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e e An all-weather road would provide access to the ideal experimental barrier top, and truck and oversnow travel would be practical around the top. Conifer forest would be widespread to provide protected clearing for precipitation gauges. An airport would be located within 30 minutes or less flying time of the ideal experimental area because most twin-engine research aircraft have only 3-4 hours flight duration. Spending more than 1 hour in ferry time severely reduces observational time. An adequate airport would provide hangars and shops for research aircraft as well as an ILS (instrument landing system) approach for poor weather operations. A secondary airport would be within reasonable distance in case the primary closed due to weather. However, the experimental area would have a low density of aircraft traffic. A nearby town of sufficient size would provide both living accommodations for aircrews and field personnel, and would provide routine supplies and services to the project. To aid in searching for potential experimental areas, locations of existing and proposed wilderness areas were superimposed on 1:1,000,000 sCale aeronautical charts covering the Colorado River Basin. These charts show major elevation contours (e.g., 7000, 9000, and 12,000 ft), elevations of major peaks, MOA's (military operating areas), terminal control areas and other information of interest to aviation. All areas were examined that had significant areas above 9000 ft, and were at least partially within the Colorado River Basin. Those that were largely or wholly within existing or proposed wilderness areas were excluded from further consideration. Some potential locations that had a limited wilderness area within them were included. Remaining areas were required to have at least a 20 kIn west-to-east dimension with elevations generally above 9000 ft, although mountains with parallel north-south ridges separated by a valley were retained for further consideration. The resulting mountain areas are listed in Table 1. At least half of each potential experimental area listed in Table 1 is within the Colorado River Basin with the exception that only a small portion of the Fishlake Mountains drains into the Colorado River. Table 1. - Potential experimental locations with at least 20 km width, a substantial area above 9000 ft elevation, and not primarily within a wilderness area COLORADO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. cb Elkhead Mtns. north of Hayden Park Range east of Steamboat Springs Park Range (southern end) northwest of Kremmling Elk Mtn./Parkview Mtn. north of Parshall Front Range east of Dillon Red Table Mtn. south of Eagle White River Plateau (south end) north of Glenwood Springs 6