2010-11-16_PERMIT FILE - C1996083 (6)

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• Environment The study area lies off the southeast corner of Grand Mesa, an 11,000 -foot high, flat - topped mountain capped by basalt flows of late Miocene and early Pliocene age ca. 10 million years old (Young and Young 1968). Cretaceous -age Mesaverde Formation sandstones and coal - bearing rocks form the bedrock of the study area. The survey area occurs in two blocks that are north -south trending and lie north of the town of Paonia. The blocks include a large block area on the ridge top west of Terror Creek and a small block area on the east - facing talus slopes and terrace remnants that form the western flanks of Terror Creek. Elevations in the study area range from 6800 feet at the extreme southern end of the project to 8760 feet at the rim of the ridge top. The area is nearly all covered in Transitional Zone brush including oakbrush, serviceberry, and chokecherry. Other plant communities occur in the study area, although in much smaller acreages and usually mixed with the brush, including pinyon/juniper forest, fir and aspen forest, riparian woodland, and grassland meadows. The region supports numerous wildlife species including elk, deer, coyote, black bear, bobcat, ground squirrels, rabbits, and various raptors. Climatically, the yearly average temperature is 38 degrees F., and there is a maximum of 100 frost -free days in a year. Annual precipitation is about 16 to 20 inches (USDA SCS 1976). Paleoenvironmental data for the area are scant, but it is agreed that gross climatic 10 conditions have remained fairly constant over the last 12,000 years. However, changes in effective moisture and cooling/warming trends undoubtedly affected the prehistoric occupation of the area. Prehistoric land use was primarily hunting and gathering, which had little or no adverse affect on the local environment. Present day land use includes cattle grazing, hunting, and coal mining development. Summary of Files Search Files searches were made through the Uncompahgre Field Office of the BLM and the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation of the Colorado Historical Society. These indicated that three sites (5DT 93, 94, and 95) and two isolated finds 5DT1606 and 5DT1724) occur within the inventory blocks. Lists of the previous inventories and cultural resources within about a mile of the project areas are presented in Appendix A. Regional archaeological studies suggest nearly continuous human occupation of west - central Colorado for the past 12,000 years. Evidence of the Paleoindian Era, the Archaic Era, Formative Era, and Protohistoric Era has been found in the area. An overview of the prehistory is provided in a new document published by the Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists' entitled Colorado Prehistory' A Context for the Northern Colorado Plateau (Reed and Metcalf 1999). Historic records suggest occupation or use of the region by EuroAmerican explorers, 2