OCR Text |
Show interest in geology. Nowhere else are the evidences of prehistoric peoples so obvious and numerous. Nowhere else is there scenery so colorful. Here is the world's greatest canyon, the largest natural bridge, the largest man- made lake ( in volume), and the highest dam. Here too, one may enjoy much sunshine and find perfect climates for outdoor recreation the year around. Hunting, fishing, photography, snow sports, boating, swimming, horseback riding, camping, mountain climbing, exploration- the entire realm of outdoor recreational activities may be enjoyed. Five national parks and 33 national monuments have been established within the basin to preserve some of the most outstanding natural, scientific, and cultural features. Large sections have been included in national forests, wildlife refuges, and grazing districts, and vast areas have been set aside as Indian reservations. Much of the basin is in public ownership, but this is not surprising when one sees the country and knows that about half the basin has a population of less than 2 persons per square mile, and that the most densely populated county, Maricopa County, in which Phoenix, the largest city, is located, has a population of only 20.2 persons per square mile. It is only natural in a region so endowed that recreation should become one of the major industries. Agriculture is restricted almost entirely to irrigated sections. Mining, lumbering, and the raising of cattle and sheep first attracted settlers to the basin, but the recreational features are now attracting many more, and as the various sections of the basin become better known and more accessible to the densely populated regions of the United States through improved highways and air transportation, catering to the recreationist should become a major industry. To foster this industry it must be recognized that recreational use of land may, in certain places, be the highest or best use of the land for the general welfare of the people in the basin and, in vast sections of the basin, should be on an equal basis with other uses, such as grazing or production of timber. The great stretches of open range, unobstructed by buildings, fences, transmission lines, and other signs of modern civilization, comprise one of the most important recreational features of the basin. As other sections of the United States become more and more highly developed, this one feature of the Colorado River country, if preserved, will have unusual appeal. Figure 18.- Owachomo Bridge in Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah. 21i |