OCR Text |
Show (2) Although adequate finances have not been available, all the public land managing agencies can do much toward reducing the production of sediments from the lands under their care. (See problem C-2.) It is recognized this cannot be done immediately, but serious consideration should be given to legally requiring completion of such a program within a specified period. (3) As long as the States in the Colorado Basin themselves fail to take positive action toward correcting conditions on their own lands which are costing the taxpayers of all the States great sums of money, the Federal Government should decline to develop the water resources through costly under- takings that will greatly benefit these States and their local economy. (4) As long as the States do not enforce local laws for tlie reduction of sediment carried by the Colorado River, the Federal Government should not finance water resources projects in the basin which are seriously affected by that sediment. (5) The Federal Government should continue to develop the water resources of the Colorado River Basin only when large areas of the benefited States in tlie basin have developed adequate organi- zation for land treatment, thereby permitting land- owners and operators to obtain aid to preserve their own lands and important downstream water re- sources projects. (6) The Federal Government should not aid a State with water developments when that State does not permit assistance to private owners of range land in a soil conservation program. (7) The Federal Government should not supply credit, subsidy payments, or other aid to the farmers and ranchers of the basin whose lands contribute to sedimentation of reservoirs because of land misuse, without requiring in return an agreement to insti- tute and maintain conservational land use practices to the best of their ability. 4. Irrigation and Range Use The Problem Integration of irrigation developments with range use. The Situation Range use and irrigation developments are some- what complementary in the Colorado Basin. Al- though the range is used by a large proportion of the livestock year-long, the production of hay for 434 feed and the use of irrigated lands for pasture con- stitute an important farm use. In the upper basin, livestock farms predominate, averaging nearly 40 percent of all farms and ranging from 78 percent in Wyoming to 28 percent in New Mexico. In the lower basin, about 37 percent of the farms are live- stock and dairy farms. The livestock industry is based upon the vast area of range land unsuited to any other form of use. Because of differences in elevation and climate, certain parts of this range can be grazed only during summer months and others only for a few weeks to several months in other seasons. By moving live- stock with the changing seasons, sometimes for great distances, some animals are grazed the year round. This is particularly true of sheep. Because of better climatic and soil conditions, the summer grazing lands carry more stock per acre than do the spring, fall, or winter range lands. Cropland is a neces- sary adjunct to the range because of the need for providing supplemental feed to carry stock through severe winters and dry summers. Effective use of the range is not possible without forage from crop- lands, and many croplands would have little value except in connection with the use of range land. An increase in the production of farm-produced forage should assist in current efforts to reduce the abuse of the range through overgrazing. If there were no increase in herds, it would take care of at least some of the stock which otherwise would be causing overgrazing, and could provide supple- mental feed or pasture so that the animals could be kept off the range land in the spring until the vege- tation is ready for use. This increase would enable stockmen to carry breeding stock through drought periods without loss and thus save stock. It would also permit more liberal feeding so as to reduce losses and increase the lamb and calf crop. While production of forage on the home ranch is an important element in the industry, most livestock is marketed outside the basin as feeder cattle and feeder lambs. A recent study has disclosed that nearly 50 percent of the animal-unit-mohth forage in the Colorado section of the basin is produced on irrigated pasture land which makes up less than 5 percent of the total area. The extensive range lands of the lower basin pro- duce a great number of feeder stock. The animals are pastured on alfalfa fields and fattened on hay, silage, and grain before being processed locally or shipped to market. In the lower part of the basin, alfalfa is grown on about 30 percent of the irrigated land and covers a larger acreage than any other |