WSP10141

• File Number: 8542
• Description: Conejos Division - Platoro
• State: CO
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Water Division: 3
• Date: 4/1/1947
• Title: Supplemental Report - Conejos Division - San Luis Valley Project - Project report No. 5-101-1
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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The importance of the public ranges to the livestock industry of the
San Luis Valley is indicated by the following tabulation showing the approx-
imate number of public range permits and number of livestock utilizing the
Rio Grande National Forest and the public domain:

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Forest
i'reserve

Public
Domain

Number of Permits
Number of Cattle &,d Horses
Number of Sheep and Goats

'370
16,500
132,400

173
38,700
103,240

As the forestlands and grazing district lands afford grazing at alternate
periods, many ranchers hold permits to operate in each. For this reason
the above. totals are to some extent duplications.

The cattlemen and sheepmen who utilize the public ranges generally con-
fine their operations to the San Luis Valley although a few of the larger
owners operate in both Colorado and New Mexico. There is also a small num-
ber who operate in the San Luis Valley Grazing District No.8, and in Ouray
District No.3, to the northwest 'beyond the Continental Divide.

Records of the Forest Service and of the Bureau of Land Management
disclose that project residents hold 134 permits allotting grazing priv-
ileges for a total of 57,793 sheep and g~ats, and 3,188 cattle and horses.
The importance of the livestock industry and the grazing permits to the
larger landowners is summarized in the following tabulation which shows the
number of cattle and sheep permitted to utilize the public ranges by sizes
of holdings:

Cattle" Sheep
Percent Percent
Size of Holding Number of Total Number of Total
160 acres or less 883 27.7 12,060 20.8
161 acres or more 2,297 72.3 45,733 79.2
320 acres or more 1,331 41.8 32,723 56.6

Regulations prescribed by the agencies administering the public
ranges require that permits be granted only to actual owners of stock and
of land, and th,t permit holders produce sufficient feed to carry livestock
through the winter.

With development of the project assuring the water users of dependable
irrigation supplies, the trend will be toward more diversified farming;
however, as a result of higher yields and a larger avc,rage acreage irrigatm,
there will be larger quantities of grains and forage available for livestock
feeds.

Inasmuch as the ranges are presently grazed to capacity, increased '
feeding of livestock must come through the maintenance of stock on the farm.
There will be a trend toward more farm flocks of sheep, and more finiShing

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