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<br />seat when Moffat County was created by a division of Routt County <br />in 1911. <br /> <br />Sheep were introduced to the area approximately 1920, and oil <br />production became important in 1924 when Moffat Field was opened. <br />Coal production is the major economic base of the Craig area. <br />Recent production of coal in the vicinity of Craig has created <br />a boom town. The estimated 1979 population was approximately <br />12,000 (Reference 1), an increase of approximately 250 percent <br />over the population of 1970 (Reference 2). This rate of increase <br />is expected to continue because Craig is an energy-impacted community_ <br /> <br />Fortification Creek has its headwaters in the Elkhead Mountains <br />in Routt National Forest, approximately 20 miles north of Craig. <br />Fortification Creek flows southerly from its origin near Black <br />Mountain to its confluence with Yarnpa River, approximately 0.5 <br />mile south of the southern corporate limits. The area drained <br />by Fortification Creek at the downstream limit of study is approxi- <br />mately 258 square mile~. The drainage basin of Fortification <br />Creek drops from an elevation of 10,800 feet at its headwaters <br />to 6,200 feet at Craig. The average slope through Craig is approxi- <br />mately 11 feet per mile, or 0.21 percent. <br /> <br />Brotherton Gulch has a drainage area of approximately 4.1 square <br />miles. This basin enters the drainage basin for Fortification <br />Creek from the west and begins at an elevation of 7,520 feet, <br />approximately 4,2 miles northwest of Craig. It flows southeasterly, <br />then easterly through the city to Fortification Creek near the <br />northern corporate limits. <br /> <br />Cedar Mountain Gulch has its headwaters in Cedar Mountain and <br />is tributary to Pine Ridge Gulch. The drainage basin drops from <br />an elevation of approximately 7,500 feet to 6,190 feet. Approximately <br />6.0 square miles are drained by Cedar Mountain Gulch at its confluence <br />with Pine Ridge Gulch. The average stream slope is 3.4 percent. <br /> <br />pine Ridge Gulch has its headwaters in Pine Ridge and is a tributary <br />to Yampa River. The drainage basin drops from an elevation of <br />approximately 7,000 feet to approximately 6,170 feet. Approximately <br />16 square miles are drained by Pine Ridge Gulch at its confluence <br />with Yampa River. The average slope of the stream is 2.4 percent. <br /> <br />Tributaries 1 and 2 have their headwaters approximately 1.2 miles <br />north of the eastern portion of Craig. Both tributaries drop <br />from an elevation of approximately 6,620 feet at their headwaters <br />to approximately 6,230 feet at the northern end of the study limit <br />for Tributary 1 and to approximately 6,260 feet for Tributary <br />2. At the downstream study limit, Tributary 1 has a drainage <br />area of approximately 0.7 square mile and Tributary 2 has a drainage <br />area of approximately 0.3 square mile. <br /> <br />4 <br />