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CHAPTER I GENERAL DISCUSSIONS Location The Yellow Jacket Project study area in northwestern Colorado covers about 4,000 square miles, consisting of the entire White River drainage , basin within Colorado and the adjacent Milk Creek drainage. The area includes all of Rio Blanco County and small portions of Moffat and Garfield Counties, as shown on the frontispiece map. Milk Creek is tributary to the Yampa River. The White River drains westward into Utah to join the Green River, a major Colorado River tributary. Other potential projects in the study area are under consideration by private interests, as dis- cussed later in this chapter. /l . , 1 The Milk Creek drainage area is separated from the White River Basin by a low mountain range known as the Danforth Hills. A sharp, distinct ridge known as the Grand Hogback extends south from the Danforth Hills completely across the White Rivpr Basin, separating the upper and lower portions. The White River cuts through the Grand Hogback near the town of Meeker where a wide valley extending several miles upstream has been formed. The valley west of the Grand Hogback includes the irrigable areas of Powell Park and Josephine Basin along the river. The southern part of the project area west of the Grand Hogback lies in the Piceance Creek Basin Anticline which extends beyond the White River drainage. The project area is bordered on the east by the White River Plateau, part of the southern Rocky Mountains. I .;. - .~ _I The project area is sparsely populated, with several rural communi- ties. Of these, only Meeker and Rangely are incorporated. The other com- munities are Buford and Axial. The area is traversed in a north-south direction by State Highway 13 which connects with major east-west highways at Rifle and Craig. State Highway 64 extends west from Meeker to Rangely. Rifle is on the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and Craig is the terminal for a branch line of the railroad. Several major electric transmission lines cross the area from north to south. ~:~. Mineral Resources and Development The project area is located in an energy-rich region of National im- portance, with tremendous deposits of oil shale and coal, and also with petroleum and natural gas in significant quantities. The main areas of coal and oil shale are shown on the frontispiece map. ,J 4