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

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nesides the qu"rry visitor center, t~1Cre is an information clnle~~t the
l'lonument headqu"rters. Visitor inforl'l"tion ane! a frce lllustr"teJ program
on \'lhat to see :md uo at Dinosaur are offered here throughout nost of the.
year.

Other inter?retive opportlDlitles include self-guidin~ and guided nature
walks, campfire programs and special programs of historic und prehistoric
interest.

The grazing of livestock, as required by the Act of September 8, 1960,
(74 Stat. 857), allows grazing management on monument lands until 1985,
at which time the majority of use will be tenninated. Only ten
pennittees will have the right to lease grazing rights for their heirs'
lifetime or unless their lands are purchased by the federal government.
At the present time, 130,640 acres of the monument are leased to 21
pennittees for livestock grazing amounting to 5,795 animal unit months
of use.

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For the most part, utility lines affect only two locations within the
monument. At the Quarry in Utah the utility lines have been placed under-
ground and only lines serving the headquarters housing area and Lodore
Ranger Station are above ground.

Access to the monument is generally by two major routes to the Quarry
in Utah (Utah #149) and headquarters (NPS route #3). Four other access
points to the monument are by gravel road (Lodore, Island Park, and Yampa
Bench) and a paved secondary access to Deerlodge Park at the eastern
end of the monument. Because' of no connecting roads within the monument,
the visitor must make a special effort to drive either from the quarry
to headquarters or vice versa. Therefore, the dinosaur quarry receives
the majority of use by destination alone.

The feral horse problem has recently reached the public as a result of
area and Bureau of Land Management cooperative planning actions. Both
agencies are planning total removal of the feral horses from the Douglas
Mountain range they occupy, which would be an estimated 500+ animals
in 1977.

Because of the natural aspects of the monument's northeastern section,
and the fact of both National Resource and private lands contiguous to
the boundaries, the Monnon cricket (a wingless grasshopper and dreaded
plague by many) must be controlled to prevent movement outside the monument.
In 1976, a test program utilizing an endemic spore to the cricket
(Nosema locustae) was used in treated bran in the Zenobia Basin. It
was noted that there was an early dieoff of the adult cricket in August,
and collected egg samples disclosed the spore infesting them. Therefore,
from basic scientific knowledge to date, it is assumed that the cricket
population in the monument has been controlled, though not eliminated.

SFM-10