Laserfiche WebLink
4.2.5 Environmental Summary <br />• Taken together, the environmental information pre- <br />sented in this section indicates that the study area can be <br />broken down into several resource zones. The Colowyo Mine site <br />has an abundance of plant foods of specific types and a high <br />concentration of mule deer and sage grouse. The lack of water <br />over most of the mine site, however, is a potential problem <br />and would be a greater problem if even slightly drier conditions <br />prevailed. It is assumed that water was a critical resource <br />there, judging from the site pattern as will be seen in a <br />later section. <br />Although hard data is lacking, I would suggest that <br />the Axial Basin was an important area for the hunting of large <br />• game animals, principally bison and probably the pronghorn ante- <br />lope, during prehistoric times. The several streams draining <br />the area would have been a ready source of water. <br />Iles and Duffy Mountains offered the plant resources <br />of the pinyon pine-juniper community and a moderate deer <br />population. Availability of water on Iles Mountain would be <br />something of a problem, although at least two springs are indi- <br />cated on the USGS quad maps of the area. <br />A fourth resource zone consists of the bottomlands <br />of the Yampa, Williams Fork, and possibly Milk Creek Canyon. <br />This zone offers the presence of waterfowl and the as yet un- <br />determined riparian vegetational resources of the more exten- <br />. sive bottomlands such as Big Bottom and Round Bottom. <br /> <br />