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<br />""" <br />C) <br />~ <br />~ production of forage and grain crops for livestock feed are the principal <br />types of agricultural cropping. The irrigated lands at higher elevations <br />are limited by a short growing season to the production of legume-grass <br />hay or pasture. Private and publicly owned nonirrigated land furnishes <br />summer grazing for the livestock enterprises. <br /> <br />Timber resources Qf the Basin are plentiful and harvesting of timber pro- <br />ducts is expecte~ to increase. Most of the timber is produced on the national <br />forests where approximately one million acres are producing commercial forest <br />products. The proposed allowable annual cut on sustained yield basis on the <br />national forest lands is approximately 76 million board-feet. Timber pro- <br />ducing areas in lesser amounts are on the national land reserves and privately <br />owned lands within the Basin. <br /> <br />Cover conditions in the Alpine No.5 (see map) and spruce-fir No.4 zones <br />vary from poor to good. These zones have alpine meadows, timber, oakbrush <br />and sagebrush-grass vegetation. Most of the water yield comes from these <br />zones but very little sediment is produced. Most of the runoff is snowmelt, <br />which, in the Alpine zone, carries through most of the year. Some sediment <br />reaches the streams during spring runoff time from brush and grasslands, but <br />usually it is minor. <br /> <br />The lower zones, which are panderosa pine-oakbrush No.3, pinyon-juniper No.2 <br />and desert shrub No.1, have poor to fair cover. These ar.eas are predominantly <br />oakbrush-grass, sagebrush-grass and desert shrubgrass combinations of vegeta- <br />tion. Overuse in the past years has reduced vegeta~ive cover and the desert <br />climate naturally slows the rate of recovery, so sediment yield is high. <br />These zones are subject to erosion during spring snowmelt runoff and summer <br />rainstorms. Sediment is produced by sheet and gully erosion. <br /> <br />Very little sediment reaches the main river above the Confluence with the <br />North Fork River. The. Smith Fork produces some sediment, as do some raw <br />shale slide areas high on the North Fork drainage. Most sediment from these <br />areas will be deposited in the Crawford and Paonia Reservoirs. Most of the <br />sediment that reaches the main stream will be from the runoff of summer <br />showers on Desert Sierozem areas below these reservoirs. <br /> <br />The largest sediment load is delivered to the main stream by the Uncompahgre <br />River. This river drains large areas of Brown Chestnut and Desert Sierozem <br />zones with sparse cover.. Along the east slope of the Uncompahgre Plateau <br />are many drainages that flood across canals and irrigated lands. <br /> <br />Below the confluence of the Uncompahgre and the Gunnison Rivers many streams <br />such as Kahnah Creek, Dominguez Creek and. Escalante Creek drain from high <br />sediment producing areas but yield little sediment due to low rainfall. <br /> <br />Recreation <br /> <br />The Basin is outstanding in many respects in recreational attractions. <br />Mountain scenery, together with fishing, hunting and other recreational <br />pursuits, have caused tourist trade to increase rapidly. A substantial <br />portion of the income in certain sections of the Basin is derived from <br /> <br />- 10 <br /> <br />..:. <br /> <br />~ <br />