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the 1930's new fields near Axial were producing. Today the 4lilson Creek <br />• Field, southwest of the proposed mine area, is actively being worked <br />(Athearn 1975; 1981). <br />A shortlived uranium boom occurred near Maybell in the early 1950's <br />but was abandoned by 1960. <br />Tourism, beginning with the famous hunting expeditions of Teddy <br />Roosevelt into the White River .Valley in the early 1900's, and gaining <br />impetus with the creation of Dinosaur National Monument in 1915, contin- <br />ues to be a small, though consistent revenue earner for the area. <br />Recently (late 1970's) the oil shale boom brought promises of pros- <br />perity to the area but it too had vanished by the early 1980's. •The <br />coal industry, however, currently enjoys an era of increased demand pri- <br />marily due to the production of coal generating electrical power plants. <br />In the Danforth Hills/Axial Basin area, the primary historic occu- <br />pation has consisted of homesteading and cattle ranching as well as the <br />oil and coal exploitation. The now abandoned townsite of Axial lies 4 <br />km (2.5 mi.) due north of the proposed coal mine area, and directly <br />adjacent to the proposed Rail Spur r2. Several homesteads, currently <br />occupied as private residences, are on the proposed lease area. Histor- <br />ically, the Canforth Hills area is noted for having provided coal, <br />timber and grazing land to nearby townspeople and homesteaders (Rio <br />Blanco County Historical Society 1978). <br /> <br /> <br />16 <br />