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Pacific Coast via Salt I.ake City. Another boost. to tourism was development in Denver of a regional airport, Originally termed "Stapleton's Folly" when the Denver mayor insist.ed on buying 640 acres of land 10 miles from downtown Denver' in 1923, the ai rport grew in 40 years to occupy 4,700 acres and be the lOth busiest. in the nat.ion, served by 16 scheduled airlines. Transcontinent.al flights were inaugurated in 1937 (Dorsett, 1986). Before Frontier Airlines went defunct, Denver was the only airport with three major carriers using it as a hub. Air transportation is expected to increase in the future and lead to the building of a larger, more modern airport somet.ime in the 1990's. Denver's potential as a r'egional tt'ansportation center is almost unlimi.ted because of its location Hnd the absence of another major city close by. Although Lourism was the thini r'anking industry in the State dur'ing the ~)O's and 60's, with the number of t.ourists doubling and their expenditures tnpLi.ng dur'ing most that time, Wester'n Slope communities failed to enjoy their share of the largesse, getting no more than 20 percent of the tourist dollars spent in the State dur'ing the 1950's. The major n~ason for their' lack of involvement was difficult access. The boom in skiing certainly increaspd their' shat'<~ of the take somewhat, but as late as the l!.170's, automobil.e lrafLic over t.}w most important of the southwestern Co.lorado passes was less than a thir'd of that over t.he major' F'ront Range passes (Dot'sett, 1.986). Certainly, i.he opening of the Eisenhower Tunnel in the 1970's had more tll do witll the increased prosperity of centraL Colorado ski areas than almost any other sin~le factor. Even today, when the rccr~Htion and tourismindustyoy JS the second laq{est industr'y in the Stale, br'inging in almost ~~[),5 billion doLlurs a year, ski operators are petitionin~ st.atclegisJatoros for beUI'r access into their' ar'eas (Sanko, l~m7). Jt. is impor-t.ant to identify the factors responsihle for Colorado, and particularly the Fr'onl Hange, gr'owing as it has. The principal n~ason was jobs, Colorado, at least. unt.i.I the mid-I~70's, was a low cost-.Iow wage area that was especia lly at tracti ve to industdes. People wer'e wi U ing to migrate here from heavily industriHlized sect-ions of th(' country because job prospecl ~ in their own states wer'e declining and CoJor'ado offer'cd a host of attr'active amenit-ies: blut'> skys, sunshine, low humidity, moderate winters a]om{ the Front Range and a cor'nucopia of outdoor' recr'eationaJ opportunities. [n additioll, t.he st n~ets were uncrowded, crime was less not ~icab le and the ci tics were clean. Many a tour'ist or militar'y officer', after' visiting or' being stationed in t.he Stat.e, decided to live here. Industries, especially those involvc(f with high--technology, have locah~d along the Fnmt Range because they have access t.o R large, highly educated and trained lahor pool; are at a focal point of a transcontinental transpor'tation networ'k with excellent access to t.he Rocky Mount.ain region; and have the largest commercial banking center between Kansas City and the Pacific ocean to provide capital for construction and expamnon. People have not come to Colorado and the Front Range because the region is awash in water; they expect it to be available in the same way they expect other services to be provided. ~'ew individuals who contemplate migrating to the State think about the availability of water, and it is doubtful if many industries do either, Nonetheless, water supply has been a constant theme in the minds of those concerned with its place in the State's development. Its actual role deserves closer attention. - 9 -