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<br />The San Juan National Forest north of the project area is <br />the primary attraction for visitors. This area has enjoyed <br />1.8 million visitor days with an average stay of one an <br />one-half days. <br /> <br />At the Ridges Basin and Southern ute Reservoirs a total of <br />2,720 people could be accommodated at one time for camping, <br />fishing, boating, picnicking and sight-seeing for a total of <br />307,500 recreation days a year in the project area. <br /> <br />~ <br />) <br /> <br />l <br />1 <br />J <br />f <br />o <br /> <br />The 1,800 visitors per day at the Ridges Basin Reservoir <br />would have: <br /> <br />574 parking spaces <br />10 miles of hiking trails <br />54 camping units <br />48 picnic units <br />34 boat slips <br />7 lane boat ramp <br /> <br />The 920 visitors per day at the Southern ute Reservoir would <br />have: <br /> <br />"I <br />~' <br /><. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />;' <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />274 parking spaces <br />76 camping units <br />16 picnic units <br />19 boat slips <br />4 lane boat ramp <br /> <br />. . I <br /> <br />The Definite Plan Report indicates that some recreation at <br />Ridges Basin and some whitewater boating in the Animas River <br />below Durango would be lost as a result of the project. <br />Because of the flow changes in the Animas River, 3,400 <br />recreation days would be lost and 15,200 recreation days <br />reduced (hiking, sight-seeing on Animas River, recreation <br />floating and kyaking and commercial river floating) by the <br />operation of the project. <br /> <br />The USBR estimates that 5' of the area's rafting revenues <br />will be lost due to project development. The USBR has <br />estimated that the losses of boating opportunities <br />anticipated with project development, can be evaluated at <br />rates of $4 to $9.50 for each recreation day depending on <br />the types of boating and the river flow at the time of the <br />boating experience. <br /> <br />The report of the President's Commission on Americans <br />Outdoors states that the demand for white water river <br />recreation is increasing while the resource of white water <br />is shrinking. Recreational use of Colorado's rivers more <br />than doubled in the last ten years, from 142,000 use days in <br /> <br /> <br />~: <br /> <br />27 <br />