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Show grazing and the production of timber. The land owned by the Federal Government is administered as follows: Bureau of Land Management 59.1 percent, Forest Service 36.8 percent, National Park Service 2.3 percent, Department of Defense 0.9 percent, Bureau of Reclamation 0.7 percent, and Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 0.2 percent. Of the total land area of 21,263,000 acres less than 1 million acres are croplands and of that amount 96 only 723,998 acres or 3.4 percent are irrigated croplands. The 1969 Census of Agriculture reports 504,546 acres of irrigated land on farms with farm sales of $ 2,500 or more. Table B- 2 presents the irrigated crop distribution in acres. The trend in land use patterns has largely been established in the Unit area. According to Appendix IV, Great Basin Region Comprehensive Framework Study, 97 the trend toward industrialization and urbanization along the Wasatch Front became pronounced in the 1940' s and has continued to the present time. Population statistics within the Unit area are indicative of this trend. According to the Bureau of Census, urban population^/ has increased since 1940 by an average of 42.6 percent per census period. Rural population, on the other hand, has decreased during the same period by an average of 8.2 percent per census period. Total population within the Unit area increased by an average of 28.1 percent per census period. There has been a gradual encroachment on agricultural lands by industry and housing in the area. Urban sprawl has occurred along the Wasatch Front. Cities and towns have grown in population, and as this occurred, new land was needed for housing, shopping centers, industrial parks, and recreational facilities. According to the U. S. Census of Agriculture, during the period 1949 to 1964 irrigated farmland in Salt Lake County was reduced from 49,499 acres to 33,876 acres, or a reduction of about 32 percent. Although more than 10,000 acres of new land were brought under irrigation from wells on the west of Utah Lake, Utah County showed only a slight increase ( 1,500 acres) in irrigated acreage during the same period. This indicates that more than 8,000 acres have gone out of production elsewhere in the county. The large portion of irrigated land lost over the years has been a result of conversion to urban uses. The land use pattern in the Uinta Basin has been oriented to agriculture and has been much more stable than along the Wasatch Front. There has been less of a trend toward industrialization and urbanization and consequently much less encroachment on agricultural lands by industry and housing. Without the Unit The industrialization and urbanization trend that has beome well established is expected to continue, especially along the Wasatch JV Includes Davis and Weber Counties since they are part of the Wasatch Front area. 164 |