E. Kinzie Gordon
Published: 1982
Total Pages: 0
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Between November 1980 and September 1981, a Class II cultural inventory addressing approximately 126,567 acres of Known Recoverable Coal Resource Areas (KRCRAs) was undertaken by Gordon & Kranzush, Inc. The work was conducted under Contract Number YA-553-CTO-1063 for the Craig District, White River Resource Area, of the Bureau of Land Management in the Danforth Hills KRCRA and the Lower White River KRCRA, southern Moffat and northern Rio Blanco Counties, Colorado. Class II sample survey results were utilized to construct scientifically reliable models for predictive location of cultural resources to guide the Bureau of Land Management in application of Unsuitability Criterion #7 to large areas of known coal resources, in order to facilitate protection of cultural resources at a very early point in the planning process. A random sample of the KRCRAs was generated, resulting in the selection of 194 40-acre sample units (7760 acres) to be subjected to intensive 100% pedestrian coverage to provide cultural and environmental data for model construction. Eighteen additional 40-acre tracts (720 acres) were selected and surveyed to verify model predictions. A single predictive model for the entire KRCRA under consideration proved to be inaccurate and unreliable. Consequently, three separate geographic areas were refined and three separate models created. Acceptable accuracy in predicting resource presence or absence within 40-acre tracts utilizing environmental and topographical variables was achieved for the Danforth Hills KRCRA and the Elk Springs portion of the Lower White River KRCRA. Poor accuracy resulted for the remaining portion of the Lower White River KRCRA, due to its great internal environmental diversity. The inventory located 160 non-recent resources (146 of which were recorded within the surveyed tracts) including 47 sites, 40 localities and 73 isolated finds. Aboriginal resources included campsites, lithic scatters, rock art, and sheltered localities, increasing in frequency from the Paleo-indian (pre-5000 BC) to the Proto-historic Periods. The three historic resources are isolates and only limited inferences regarding historic (pre-AD 1931) Euroamerican penetration of the KRCRA could be drawn. One prehistoric site, 5 MF1299, is considered eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Twenty-eight other resources may be eligible, but final determinations await further data recovery. Avoidance, protection and full eligibility evaluations for these resources are recommended. No previously recorded sites included in the National Register listing are located within the KRCRA boundaries.