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<br />'<j'! <br /> <br />-~-, <br />'-_/ <br /> <br />C\1 <br />C\1 <br /> <br />VI . THE ECONOMY <br /> <br />The Continental Divide is the eastern boundary of the study area <br />and this portion of the area is quite mountainous. The balance of the <br />area is mostly a vast, high plateau sloping down toward the west with <br />elevation ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 feet. This plateau is inter- <br />sected and cut up by two river systems, the Yampa River flows north <br />and then west through the eastern and northern portion of the area <br />and the White River which also flows east to west draining the southern <br />portion of the study area. Both flow into the Green River just east of <br />the study area in Utah. <br /> <br />The area encompassed by this study is the northwest corner of the <br />state of Colorado comprising the three counties of Moffat, Rio Blanco, <br />and Routt. There are numerous smal1 towns in the area, the most im- <br />portant of which are Craig (1965 population 4,400) located on the Yampa <br />River near the center of the area, Steamboat Springs (1965 population <br />1,900) upstream on the Yampa River in the eastern part of the area, <br />Meeker (1965 population 1,655) on the White River in the south central <br />section of the area, and Rangely (1965 population 1,700) downstream on <br />the White River near the Utah border which is the western boundary of <br />the study area. These towns were founded as trade and service centers <br />for the developing livestock industry in the last quarter of the nine- <br />teenth century. Rangely and Craig have also become centers of mining <br />activity. <br /> <br />Present Economic Activity <br /> <br />Agriculture is the most important economic activity in the area <br />in terms of employment, and second only to petroleum as measured by value <br />of product. Eighteen percent of the labor force of the area works at <br />agricultural jobs, a decline from 26 percent in 1950 and 33 percent in <br />1940. The relative dominance of agriculture in the study area is illus- <br />trated by a comparison of employment with the State of Colorado and the <br />United States in Figure 4. (The change-over time is seen in Figure 5.) <br /> <br />Livestock production is the major agricultural activity. In 1959, <br />when the total value of all farm products sold was $14,089,464, livestock <br />and livestock products comprised 80% of this total, the value of all <br />crops sold only 20%. In addition, the value of livestock and livestock <br />products had increased 20% over the preceding ten years while the value of <br />crops sold had declined 4% in the same period. In 1959, the value of cattle <br />and calves sold was double that of sheep and lambs. Ten years earlier they <br />had been about equal. <br /> <br />A look at the general pattern of land use (Figure 6) shows only <br />one-third of the total land area in farms. Nearly two million acres <br />(88 percent of the land in farms) is utilized as grazing land. One <br />hundred fifty four thousand acres are dry farmed and only 82,000 acres <br />are irrigated. The major crops are: <br /> <br />-13- <br />