OCR Text |
Show It is also recognized that the Bonneville Unit possesses recreational potential in addition to that associated with reservoirs. To date, this less obvious potential has received little attention. The State of Utah Environmental Impact Evaluation Committee, in their comments on the Draft Environmental Statement, 112 indicated that there are many nonreservoir recreation elements which need further analyses. This group expressed a willingness to assist the Bureau of Reclamation in this task. The nunevaluated recreational aspects mainly deal with construction of horseback riding, snowmobiling, bicycling, and motorcycling trails along proposed Unit features such as buried pipelines and canals. The Bureau of Reclamation intends to investigate this recreational potential and develop it to the extent feasible. Reservoirs The Bonneville Unit wouWl create about 20,000 water surface acres of reservoirs and stabilize water levels on approximately 660 acres of 14 high mountain impoundments. Based upon 1971 reservoir use statistics11-' the Unit would generate a recreation potential of about 1 million annual visitations if it were completed. It is reasonable to expect that the recreation derived from the Unit would be instruments in helping to satisfy a State outdoor recreation demand of nearly 20 million recreation ft ft days per year that is expected to develop by 1985. The National Park Service in their 1964 recreational assessment of the Bonneville Unit^ estimated that initial development of the reservoirs would provide 670,204 annual visitations and that additional development could increase this amount to about 1 million annual visitations. The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife ha3 estimated that Unit reservoirs would provide 430,000 man- days of fishing annually excluding the enlarged version of Jordanelle Reservoir as well as Lampton Reservoir which have yet to. be evaluated ( refer to Table C- 23). Including Utah Lake, the Bonneville Unit would generate about 413,000 man- days of fishing annually. Utah Lake Table C- 23 indicates that the diking of Goshen and Provo Bays, which would reduce the size of Utah Lake |