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. ,. ,,:/ 002304 CllAPl'llil I GEliERlIL DISCUSSIOIfS . AGriculture The project area is primarily a livestock-raising area. T11e high cost of transportation to markets has tended to min:i1nize the importance of cash and truck crops. As a result the main crops grmm on farms are hay, pasture, and other fOl'ace crops which supplement the open ranges in sup- portio.:; the livestock industry. AlthouGh it is the area's principal industry, agriculture is limited by the inadequacy of irric;ation supplies and large land areas lie virtu- ally idle. The lands that are developed are pril!l8.rily in the lower areas adjoininc the streams. 1.0\1 precipitation eenerally precludes dry-farmin3 operations. In certain favored locations, however, the precipitation is adequate for successful dry-farm production of small 3l"ains. ~lineral production The mineral resouroes of the Yampa-l'ihite project area are primarily petroleum and natural [las, oil sbale, coal, and gilsonite. The production of other minerals, except for uranium and vanadium, has practically ceased in the area, . The first oil production in western Colorado occurred in 1919 in the Rance1y field. SiZlce tilen nUI:lerous oil and ~as fields have been discovered in the project area. In 1952 the production of crude oil from the fields aroo-illlted to more than 26,500,000 barrels. The cas fields are largely unde- veloped and in 1952 only about 6,600,000,000 cubic-feet of dry or commer- cial (;as waS produced. Deposi ts of oil shale in the project area are of National si(7lifi- cance. The Piceance Creek oil shale area, part of which is located in the southern part of the project area, is one of the richest I-.nown oil shale deposits in tile \lorld. It is e::pected that this natural resource will eventually sustain a large population. The population will not only be built upon the oil shale industrJ but on the petrochemical and related industries. T11e initial developments of this industry are expected to occ~ just south of the project area along the Colorado River in the vicin- ity of Rifle and De Beque, Colo. &xtensive coal deposits underlie a large part of the project area. At present coal from the deposits is supplied to homes and railroads in and surroundinc; the project ~,rea. The deposits offer excellent opportu- nities for future luree-scale commercial operatiryns in their utilization for chenicals, c;eneration of pO\ler, and conversion to synthetic liquid fuels. . A laroe-scale Gilsonite ffilnlnc; operation exists at Bonanza, Utah. Recent additions for this operation include a processing plant near Fruita, Colo. 7