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<br />-~ <br /> <br />boundary authorized under Public Law 98-357. The owners <br />are LeValley, portions of sections 27, 24, and 35 T50N, <br />R7W; Mott, portions of sections 7,8,17,18,19,20, <br />21, 29, and 33, and all of section 28 T50N, R7W and <br />portions of sections 13 and 14 T50W, R8W; Botti, <br />portions of sections 10, 11, and 15 T50N, R8W; and <br />Rodstrom, portions of sections 9, 10, 15, and 16 T50N, <br />R8W. Currently the Mott property is in litigation in <br />Federal court, and is planned for purchase in fee <br />simple. <br /> <br />Curecanti National Recreation Area has a common <br />boundary with the monument along its eastern side. <br />There is a Ranger Station, camping facilities, fishing <br />area and limited access to the monument via a canyon <br />floor trail at the East Portal site. An all-weather <br />road to the site crosses monument lands in two places. <br /> <br />Downstream on the west, the Bureau of Land Management <br />manages what in 1972 was designated, the Gunnison Gorge <br />Recreation Lands. Management is low-key, with the <br />major activities being commercial and/or private <br />river-floating on rafts or canoes, and fishing. <br /> <br />Lands, both south of the authorized monument boundary <br />on the South Rim and north of the boundary on the North <br />Rim, are mostly private, interspersed with BLM parcels. <br />The dominant land uses are open range livestock grazing <br />and sport hunting during the big game seasons. The <br />economic problems in livestock ranching have led many <br />ranchers to seek alternative land uses in order to <br />derive income. The general depressed economy has <br />caused many landowners to use their land as areas <br />available for "paid hunting". <br /> <br />The monument is 12 miles from Montrose, the seat of <br />Montrose County, which has a population of <br />approximately 9000. Agriculture and tourism are the <br />primary industries of the area. The Bureau of <br />Reclamation, the Bureau of Land Management, the U. S. <br />Forest Service, and the National Park Service all <br />maintain offices in Montrose. Montrose County contains <br />all of or portions of five National Forests and two <br />National Park Service areas. Within a 300-mile radius <br />of the monument are three metropolitan areas: <br />Denver-Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Ogden-Salt Lake City <br />and Santa Fe-Albuquerque. In 1980, the population <br />within the 300-mi1e radius was estimated to be in <br />excess of 3,600,000. <br /> <br />14 <br />