockpiling. No further work is recommended For the rail spur, with the exception of <br />the portion that passes through SLA7186. Cultural resource clearance is recommended for the rail <br />spur except within the boundaries of SLA7186. <br />Realienment of the Lorencito Canyon Road <br />The Lorencito Canyon Road will be realigned to cross the proposed rail spur and through the <br />coal load out area. The exact configuration of this realignment is presently unknown. No new <br />inventory is necessary provided this realignment remains within the 400' inventory corridor for the <br />rail spur, or within the 40-acre block inventoried for the load out. The realignment may impact <br />SLA7186. Cultural resource clearance is recommended for the realignment of the Lorencito Canyon <br />• Road provided it can be confirmed to lie within the limits of existing survey, and only in those areas <br />outside the boundaries of SLA7186. <br />