PERMFILE130319 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

INTRODUCTION Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc. (MAC) of Eagle, Colorado conducted a Class III cultural resource inventory of five core holes, their associated access roads, and three planned seismic lines for Cyprus Twentymile Coal Company in Routt County, Colorado. The project area is located in the foothills at the base of the Williams Fork Mountains approximately four miles south of Milner, Colorado. The proposed core holes are located in the rugged hilly area east of Twentymile Park. The proposed seismic lines extend east and northeast from the base of the Williams Fork Mountains, across the rolling terrain of Twentymile Park, to the edge of the rugged hilly area that bounds Twentymile Park on the east (Appendix A). The proposed cores holes will be centered on bladed earthen pads measuring one hundred feet on a side. Roughly 2.5 miles of temporary access roads will be constructed from existing roads to the proposed pad locations. Construction of the proposed access roads will consist of some blading off of the vegetation and some top soil removal to smooth the grade to the locations. Three seismic lines of varying length amounting to a total of approximately 15 miles are also proposed. The seismic lines will require angering of small diameter holes at 150 foot intervals, and the discharging of small explosive chazges at a depth of twenty feet below the ground surface. Additional surface disturbances will include all terrain vehicle traffic and foot traffic along the proposed corridor. Two of the core hole locations (PDS-9901 and 9902) and their associated access roads were inventoried along with all three of the proposed seismic lines. The remaining three core holes (PDS-9903, 9904 and 9905) and their associated access roads are located within a previously inventoried azea and required no additional inventory (OAHP Survey Identification RT.LM.PID). Small block aeeas measuring two hundred feet on a side were inventoried around the core holes. A one hundred foot wide corridor was inventoried for the approximately 2100 feet of access road to the two core hole locations. One hundred foot corridors were also inventoried for the three proposed seismic lines. A total of approximately 189 acres was inventoried during this investigation. Surface land ownership in the project area is predominately private with some public and state lands. Subsurface mineral ownership in the project area resides with the USDI Bureau of Land Management. This cultural resource inventory was mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 because portions of the project will occur on public lands and involve federally owned minerals. The project was carried out on June 8-11, 1999 by MAC archaeologists Dulaney Barclay and Stephanie Slaughter. It was conducted under BLM Noncollection Survey and Recording Permit #C39290 which expires on 9/8/99. EFFECTIVE ENVIItONMENT This project is located in and azound Twentymile Park in the foothills at the base of the Williams Fork Mountains approximately four miles south of the Yampa River in Northwest Colorado. The general area is a high, dissected plateau with rugged mountainous areas, broad