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

The large populations of big-game animals and the great emphasis placed
on big-game hunting are good indicators of the major role which this
form of outdoor recreation plays in the Upper Colorado Region. Hunting
for big game is not only the most popular hunting pursuit of region
residents but it also is the major attraction for hunters from outside
the region. '

Hunting for big game and other animals represents only a part of the value
of wildlife to mankind. There are nonconsumptive uses which are equally
significant recreation sources. Included in this category are activities
such as birdwatching, wildlife photography, nature walks, and the like.
It is estimated that 390,000 recreation days were expended in such
pursuits by residents of the region in 1965, and another 250,000 man-
days may be attributed to tourists vacationing in the region during
the same year.

The economic effect of hunting was somewhat less than that of
fishing. Hunter expenditures in 1965 averaged more per day, but the
total number of man-days was only 36 percent of the total of fisherman-
days. For hunting, the average daily expenditures, including license,
were $29.67 for residents of the States involved and $47.82 for
visitors from other parts of the nation. Total expenditures within
the entire area of the five states amounted to $44,256,000, of
which visitors contributed nearly 40 percent.

Consumptive use of water at wildlife facilities in 1965 was quite small.
Only a very limited area of waterfowl impoundments existed at that time,
and other 'uses were relatively insignigicant. Estimates of water
consumed at wildlife facilities throughout the region in 1965 are as
follows:

State

Acre-Feet

Arizona
Colorado
New Mexico
Utah
Wyoming

o
149
176
4,694
2

Total

5,021

Wildlife developments within the basin have expanded since 1965. The
1974 level of consumptive water use for these purposes is estimated
as some 60,000 acre-feet for wildlife facilities within the portion
of the five States concerned.

23