2010-11-16_PERMIT FILE - C1996083 (7)

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�1 L.J The survey area lies in a north -south transect north of the town of Paonia that consists of east - facing talus slopes and terrace remnants that form the western flanks of Terror Creek. The northern end of the project area includes a portion of the canyon bottom of the West Fork of Terror Creek. Elevations in the study area range from 6840 feet at the extreme southern end of the project to 8760 feet at the rim of the ridge top that forms the western edge of the transect. 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 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. 0 Summary of Files Search D 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 five surveys had been conducted in the area, which were mainly concerned with roads and drill holes related to mining development (see Table 1). Three historic sites and one prehistoric isolated find were recorded during these surveys (see Table 2). Of these, one of the sites, 5DT96, an historic habitation site in the bottom of the canyon of the West Fork of Terror Creek, was officially field evaluated as eligible for inclusion on the NRHP. The other resources were considered non - eligible. 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, trappers, settlers, miners, and ranchers. Significantly, the Spanish expedition of Dominquez and Escalante, which passed near the study area along Hubbard Creek in 1776, was the first 2