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Ruedi 2012 Agreement Final EA Page 3-12 Medal. In addition, this portion of the river has restrictions requiring catch and release of all ' trout, except brown trout, and catch and release of any brown trout over fourteen inches. Ruedi Reservoir operations have moderated natural flows along the portion of the Fryingpan River below Ruedi Dam. Moderation of the stream flow has tended to improve the sport fishery, especially for brown trout (Strange, 1998). ' Only about 7.5 miles of the 14-mile stretch of the Fryingpan River below Ruedi Dam are available to the public for fishing and other recreation activities. Roaring Fork Conservancy ' (2002) estimated total annual visitor day use for the public land segments of this portion of the Fryingpan at 34,248 for the year surveyed, November 2000 through October 2001. (The Roaring Fork Conservancy also indicated that there may be as many as 4,880 additional visits per year not accounted for in their surveys given that anglers often fish during the early morning and late evening hours, which was outside the surveying timeframe.) 72 percent of this use was estimated to occur on the portion of public land just below the reservoir (Ruedi Dam to just below Baetis Bridge) (Roaring Fork Conservancy, 2002). They also estimated that: 86 percent of the users were anglers, 71 percent of the visits occurred during the on-season, and 84 percent of survey respondents came from outside the Roaring Fork Valley. ' The Forest Service currently permits four outfitter-guides along the public land portions of the Fryingpan River below Ruedi Dam for a total of 1,521 service days (visitors per year). These ' commercial trips account for approximately 5.2 percent of the total annual visitor days on the lower Fryingpan River (Roaring Fork Conservancy, 2002). Outfitter-guide operations generally run from the beginning of May through the end of October, with 69 percent or more of historic user trips occurring in July, August and September (Table 3.5). Data for 1998-2000 is not broken out by season of use but the distribution of use from 1987 to 1997 is fairly consistent and is expected to be similar for the 1998-2000 timeframe. , The Roaring Fork River supports a commercial fishing industry based on float fishing from rafts and drift boats. Several segments of the Roaring Fork River also are Gold Medal Waters and ' have catch and release requirements. The Forest Service permits six outfitter/guides along the public land portions of the Roaring Fork. 3A Economic/Social Environment The Fryingpan and Roaring Fork Rivers are located in west central Colorado in Pitkin, Eagle and , Garfield counties. The Town of Basalt, (pop. 2,681), is the only major community located along the Fryingpan and is situated at the confluence of the Fryingpan and the Roaring Fork Rivers. Upstream from Basalt along the Fryingpan, there are numerous private parcels, most of which ' have been developed as single-family dwellings. There are several communities located along the Roaring Fork River downstream of its ' confluence with the Fryingpan River, the most prominent being Carbondale (pop. 5,196) and Glenwood Springs (pop. 8,288). Other than localized urban development around community centers, the Roaring Fork River valley has significant rural development between the Roaring ' Fork's confluence with the Fryingpan and the confluence with the Colorado River. Historically, ranching interests occupied a majority of the lands in the valley. However, within the last ten years this area has seen an increase in real estate development, generally for single-family ' dwellings, businesses, and resorts.