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<br />substantial revenues from motels, restaurants, cafes, and <br />other travel-related enterprises. <br /> <br />The seasonal nature of the tourism industry in ~he Durango <br />area significantly affects other local industrie., with <br />jobs and sales receipts declining substantially in winter. <br />Moreover, this effect is considerably more pronounced in <br />the Durango area than in Farmington. These basic differences <br />produce other dissimilarities in the job market in the two <br />areas. <br /> <br />As the mineral industry continues to grow in Farmington, the <br />entire area expands because of increased job opportunities <br />and economic needs. The Durango area economy is bolstered <br />by the state college and the ski resort twenty-five miles <br />outside the city limits. Seasonal tourism has a role with <br />the ski resort, as winter is the main season for tourism. <br />The school receives about 3,500 students every August <br />through April and about 1,500 students in the summer months <br />of May through early August. <br /> <br />Project documents state that the economic development of the <br />area has been restricted by a number of factors, includinq- <br />shortage of usable water supply. Three major industries -- <br />agriculture, tourism and lumber -- are essentially seasonal, <br />creatinq unemployment problems during the winter months. <br />Project documents indicate that winter is the Durango area's <br />specific employment problem. <br /> <br />AgriCUlture provides income to approximately 9 percent of <br />the labor force in La Plata County and about 3 percent in <br />San Juan county. In the project area, about lout of l6 <br />families receives direct income from farming. The other <br />15. families receive income from retail trade, <br />tourism-recreation services, the state college and public <br />services. <br /> <br />The main source of farm income is livestock, with crop <br />production of lesser importance. The total value of crop and <br />livestock production on land to receive project water was <br />nearly $3,200,000 in 1978, as projected from Bureau of <br />Reclamation farm budget studies. <br /> <br />The entire San Juan Basin, which include. the project area, <br />is quite isolated. Any products marketed outside the basin <br />must be trucked long di.tance to the market areas. Since <br />there are no railroads in the area and freight rate. on <br />bulky product. are generally prohibitive, most of the forage <br />crops and part of the local grain are fed to live.tock. The <br />livestock are then shipped out, usually as f.eders and are <br />finished in other areas. The only crops shipped out of the <br />area in significant amount. at the pr..ent time are wheat <br />and beans. <br /> <br />40 <br />