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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />R <br /> <br />,. .... ........... <br />" ~ I <br />..,Uu ~ <br /> <br />Report of the Regional Director <br /> <br />10. The population of the Eastern Slope project area <br />reached 278,000 in 1940. Unofficial local estimates placed <br />the 1948 population at 362,000 - a 35 percent increase over <br />1940. Preliminary unofficial returns of the 1950 census <br />disclose that pueblo's 1940 population of 52,162 had in- <br />creased to 63,561 and Colorado Springs' population from <br />36,789 to 45,269. Other sizeable communities in the valley <br />and their 1940 populations are: Leadville, 4,774; Salida <br />4,969; Canon City, 6,690; La Junta, 7,040; and Lamar 4,465. <br /> <br />Present development <br /> <br />11. Livestock ranching and the recreational industry <br />are the principal business activities in the Upper Roaring <br />Fork Basin. In times past, mining was extensive. This ac- <br />tivity had diminished but the latent industry may be revived. <br />Registered Hereford cattle from the Western Slope have re- <br />ceived national recognition. Winter sports, vacationing, <br />and sport fishine: are becoming increasingly important throue;h- <br />out the basin. The diversion area proper has no farming al- <br />though the forest is used for grazing. <br /> <br />12. The upper part of the Arkansas Valley is similar <br />in many respects to the Upper Roaring Fork Basin. Mining <br />is important at and near Leadville and winter and summer <br />sports bring many persons to the area. The City of Pueblo <br />is the focal center for the varied industrial development <br />of the Valley. The most important industrial enterprises, <br />based upon the 1939 Census of Business, included one steel <br />mill, a cement plant, smelters, iron foundries, brick and <br />tile plants, machine shops, and agricultural processing <br />plants, including 23 grain elevators, 3 flour mills, 8 feed <br />grinding and mixing plants, 9 alfalfa mills, 4 meat packing <br />plants, 3 beet sugar factories, and 5 canning plants. <br /> <br />13. Agriculture, however, is the most important in- <br />dustry of the Valley. More than 87 percent of the land <br />area, including timberland, is used for grazing. Culti- <br />vated lands comprise 10 percent of the area of which atout <br />one-fourth, or 322,000 acres, is irrigated. The irrigated <br />land exerts an extremely significant influence on the econ- <br />omy of the Valley. It stabilizes the economy of an area <br />many times grea,ter than that actually irrigated. <br /> <br />14. Many irrigated crops are grown successfully in <br />the Arkansas Valley when water supplies are adequate. In <br /> <br />5 <br /> <br />;~ <br />