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<br />(..1 <br />"""i <br />(.1 <br />C\l Area 1930 1940 1950 1960 <br /> Three-County Study Area 17, 193 18,554 19,605 18,111 <br /> Moffatt County 4,861 5,086 5,946 7,061 <br /> Rio Blanco County 2,980 2,943 4,719 5,150 <br /> Routt County 9,352 10,525 8,940 5,900 <br /> Craig ( town) 1,418 2,123 3,080 3,984 <br /> Meeker (town) 1,069 1,399 1,658 1,655 <br /> Rangely ( town) - <br /> Not incorporated until - - 1946 808 1,464 <br /> Steamboat Springs 1,198 1,613 1,913 1,843 <br /> <br />A substantial decrease in Routt County has offset increases in the other <br />two counties. Gr0wth in size of the towns has more than offset the popu- <br />lation loss in the rural areas. Despite the slight absolute increase in <br />the number of people in the area, the trend has been an outward movement. <br />If we consider what the normal population increase would have been, based <br />on the fertility rate, the area has experienced a net outmigration of <br />more than 3,000 people in the 1950-60 decade. The area's share of the <br />total population of the State of Colorado has diminished from 1.7 percent <br />in 1940 to 1.5 percent in 1950 to 1.03 percent in 1960. The increased <br />number of people in Rio Blanco County can be traced to the increased <br />activity in the Rangely o'il field since 1946, (a 1,332 percent increase <br />in workers 1940-1960); and the decrease in Routt County population corres- <br />ponds to decreasing employment in coal mining there (-83 percent in 1940- <br />1960) and in both cases the accompanying impact on services, trade con- <br />struction and transportation. All three counties of the area suffered <br />significant declines in the number of people working in agriculture, an <br />overall decline of 49 percent in the past two decades. A comparison of <br />changes in population by age shc~s that the percentage of people of the <br />dependent ages (under 14 and over 65) is increasing while the percentage <br />in the 15-29 group is decreasing and that in the 30-45 age group remains <br />about the same. This accords with the national trend. <br /> <br />It is not anticipated that there will be much change in this trend <br />in the next few years (see Figure 7). There will be some impetus to <br />growth as population growth elsewhere increases the recreational use of <br />this area. A resurgence in the demand for uranium and coal for the <br />generation of electric power in the 1980's should provide a further <br />stimulus to growth in the area. <br /> <br />-21- <br />