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<br />Following the original settlement of the town in 1875 by the James Crawford family, <br />Steamboat Springs was a livestock center. A few large ranches ran approximately <br />100,000 head of cattle on open range. Livestock production is still very important in <br />the economy of the community. Other longstanding agricultural activities include <br />production of hay, wheat, and barley. Around the turn of the century, there were great <br />expectations for the exploitation of gold, silver, lead, copper, coal, and other minerals, <br />but only coal (of which there are huge deposits in the region) became significant in the <br />economy of the city. Lumbering also has been important in the development of <br />Steamboat Springs. <br /> <br />The town was incorporated in 1900 and became the county seat in 1911. With the rise <br />of tourism in the early part of the 20th century, Steamboat Springs' mountainous setting <br />and distance from major population centers made it a popular stopping point for <br />summer tourists. At present, summer tourism continues as an important factor in the <br />economic base. <br /> <br />The heavy winter snowpack characteristic of northwestern Colorado contributed to an <br />interest in skiing as a necessity for winter transportation in pioneer times, then as a <br />sport in the early 1900s. In the past few decades, the excellent slopes and snowpack <br />near Steamboat Springs, and the widespread increase in popularity of skiing generally, <br />have contributed to development of skiing facilities to the extent that serving the needs <br />of skiers has become the dominant economic sector of the city. Steamboat Springs is <br />known nationwide as "Ski Town, U.S.A.," and its transient wintertime population is <br />approximately equal to the permanent resident population. <br /> <br />In general, Steamboat Springs functions as the center of trade, education, public <br />administration, and commerce for a county of about 6,000 permanent residents. It has <br />a reasonably healthy agricultural, mining, timbering, and tourist-recreation economy. <br />Although dominated by the tourism-recreation sector, the city only partially conforms to <br />resort community categorization, and its non-resort functions are expected to continue <br />and increase as surely as its growing tourist-recreation function. <br /> <br />The floodplains of the streams under study abound with residential, commercial, and <br />light industrial structures. The city park is located in the floodplain of the Yampa <br />River, and numerous city streets, the main highway and secondary roads, the <br />D&RGWRR, and public utilities cross or are located in floodplain areas. Commercial <br />development consists of motels, hotels, eating establishments, specialty shops, and gas <br />stations, all of which are largely oriented toward accommodating tourists in the summer <br />and skiers in the winter. Continuing development within the study area is expected, and <br />pressure leading to intensified floodplain use will undoubtedly accompany such <br />development, which appears to be gaining momentum without consideration of flooding <br />and drainage. Typical floodplain development is shown in Figures 2 through 11. <br /> <br />Steamboat Springs is located on US 40, the main surface artery in the region. The <br />community is also served by the D&RGWRR and the Continental Trailways Bus Line. <br />Regional airlines maintain daily passenger and air cargo flights to the airports at <br />Steamboat Springs and Hayden, which is 25 miles to the west. <br /> <br />8 <br />