WSP00059

• File Number: 7630.150
• Description: Wild and Scenic-Dinosaur National Monument
• Date: 7/1/1977
• Title: Dinosaur National Monument Wilderness-Statement for Management
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

B. Ref-lonal Influences

1202

Dinosaur :iational :,lonument is located in extreme north'-lestern Colorauo
and northeastern Uta!l. l-lonument heauquarten are locateu 1.5 miles east
of Dinosaur, Coloradq and 36 miles east of Vernal, Gtah. 'I'he Quarry is
located 19 miles east of Vernal and 7 miles north of Jensen, Uta:" 31.5
miles from headquarters. Surrounding the monument are federal
and private rural lands. Tile major metropolitan centers of Denver,
Coloradq and Salt Lake City, Utah, are 320 and 215 miles respectively
from headquarters via U.S. Hi~lway 40.

The surrounding area is semi-arid and sparsely populated. :,loffat COlIDty,
Colorado, second largest couuty in Colorado, had a population in 1970 of
approximately 6,430. Tile population of Uintah County in 1970 was 11,634.
Both counties are eagerly competitive for private industrial development
and federal installations.

,

Northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utal, are presently recognized as
the energy hub of the intermountain states. IHth oil shale a major poten-
tial. water-generated pmlcr and tile oil fields are of Great economic
importance to this sparsely populated rangeland region. Yo.e major industry
of the area is agriculture; mining makes up about 30 percent of
the economy. ' Ilefore energy-related resources \-lere developed around Dinosaur,
the region was devoted primarily to sheep and cattle grazing.

Tourism ranks about fourtll in the local economy.

Transportation to the area is mainly via private automobile, with only
one major bus line serving the U.S. 40 route, and airline transportation
serving Vernal, Utah, via Frontier Airlines. The only adequate facilities
for tourist use are located in Vernal with several private campgrounds,
eating and lodging facilities. The towns of Dinosaur and Rangely, Colorado,
have burst at the seams, and no facilities are available for tourism.

Water develop~ents on any of several Bureau of Reclamation withdrawals
and state and private proposals outside the monument could adversely affect
the free-flowing characteristics of the Yampa River, Since the Yampa is
the only remaining unmodified tributary of the Colorado River system, the
National Park Service is particularly concerned with any projects that could
alter its natural environment. The Colorado Water Conservation Board feels
that the Service is interfering with water matters in which it should have
no concern. This situation is further complicated by expected water demands
of energy-related oil-shale development projects proposed for adjacent
regions in both Colorado and Utah.

Water passing through the monument in the Green and Yampa Rivers is claimed
by downstream users for a multitude of purposes. The Yampa, as yet free-
flowing and proposed for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic River System,
floods each spring and scours its banks free of vegetation. The Yam?a
also provides critical habitat for two endangered and two proposed endangered

SFM-6