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0 Introduction <br />At the request of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forest <br />(GMUG), Grand Valley District, and Bowie Resources, Ltd. (BRL), a Class III cultural <br />resource inventory for a proposed Lease Modification Area in Delta County, Colorado, , was <br />conducted by Grand River Institute (GRI). A total of approximately 460 acres of Forest <br />Service administered lands was intensively surveyed. The inventory and report preparation <br />were performed by Carl E. Conner (Principal Investigator), Barbara Davenport, Jim Conner, <br />and Dana Archuleta. <br />The survey was done to meet requirements of National Historic Preservation Act (as <br />amended in 1992), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, and Article 80.1 <br />of the Colorado Revised Statutes. These laws are concerned with the identification, <br />evaluation, and protection of fragile, non-renewable evidences of human activity, occupation, <br />and endeavor reflected in districts, sites, structures, artifacts, objects, ruins, works of art, <br />architecture, and natural features that were of importance in human events. Such resources <br />tend to be localized and highly sensitive to disturbance. <br />Accordingly, the objectives (research design) of the inventory were to conduct an <br />intensive archaeological survey of areas potentially subject to direct impact from the <br />proposed coal mining operations; to identify and accurately locate archaeological sites and/or <br />districts and isolated finds; to evaluate these surface finds for inclusion on the National <br />Register of Historic Places (NRHP); to determine the potential effect of the potential impact <br />activities on all NRHP-eligible resources; and to make recommendations for the mitigation of <br />any adverse effects on those cultural resources. <br />Location of the Project Area <br />The block study area lies northeast of the town of Paonia, in Delta County, Colorado. <br />The project is located in T. 12 S., R. 91 W., Sections 27, 28, 33, and 34; 6th P.M. (Figure 1). <br />Environment <br />The study area lies off the southeast corner of Grand Mesa, an 11,000-foot high, flat- <br />topped mountain capped by basalt flows of late Miocene and early Pliocene age ca. 10 <br />million years old (Young and Young 1968). Cretaceous-age Mesaverde Formation <br />sandstones and coal-bearing rocks form the bedrock of the study area. <br />The survey area lies at the west side of Hubbard Creek canyon and was mainly <br />focused on Iron Point Gulch. Elevations in the study area range from 6520 to 8280 feet, <br />which are primarily covered in Transitional Zone brush occasionally mixed with fir/aspen