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<br />000254 <br /> <br />15 <br /> <br />proclamations have extended the boundary, and the area now <br />contains 13,667 acres, of which 349 acres are currently private <br />inholdings. Acquisition of these inholdings is planned. <br /> <br />The northern section of the monument is bounded primarily by <br />privately owned land, with the exception of four parcels of public <br />domain land. The southern section is bounded about equally by <br />Federal and privately owned land. The Federal land is mostly <br />pu bl ic domain, with Curecanti National Recreation Area <br />accounting for the remaining portion. <br /> <br />The country within the immediate vicinity of the monument <br />sustains limited grazing and hunting. Beyond this area is the <br />Uncompahgre River Valley and the Fruitland Mesa, where the <br />principal land uses are farming, ranching, hunting, and fishing. <br /> <br />Significant points of interest in the vicinity include Rocky <br />Mountain, Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde National Parks; Colorado, <br />Arches, Hovenweep, Natural Bridges, Great Sand Dunes, and <br />Capitol Reef National Monuments; Uncompahgre, Gunnison, and <br />Grand Mesa National Forests; and Curecanti National Recreation <br />Area. The forest lands are not contiguous, but surround the area in <br />close proximity. Several units of the National Wilderness <br />Preservation System are located within two of these three forests. <br /> <br />About 300,000 people visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison <br />National Monument annually. <br /> <br />Roadless Study Area <br />A single large road less area of approximately 10,500 acres exists <br />within the monument, whose primary resources are of scenic, <br />ecological, and geological significance. Herein lies the most <br />spectacular portion of one of the great wild canyons of the world, <br />where 12 miles of narrow chasm exhibit monolithic walls, rising <br />darkly 2000 feet or more above the Gunnison River, and 1300 feet <br />apart at the narrowest point. The river roars through the canyon <br />depths, its sound carrying to the viewers on the rim. In places, the <br />walls are streaked with whitish zigzagging intrusives. Shattered eons <br />ago with vertical fractures, the walls have eroded into vertical fins <br />and slabs, some standing as towering islands away from the main <br />walls. Angular slabs of rock lying in the river testify to the <br />continual collapse of the walls. The mantle of life that adorns the <br /> <br />'- <br />