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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />the waterways and in marshy areas, and rabbits are especially abundant in the <br />agricultural-riparian communities. Numerous small rats, mice, squirrels. amphibians, and <br />reptiles, including an extensive number of lizards, also inhabit the area. <br />Birds, both permanent and migratory. account for over one hundred of the animal <br />species in the region. The dominant upland game birds are the mourning dove, white-winged <br />dove, and Gambel's quail, all of which are found in fairly high concentrations in the <br />agricultural-riparian commwlities. Migratory waterfowl are present i'l the area during the <br />fall, winter, and spring. <br />Invertebrates. especially insects, have successfully established themselves in every <br />environmental niche. Invertebrates common in the area include spiders, scorpions. ants, <br />leaf beetles. cicadas, grasshoppers, crickets, and pest species associated with cultivated crops. <br />B. Community Characteristics <br />The community characteristics of the project area are predominantly rural from a <br />geographic standpoint. and metropolitan from a demographic one. The only city of <br />significant size in the area is Yuma, wherein the majority of people in Yuma County <br />reside. The proximity of Yuma to other major western population centers (Phoenix, <br />Tucson, Albuquerque, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Denver <br />all lie less than 700 air miles away) makes it a focal point and trarle center for the entire <br />local farm area. <br />B.I. Population <br />The first white men to arrive in the Yuma area were probably Jesuit Fathers <br />who came north from Mexico. These missionaries may have settled in the Yuma area <br />as early as the 16th century. Indians, of course, had inhabited soutftwestern Arizona for <br />centuries before the advent of white settlement. Actual population growth and the <br />associated community development did not significantly IIlcrease. however, until the <br />establishment of the Butterfield Stage Line in 1857. The area then grew at a slow but <br />steady rate until about 1940. Between 1940 and J 950 the rate of development appreciably <br />increased due to the establishment of large military installations and the development of <br />industry in the area, and a special census taken in 1952 showed the population of <br />metropolitan Yuma to be 19.500. Tile trend has since continued upward, and as of 1970, <br /> <br />I. <br /> <br />20 <br />