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•~ The two well sites west of the Seneca II mine permit area <br />are on Grassy Creek, a north flowing tributary of the Yampa <br />River. The site in Twentymile Park, east of the mine <br />• permit area is on an unnamed (locally called Cow Camp <br />Creek) intermittent easterly flowing tributary of Fish <br />Creek, which flows north to empty into the Yampa River. <br />To the west, the project area has exposures of Twentymile <br />sandstone, forming tilted hogbacks and ridges. The <br />drainage valleys between the ridges have gently sloping <br />floors. Elevations in the region range from about 6,700 to <br />6,900 ft above mean sea level. <br />Soils in the project area are generally loamy, formed on <br />residuum and colluvium derived principally from sandstone <br />and shale. The predominant soil in the project area is <br />Duncklye-Skyway clay complex, with lesser amounts of Routt <br />loam, Skylick loam, and Binko silty clay loam. <br />Native plants in the area include gambel oak, serviceberry, <br />mountain mahogany, chokecherry, rabbitbrush, elk sedge, <br />sagebrush, western wheatgrass, prairie junegrass, and <br />needleandthread grass. Aspen, Ponderosa pine, and fir are <br />present in places along the ridges. Fauna in the area <br />includes elk, mule deer, rabbit, marmot, beaver, hawk, <br />eagle, owl, sage grouse, and rattlesnake. <br />The project area is primarily used for cattle ranching. In <br />Twentymile Park there is evidence of cultivation. Within <br />portions of the survey areas, livestock grazing has <br />resulted in places where the vegetation has been reduced. <br />The Seneca II mine permit area is a currently operating <br />open pit strip coal operation. <br />3.0 EXISTING DATA AND ISTERATIIRE REVIEW <br />The project area is on the border between two major <br />cultural/geographic regions in the state: the Rocky <br />Mountains and the Colorado Plateau. Using the Resource <br />Protection Planning Process (RP3) documents produced by the <br />Colorado Historical Society, the prehistory of this area is <br />covered by Guthrie et al. (1984) and Grady (1984), while <br />the historic era is covered by Mehls (1984) and Husband <br />(1984). <br />A search of the files of the Office of Archaeology and <br />Historic Preservation, Colorado Historical Society, in <br />Denver, was performed on June 2, 1988. Two previously <br />recorded cultural sites were noted in the project vicinity. <br />Site 5RT1, a prehistoric rock shelter, was recorded in the <br />SE1/4 of Section 28, T.6N.,R.87W. Site 5RT4 is a <br />prehistoric open lithic scatter, recorded in the NE1/4 of <br />Section 28. These two sites were discovered during an <br />