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Limited-Results Archaeological Survey Form (Page 3 of 10)
<br />IV. ENVIRONMENT
<br />18. General Topographic Setting: The project area is located on the Gunnison National Forest south of
<br />Somerset, Colorado and east of Paonia, Colorado. The drill sites lie to the south of Minnesota Reservoir and
<br />due north of Beaver Reservoir. The majority are within an area bounded by Minnesota Creek to the west, Deep
<br />Creek to the east, the Dry Fork of Minnesota Creek to the north, and the East Fork of Minnesota Creek and
<br />Lick Creek to the south. In addition, two locations are immediately east of.Deep Creek and five sites are found
<br />just south of Lick Creek. The westernmost panel (E9) of drill sites is situated on or near Lion Mesa. The drill
<br />sites and associated access roads encompass a variety of topographic settings, including high ridge tops and
<br />side slopes, steeply sided drainages, and a few small, open meadows within the larger drainages. Elevations
<br />within the project area range from 7,600 ft (2,316 m) to 8,560 ft (2,609 m).
<br />Current Land Use: The surrounding landscape is primarily used for livestock grazing and various forms of
<br />recreation, including horseback riding and hunting.
<br />19. Flora: The majority of the project area consists of dense shrub ecosystems dominated by Gambel oak,
<br />serviceberry, chokecherry, and snowberry, with understories of grass and forbs that largely obscure the surface
<br />of the ground. Higher elevation areas and north-facing slopes are characterized by aspen and Douglas fir forests
<br />containing thick understories of shrubs, grasses, and herbaceous vegetation.
<br />20. Soils/Geology: The bedrock geology of the project area comprises Cretaceous age Mesaverde sandstone and
<br />shale. Soils in the project area consist of silty and fine sandy loams.
<br />21. Ground Visibility: Due to vegetation and duff cover, ground visibility in the project area was extremely poor,
<br />ranging from no visibility to a maximum of 80 percent in a few very limited areas. In most areas, however,
<br />visibility was typically less than 20 percent.
<br />22. Comments:
<br />V. LITERATURE REVIEW
<br />23. Location and Date of File Search: Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests, Delta,
<br />Colorado, July 2, 2008. Also, the Colorado OAHP's On-line Cultural Resource Database (Compass) was checked for
<br />cultural resources within the legal sections encompassing the project area on June 18, 2008.
<br />24. Previous Survey Activity
<br />In the project area: Portions of nine relatively small cultural resource inventories (Sanders 1979, 1985;
<br />Collins et al. 1979; DeCeasar 1981; Spath 1995a, 1995b, 1996, 1999, 1999a) were identified as overlapping
<br />(i.e., falling partially within) numerous parcels defined for the present project area. The parcels and
<br />previous surveys are in Sections 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11, T14S, R90W. No cultural resources were found during
<br />these inventories. In the immediate vicinity of the project area only two historic cultural resources were
<br />identified from GLO records. These included the East Deep Creek to Coal Creek Road and the US Trail to
<br />Paonia.
<br />In the general region: A number of cultural resource inventories have been conducted in the immediate
<br />vicinity of the project area as well as in surrounding areas (i.e., within one mile of the present project area).
<br />Table 1 summarizes these projects. In general, very few cultural resources were discovered during these
<br />inventories. Only three prehistoric cultural resources, 5GN1102, 5GN1103, and 5GN1734, have been
<br />recorded. All are isolated finds consisting of single lithic artifacts. Historic resources include the Minnesota
<br />Creek Ditch (5GN1593.1), the Minnesota Ditch Cabin (5GN4806), and the Deep Creek Ditch (5GN2669.1),
<br />which are all just east of the project area.
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