4000

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 4000
• Author: U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Title: Report on Water For Energy in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1974.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

with that of the present report, direct use has been made of many
of the prior tables and summaries. This will serve to accredit
the source of this information.

Fish and wildlife resources are of outstanding importance in the
Rocky Mountain area whose limited human population and extensive
areas of public lands have escaped most of the pressures of rapid
population growth and land development that have displaced fish and
wildlife habitat in much of the United States. Accordingly,
fishing and hunting remain as major activities and opportunities
for the public and are readily available throughout most of the region.

Even though tabular emphasis may fall upon those species that provide
food or pleasure--animals taken by rod, trap, or gun, or commonly
observed--these obvious forms are but representatives of ,the thousands
of kinds of animals that invest the region. The total environment
includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and smaller forms,
together with the vegetal types that comprise the many diverse
ecosystems within the basin boundary.

Despite diversions and other alterations of stream environment, streams
within the basin continue to provide a valued sport fishery--
including numerous streams or stream segments classed as "blue ribbon"
waters that offer the finest quality fishing. Construction of
multiple-purpose reservoirs has had a tremendous favorable impact
on fishing within the region, especially the installation of
reservoirs in water-short areas such as Flaming Gorge (Utah-Wyoming),
Lake Powell (Arizona-Utah), and Navajo (Colorado-New Mexico). The
existing diversity of fishing opportunities is evident in Table 3 .

In 1965, some 3,547,000 man-days fishing occurred in the Upper
Colorado Region. A surprising amount considering the small population
of the region, this illustrates the quality aspects of this area
and a situation in which nearly two-thirds of the days were spent
by people residing outside the region. The breakdown of fishing by
types of water is shown in Table 4 .

The economic impact of sport fishing in the basin has particular
significance because 69 percent of the total fishing days are spent
by people from outside the region, making the requirement for goods
and services proportionately greater than in other regions where
local participation is more common. Total fisherman expenditures
in 1965 amounted to $67,480,000 within the States in which the
Upper Colorado Region is located. This was based on resident expendi-
tures averaging $17.19 per day ($50,310,000) and nonresident expenditures
averaging $27.68 per day ($17,170,000). Most of these amounts were
spent in the region although the actual proportion is unknown.

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